[IxDA Discuss] Intuitive Interface a misnomer?

[Peter Bagnall]

I wrote an article one this amongst other things recently...

http://www.surfaceeffect.com/thoughts/intuitive

I'm arguing that intuition is founded on prior experience, and so  
what is intuitable for one person may not be for another. So you  
can't say that a system is intuitable without reference to who's  
using it.

So yes, it's a misnomer!

Cheers
--Pete

On 12 Feb 2008, at 18:01, paige saez wrote:

> In general I find that the term "Intuitive" is used in describing  
> interfaces
> way too often. Intuitive is seen to mean "good." Non-intuitive is  
> seen to
> mean "bad." There are plenty of things that are intuitive, and  
> plenty of
> interfaces that are familiar and easy to use. But these thing do  
> not always
> line up with my vision of what intuitive IS. This is most likely  
> not a novel
> argument but nonetheless does anyone have a stance on this?
>
> I think calling an interface intuitive presupposes an enormous  
> amount prior
> knowledge. Something is intuitive only to someone already familiar  
> with it.
> For instance, one could argue that a terminal/shell window is  
> intuitive:
> The only thing you *can* do is type. Therefore is it *intuitive*  
> that this
> is what you should do. It's knowing *what* to type specifically  
> that makes
> all the difference and there is nothing intuitive about that.
>
> Furthermore if an interface is not intuitive it has failed somehow.  
> So if we
> follow that then essentially we are saying only build familiar  
> interfaces.
> Which I fundamentally agree with. But then how can we evolve intuitive
> interfaces if we rely on their familiarity to already understood  
> patterns?
>
> Essentially I am thinking this question: How can we create  
> interfaces that
> teach new behaviors? Some measure of intuitive plus novel would  
> seem to be
> the recipe....particularly as interfaces move away from computers  
> and into
> mobile devices and more ambient technologies I am curious about  
> what the
> word "Intuitive" means when we are no longer in the realm of the  
> familiar AT
> ALL. Can anyone suggest anything?
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----------------------------------------------------------
There are  three kinds of death in this world. There's heart death,
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		- Guy Almes

Peter Bagnall - http://www.surfaceeffect.com/about/pete