![Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload
@jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
“…there are discoverable limits to the amount of
change that the human organism can absorb”
“…without first determining these limits we may
submit masses of [people] to demands they
simply cannot tolerate.”
Alvin Toffler
(Future Shock, 1970)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/hackingyourhead-managinginformationoverload-160422143148/85/Hacking-Your-Head-Managing-Information-Overload-4-320.jpg)
Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload
- 1. Jo Pearce @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Non-binary (they/them), developer and science womble. Hacking Your Head Managing Information Overload
- 2. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk What is Information Overload?
- 3. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk “Surviving the collision with tomorrow…”
- 4. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk “…there are discoverable limits to the amount of change that the human organism can absorb” “…without first determining these limits we may submit masses of [people] to demands they simply cannot tolerate.” Alvin Toffler (Future Shock, 1970)
- 5. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Information Overload Anxiety Hostility Senseless Violence Physical Illness Depression Apathy
- 6. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk A soldier falls asleep “while a storm of machine gun bullets splattered around him” not due to physical tiredness, but a “sense of overpowering apathy”. Soldiers became hypersensitive and would “hit the dirt” at the slightest stimuli, increasingly showing anxiety and anger at the slightest inconvenience. The effects of overload in WWII
- 7. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
- 8. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk The overwhelming office?
- 9. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk 20 million words of new technical information are recorded each day. Jackson, W. (2001). Information overload and managerial roles: A naturalistic study of engineers. At 1000 words/minute, 8 hours/day this is six weeks of reading.
- 10. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk After reading the information for that one day you would have fallen behind by 5.5 years! Jackson, W. (2001). Information overload and managerial roles: A naturalistic study of engineers.
- 11. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Information Fatigue Syndrome Poor Concentration Hurry Sickness Pervasive Hostility Stress Depression Lowered Immune Response “Burn out”
- 12. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
- 13. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
- 14. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk There is always a lot to learn Information overload is a learning problem!
- 15. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk How do we learn?
- 16. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Working Memory Long Term Memory
- 17. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Working Memory Processes Information Active Thinking & Learning
- 18. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Long Term Memory Enormous Capacity Cannot engage in thinking or learning processes
- 19. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Results of learning Knowledge Retrieval
- 20. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Schemas Multiple Elements Single Schema
- 21. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
- 22. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Novice Learner Schemas
- 23. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Experienced Learner Schemas
- 24. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Understanding Our Limitations
- 25. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk The Magical Number 7 ± 2 (George A. Miller, 1956)
- 26. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk The Magical Number 7 ± 2 (George A. Miller, 1956) Working Memory Information In
- 27. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk The Magical Number 7 ± 2 (George A. Miller, 1956) Overloaded Working Memory Information In
- 28. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk The Magical (but finite) Number X?
- 29. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Schema= Novice Experienced
- 30. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk How do we work with our limitations?
- 31. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Cognitive Load Theory
- 32. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Defines cognitive load as the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory Describes a universal set of principles for managing cognitive load that lead to efficient learning. What is Cognitive Load Theory?
- 33. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Total cognitive load is comprised of three types: Intrinsic Load Extraneous (Irrelevant) Load Germane (Relevant) Load
- 34. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Imposed by the inherent complexity of the task being performed. e.g. Learning to juggle 10 balls is inherently more complex than learning to juggle 3. Intrinsic Load
- 35. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Imposed by the inherent complexity of the task being performed. Manage by breaking large tasks into smaller ones! Intrinsic Load
- 36. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Epic User Story TaskTaskTask User Story TaskTaskTask User Story TaskTaskTask
- 37. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Imposed by distractions or tasks which are irrelevant to the goal. Coping with a loud environment Unfamiliarity with a development tool Unreadable code e.g. Extraneous (Irrelevant) Load
- 38. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Try working somewhere quieter… …or wearing headphones?
- 39. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Reduce the number of tools or libraries to a minimum…
- 40. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
- 41. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
- 42. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Imposed by distractions or tasks which are irrelevant to the goal. Manage by reducing the number of irrelevant distractions and tasks! Extraneous (Irrelevant) Load
- 43. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Load imposed by tasks which are relevant to an overall goal. Repetition and context variation give us the skills to apply knowledge in a wider variety of situations. Germane (Relevant) Load Helps us to connect bits of information and form more complex schemas
- 44. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Repetition = Practice
- 45. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Context Variation Tree?
- 46. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Load imposed by tasks which are relevant to an overall goal. e.g. If the goal is to promote better understanding of a codebase Vary the areas of the codebase a developer works in Pair junior developers with those more experienced to gain varied perspectives and skills Germane (Relevant) Load
- 47. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk We constantly need to learn…
- 48. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk But there are limits on our ability to learn…
- 49. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Manage Intrinsic Load Increase Relevant Load + Reduce Irrelevant Load + = Efficient Learning & Increased Productivity Cognitive Load Theory
- 50. Jo Pearce @jdpearce jopearce.co.uk Non-binary (they/them), developer and science womble. Thanks! Any questions?