UdemyEXAMPLE 01
Protect an active study session
Udemy offers to reduce notifications when a study session begins. It addresses a source of interruption at the moment the user is trying to concentrate.
Context Shifting
Help people resume after interruptions.
01 / UNDERSTAND
The idea
Moving between tasks requires people to reconstruct what they were doing. Preserve state, make changes visible and provide a clear return path. Interruptions can be necessary, but their cost can be reduced.
Switching away from a task requires people to reconstruct context when they return. The cost is more than the time spent on the interruption itself. Design can reduce unnecessary switches, preserve the current state, or bring the next action closer to the current activity. Avoid presenting one study’s productivity figures as a universal penalty.
02 / RECOGNISE
See it in real products.
Examples of how the principle can appear in an interface.
03 / CONNECT
Why it matters.
Unnecessary switches can interrupt habits, reduce efficiency and make a feature harder to adopt. Preserve the information needed to return to the task.
Possible influences to investigate, rather than guaranteed outcomes for every product.
04 / APPLY
Put it into practice.
- 01
Save work during navigation
- 02
Keep task context available
- 03
Make the return location predictable
05 / EXPLORE WITH UPSLIDE
Apply it with Upslide.
Use a practical guide, read a deeper explanation, or examine a related Upslide project.
A Visual Flow Framework Before Redesigning
Map interruptions and return paths along with the happy path.
Multi-Step Form UX: A Drug Registration Workflow Example
8 mins readWork through a multi-step form, including grouping, interruption and resumption.
Review NDIR’s explicit document stages, revisions and lifecycle visibility.
CONNECT THE IDEAS
Related principles
Keep exploring
