Intuitive interaction represents an established design goal in the field of technical products. The term intuitive carries a thoroughly positive connotation, and, therefore, is often picked up in advertisement and marketing campaigns. However, it is not clear what exactly it promises. Sometimes the term intuitive interaction is used in association with so-called natural input technologies like touch or gesture control (e.g., Antle et al., 2009; Knopfle & Voss, 2000; Macaranas, 2013). In other cases, intuitive denotes especially minimalistic user interfaces (e.g., Ntina et al., in press; Olmstead, 2012) or the copying of already well-known and established interaction concepts (e.g., Blackler et al., 2010; Hurtienne & Israel, 2007). So what is the true key to intuitive interaction?
Searching the literature of the fairly young research discipline of intuitive interaction provides several cues. For example, typical elements of existing definitions are the application of previously acquired knowledge (e.g., Blackler et al., 2002; Mohs, Hurtienne, Kindsmüller, et al., 2006; O’Brien et al., 2008a) as well as the unconsciousness of this process (e.g., Bærentsen, 2000; Blackler, 2006; Macaranas, 2013; Naumann et al., 2007). Also, some definitions of intuitive interaction refer to classical usability criteria such as effectiveness (e.g., Mohs, Hurtienne, Kindsmüller, et al., 2006; Naumann et al., 2007). Altogether, existing approaches show up relevant criteria and related phenomena, which is a helpful first step in narrowing down the concept. However, what is missing is a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of intuitive interaction itself – its essential components, its experiential qualities, and its differences to usability.
The present work approaches the phenomenon of intuitive interaction from an experience perspective. Based on a dual approach I integrate theoretical insights from psychological research on intuitive decision making and empirical insights from user studies in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI). My primary research aims were to offer a better understanding of the experience of intuitive interaction as a whole, to identify its constituent components and relevant influencing factors as well as possible starting points for research and design. My stepwise research process is documented in five scientific articles.
Article 1 presents the development of my model and a questionnaire to assess intuitive interaction. The INTUI-model differentiates between four components of intuitive interaction: Effortlessness, Gut Feeling, Verbalizability, and Magical Experience. These components are based on central elements in theories on intuitive decision making and also user interviews on intuitive interaction. The INTUI-questionnaire assesses the four components by a total of sixteen items. Different types of intuitive interaction can be described by the different components’ relative specification, so-called INTUI-pattern. The INTUI-questionnaire was tested and validated in a series of three studies (N=64, N=37, N=233) which replicated the assumed factorial structure and showed satisfactory values of internal scale consistency. A comparative analysis of experience reports on intuitive interaction revealed product specific INTUI-pattern: While intuitive interaction with home appliances was particularly marked by high Verbalizability, intuitive interaction with consumer electronics was rather characterized by high values for Gut Feeling.
Article 2 explores the role of users’ prior knowledge and relations to task performance. Two studies (N=115, N=37) revealed significant changes in the INTUI-pattern depending on one’s expertise in the product domain: users with a high degree of prior knowledge rated the interaction as more effortless than users with little prior knowledge. In contrast, the latter gave higher ratings for Magical Experience and Gut Feeling.
Article 3 reports further influencing factors in the context of intuitive interaction. One study (N=33) explored the influencing factor of judgment formation. In line with research on attitude formation (primacy-recency-effects, cf. Hogg & Vaughan, 2008), results showed that interactions at the beginning or end of a task were more relevant for the global judgment of intuitiveness than interactions in the middle part. Another study explored the effect of usage mode (goal mode vs. action mode, N=115) on the resulting INTUI-pattern. Depending on the usage mode, different components of intuitive interaction were dominating: While Magical Experience was most important in action mode Verbalizability and Gut Feeling were more prominent in goal mode. An analysis of related emotions showed an effect of users’ prior knowledge: For first time use, the emotional experience was marked by high arousal and neutral-positive valence whereas repeated use was marked by neutral-positive valence in combination with low arousal. The article concludes with a discussion of future research steps and model theoretical implications. Based on my previous research on the impact of prior knowledge, I suggest a model of usage domains, which depicts the effect of domain transfer distance within intuitive interaction. My previous research showed that growing expertise within a product domain leads to changes in the INTUI-pattern over time. Similarly, the distance between the application domain and the source of prior knowledge enabling intuitive interaction may affect the INTUI-pattern as well. High transfer distance may offer a higher specification of Magical Experience and Gut Feeling, whereas low transfer distance may lead to a higher specification of Effortlessness and Verbalizability.
Article 4 presents an integrative model of intuitive interaction. It summarizes so far research results, discusses these by means of examples, and points out implications for research and design. The integrative model differentiates between first level influencing factors (product, user, context) and second level influencing factors (domain transfer distance, usage mode, judgment formation). This combination of factors which until then had been researched in isolation highlights possible connections and mutual interactions between them. For example, the concept of transfer distance builds an important mediating factor between the product and users’ prior knowledge. Finally, the article reveals still unclear aspects of intuitive interaction. One particular challenge is formed by the Verbalizability component. In decision making research and daily life experiences, a decision is denoted as highly intuitive if there is no conscious reflection and the basis of one’s decision can hardly be verbalized. In contrast, when speaking of intuitive interaction with a product or system this may still involve reflective steps of action. While referring to research on affordances, I suggest a product’s complexity as one important factor to be considered in this matter.
Article 5 investigates the representation of intuitive interaction through the four INTUI-components and tests the theoretical assumptions of the domain transfer model in an empirical study (N=152). Besides an internal validation of the INTUI-model the study also compares the INTUI-components to components of intuitive interaction suggested within other researchers’ definitions. Participants’ ratings showed significant agreement to all explored components. However, the INTUI-components evoked the strongest level of agreement. Pairwise comparisons revealed a clear separation between the INTUI-components and the other components but no significant differences within the two groups. The study showed that the INTUI-model provides a meaningful picture of users’ understanding of intuitive interaction and emphasized the added value over existing models and definitions. Moreover, the study provided an experimental test of so far only theoretical assumptions of the domain transfer model. In a pairwise comparison of nine usage scenarios of varying transfer distance participants consistently rated the scenario with higher transfer distance as the clearer case of intuitive interaction. Also, they gave higher ratings for Magical Experience and Gut Feeling for the scenario of higher transfer distance but higher ratings for Effortlessness and Verbalizability for the scenario of lower transfer distance. Moreover, the study revealed a sensibility for gradual differences in transfer distance (low, medium, high). This gradual effect further validated the theoretical assumption of transfer distance as an underlying factor. With regards to practical implications, the article discusses how study results may be used as a basis for general design principles. More specifically, it suggests a balance between cues to activate prior knowledge on one hand (supporting access to prior knowledge, being a basic prerequisite for intuitive interaction) and the non-apparentness of those cues on the other hand (supporting unconscious access to prior knowledge, being essential for the magical experience of intuitive interaction).
The present research represents one further step in the search for the key to intuitive interaction. In my approach, the question for the key, however, was preceded by a closer view on the mystery to be unlocked, i.e., the experience of intuitive interaction. The INTUI-model provides an enhanced understanding of intuitive interaction as well as design recommendations for different INTUI-pattern. Moreover, the INTUI-questionnaire provides the possibility to assess these in evaluation and research studies. The description of usage experiences through the relative specification of the four INTUI-components enables a differentiation between different types of intuitive interaction. Besides a categorization for research purposes the INTUI-pattern approach may also be used as a design specification of the intended user experience. Especially article 4 and article 5 present starting points for the derivation of design principles supporting particular components of intuitive interaction. The present studies’ limitations and implications for future research are discussed.
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