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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 9384845" data-attributes="member: 177">It may not explain the entire effect, but I can note one element at play in this - the human ability to create mental maps aids in retention of information.I expect most of us have experienced this effect.&nbsp; When you are trying to look up something in a hardcopy document you've referenced before, like the PHB - maybe you looked in the index for a page number, but maybe you just flipped through the book until you found the page that looked right.&nbsp; Your brain stored how the information you wanted was right after that page with a picture in the upper-right corner, or the like.That association gives you an extra handle on the data that can aid retention even when you don't have the book at hand.&nbsp; This is one reason wny good graphic design in our game books is about more than whether a particular piece of art is to our liking.&nbsp; The graphic design provides the &quot;landmarks&quot; upon which we build our mental maps.Unfortunately, we humans associate this with the physicality of the document.&nbsp; We don't flip through pdfs or scrolling web pages the same way, and so we don't form as solid a mental map of the contents, which reduces retention.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 9384845, member: 177"] It may not explain the entire effect, but I can note one element at play in this - the human ability to create mental maps aids in retention of information. I expect most of us have experienced this effect. When you are trying to look up something in a hardcopy document you've referenced before, like the PHB - maybe you looked in the index for a page number, but maybe you just flipped through the book until you found the page that [I]looked right[/I]. Your brain stored how the information you wanted was right after that page with a picture in the upper-right corner, or the like. That association gives you an extra handle on the data that can aid retention even when you don't have the book at hand. This is one reason wny good graphic design in our game books is about more than whether a particular piece of art is to our liking. The graphic design provides the "landmarks" upon which we build our mental maps. Unfortunately, we humans associate this with the [I]physicality[/I] of the document. We don't flip through pdfs or scrolling web pages the same way, and so we don't form as solid a mental map of the contents, which reduces retention. [/QUOTE]

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