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As I user I do use these buttons, when I am not on my personal machines. If I am on one of my own machines, I use the wonderful Firefox plugin Shareaholic http

As I user I do use these buttons, when I am not on my personal machines. If I am on one of my own machines, I use the wonderful Firefox plugin Shareaholic http://www.shareaholic.com/ http://www.shareaholic.com/ to easily share links. As a developer would I use these buttons? Yes. Why use these buttons when it is possible for users to manually share links using X service? Because these buttons reduce the cognitive load of sharing that link. Making it more likely that lazy users will share it. From http://tantek.com/log/2007/02.html#d19t1813 http://tantek.com/log/2007/02.html#d19t1813 "More specifically, all other things being equal, the cognitive load required to complete an action or task in a human computer interface is directly (probably linearly) proportional to the number of clicks and keystrokes required to complete that action or task. Cognitive load can be roughly defined as "how mentally easy/hard it feels to do something".

anamax 18y ago
> cognitive load required to complete an action or task in a human computer interface is directly (probably linearly) proportional to the number of clicks and keystrokes required to complete that action or task The big question isn't cognitive load but "will the user complete the sequence" rates. For that, I doubt that the drop-off is linear. I suspect success falls off exponentially in the number of clicks and/or mouse moves. That is, each time I have have to move my mouse or click, there's a non-zero chance that I'll give up. I'd guess that clicks have a higher "forget it" ratio because clicks typically bring up new screens.
ctingom 18y ago
The Shareaholic Firefox plugin looks interesting, I was surprised to see it even has a YC Hacker News submit link, too.
arjunb 18y ago
like another user mentioned, shareaholic looks pretty interesting. however, i think browser plugins are too high friction for an average user to install. has anyone implemented something similar as a bookmarklet?
- bjclark 18y ago
  "high friction" I like that, I'm stealing it. :)
- sam_in_nyc 18y ago
  I'm releasing a prototype in a few days. Sit tight.
fauigerzigerk 18y ago
That's an interesting link. I very much doubt the linearity of these things though.

anamax 18y ago

> cognitive load required to complete an action or task in a human computer interface is directly (probably linearly) proportional to the number of clicks and keystrokes required to complete that action or task The big question isn't cognitive load but "will the user complete the sequence" rates. For that, I doubt that the drop-off is linear. I suspect success falls off exponentially in the number of clicks and/or mouse moves. That is, each time I have have to move my mouse or click, there's a non-zero chance that I'll give up. I'd guess that clicks have a higher "forget it" ratio because clicks typically bring up new screens.

ctingom 18y ago

The Shareaholic Firefox plugin looks interesting, I was surprised to see it even has a YC Hacker News submit link, too.

arjunb 18y ago

like another user mentioned, shareaholic looks pretty interesting. however, i think browser plugins are too high friction for an average user to install. has anyone implemented something similar as a bookmarklet?

bjclark 18y ago
"high friction" I like that, I'm stealing it. :)
sam_in_nyc 18y ago
I'm releasing a prototype in a few days. Sit tight.

fauigerzigerk 18y ago

That's an interesting link. I very much doubt the linearity of these things though.