glanceability
n. A quality that enables something to be read or understood with just a glance.
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2014
By mid-century, the exploding world of white-collar work presumed that its employees would—more often than not—have a wristwatch. Students received them as gifts upon graduation. Glanceability was precious in the highly coordinated world of office meetings. Craning your neck to look at the wall clock could risk offending a superior; a quick glance at your wrist wouldn't.
—Clive Thompson, “The Pocket Watch Was the World's First Wearable Tech Game Changer,” Smithsonian, June 01, 2014
2012
These, he says, are the two dominant candidates for smartphones. "But these can't be the only ones that can exist. In the past year we have seen a different way to do it — Live Tiles [as used in Microsoft's Windows Phone interface] — they're abstractions of data, a panoramic view of your data. It's a different approach — 'glanceability', such as in the People Hub."
—Charles Arthur, “Marko Ahtisaari: smartphone evolution is only just beginning,” The Guardian (London), January 31, 2012
2010
Put your head on a swivel in traffic. CR-Z has considerable blind spots. Fat rear roof pillars and triangular rear side windows rob glance-ability.
—James R. Healey, “Honda's new CR-Z is awfully sporty for a hybrid,” USA Today, June 18, 2010
2002 (earliest)
Note that the Scope will always provide a single point of visual focus, independent of the number of wedges or services providing notifications. Thus, the glanceability of the design allows the interface to scale.
—Maarten van Dantzich, et al., “Scope: Providing Awareness of Multiple Notifications at a Glance” (PDF), Microsoft Research, May 22, 2002
Notes
See the Word Spy blog or more on the word "glance."
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