Perspectives on the nature of intuitive interaction

Intuitive interaction is defined as fast, somewhat non-conscious, and generally accurate interaction with an interface that is informed by past experience or technology familiarity (TF). Eighteen years of research into intuitive interaction by various researchers on four different continents using a variety of products, interfaces, and experiment designs has shown that prior experience is the leading contributor to intuitive interaction. In Intuitive Use of User Interfaces (IUUI) continuum, the most basic and broadly possessed knowledge identified is innate knowledge, which has genetic origins and manifests in responses such as reflexes. In the Australian continuum, the most accessible design strategy is to use physical affordances, which take advantage of embodied knowledge of the world established. Tangible and embodied interfaces (TEIs) and natural user interfaces (NUIs) have long been claimed to be intuitive. This intuitiveness is attributed to tactile or haptic interactions in terms of static system properties such as directness, ease of learning and naturalness and speed, simplicity, and effectiveness.