On Sat, May 17, 2014 at 7:48 PM, Diaz-Kommonen Lily <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Can you please tell us bit more about this word intuition and what you
> think it really means?
>

I usually don't like dictionary definitions but this one, the one built
into my Apple Macintosh computer,  fits my definition:

using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious
reasoning; instinctive:* I had an intuitive conviction that there was
something unsound in him*.


And how does something get known "without conscious reasoning"? By years of
training and practice. (Psychologists say it is "automated." Some call it
"compiled."

In other words, things that are intuitive have taken years of practice.

Most people want to use the term to mean immediately obvious at first
usage. Nope.

My Apple dictionary goes on to say:

• (chiefly of computer software) easy to use and understand.

Which is indeed how many people use the word, and it is this sense that I
fight against.

When someone tells me they want me to design something that is intuitive, I
say, "oh, you mean you want something that takes years to learn."

(I am, of course,  being cynical, because easy to learn and use does not
necessarily mean subconscious, and moreover, many things can be easy by
building upon the existing base of well-learned, skilled behavior that is
indeed subconscious and legitimately intuitive.  Just as intuitive as
eating with chopsticks, or handwriting, or for a skilled designer,
sketching a figure.)

Don

​


Don Norman
Director, Design at UC San Diego: Think Observe Make
Nielsen Norman Group, IDEO Fellow
[log in to unmask] www.jnd.org  <http://www.jnd.org>

"Stupid Smart Things" and other LinkedIn
Essays<http://www.linkedin.com/influencer/12181762-Don-Norman>
 |  Core77 Essays <http://www.core77.com/blog/author/don-norman/default.asp> |
Essays on my website <http://www.jnd.org/dn.pubs.html>
Book: "Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded<http://amzn.to/ZOMyys>"
(DOET2).
Course: Udacity On-Line course based on
DOET2<https://www.udacity.com/course/design101>
 (free).


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