Cueoften

Cueoften is a term used in informal discussions of behavior and design to describe the phenomenon whereby the frequency of cue presentation influences the likelihood of cue-driven responses. In this sense, cueoften captures the idea that exposure to cues can, over time, modulate action regardless of the cue's specific content.

Applications are described in psychology, behavioral design, and human–computer interaction. In psychology, cueoften is linked to how repeated cues can alter response probability, touching on ideas related to habituation and sensitization. In design disciplines, proponents use it to justify increasing cue density in tutorials, prompts, or notifications to sustain attention or guide users, while noting the need to avoid fatigue.

Etymology and history: the term appears to be a blend of cue and often and has circulated mainly in informal writings, blogs, and conference slides since the 2010s and 2020s. It has not achieved formal status in major peer-reviewed literature.

Criticism and assessment: scholars caution that cueoften overlaps with established constructs such as reinforcement schedules, cue salience, and habit formation, and that the term can be ambiguous without precise operational definitions. Proponents argue that it offers a concise shorthand for frequency-based cueing across domains.

See also: cue; stimulus–response; habituation; operant conditioning; attention; prompting; user interface design.