On Jun 15, 2004, at 11:41 PM, Richard A. O'Keefe wrote:

> "Intuitive" means "doesn't suprise ME" and is of very limited utility 
> as a criterion.

Indeed. I figure a good rule of thumb is that *nothing* about computers 
is intuitive, and just avoid the word entirely.

A more complicated rule of thumb is that intuition occurs when 
difficult-to-understand data is presented in a way that is easier for 
the brain to process and thus becomes easier to understand. A line 
graph, for example, is way easier to understand than a table of numbers 
- our brains are very good at processing pictures. Discovering and 
performing these changes in presentation is pretty rare, as far as I 
can see.

I view anything labelled "intuitive" with extreme suspicion. It really 
means "conforms to somebody's expectations," with the somebody left 
unspecified.

Colin