Preattentive Visual Properties

Your constantly-updated definition of Preattentive Visual Properties and collection of videos and articles
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What are Preattentive Visual Properties?

There are four basic visual properties (color, form, movement and spatial position) that can be defined as preattentive (e.g., they are processed in our sensory memory without our conscious thought). Information visualization designers can use these properties in their designs to help users better understand the information they are being presented with.

Literature on Preattentive Visual Properties

Here’s the entire UX literature on Preattentive Visual Properties by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Preattentive Visual Properties

Take a deep dive into Preattentive Visual Properties with our course Information Visualization .



Information visualization skills are in high demand, partly thanks to the rise in big data. Tech research giant Gartner Inc. observed that digital transformation has put data at the center of every organization. With the ever-increasing amount of information being gathered and analyzed, there’s an increasing need to present data in meaningful and understandable ways.

In fact, even if you are not involved in big data, information visualization will be able to help in your work processes as a designer. This is because many design processes—including conducting user interviews and analyzing user flows and sales funnels—involve the collation and presentation of information. Information visualization turns raw data into meaningful patterns, which will help you find actionable insights. From designing meaningful interfaces, to processing your own UX research, information visualization is an indispensable tool in your UX design kit.

This course is presented by Alan Dix, a former professor at Lancaster University in the UK. A world-renowned authority in the field of human-computer interaction, Alan is the author of the university-level textbook Human-Computer Interaction. “Information Visualization” is full of simple but practical lessons to guide your development in information visualization. We start with the basics of what information visualization is, including its history and necessity, and then walk you through the initial steps in creating your own information visualizations. While there’s plenty of theory here, we’ve got plenty of practice for you, too.

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Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF. (2016, May 25). What are Preattentive Visual Properties?. Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF.

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