Great post on the OSX moving “Traffic Lights” and minimizing cognitive load

In a system where e.g. a window close button has a fixed position in a window (area) your brain is very good at translating your spatial memory of where that close button is from a sort of “relative” memory into absolute coordinates on the screen. Our brains are very good at these kinds of things, so they are a versatile tool in the field of interaction design. So by moving around the “traffic lights” you force the user to employ visual aid when about to use the “traffic lights”, which in turn drastically increases cognitive load.