Metamemory and the user experience
When people expect to be able to access information in the future, they tend to have reduced memory for the actual information, but enhanced memory for where to find the information. A feature article on UX Magazine:
“Researchers found that when we expect to be able to access information in the future, we tend to have reduced memory for the actual information, but enhanced memory for where to find the information.
Thus, while we do measurably worse at remembering that the capital of Vermont is Montpellier, we apparently remember with greater accuracy, where on the bookshelf the atlas is located.
These findings suggest that making sites memorable as the repository of information may be the key to gaining return visitors.”
