Investigating prior experience and product learning through novel interface interaction: A pilot study

Abstract

In keeping with the ethos of Inclusive Design, this paper outlines a pilot study investigating how individualsperceive, process and respond to stimuli during interaction with products, and aims to reveal what occurs during novel product interaction whereupon users may posses limited, or non-existent, internal representations. Other areas of interest included the generational effect and the effects of ageing, upon interaction. A novel product is presented to a small number of participants who are recorded interacting with it whilst providing concurrent protocol and information elicited regarding the development of internal representations. The expectation was that prior experience with similar products would affect users' ability to interact with the product, and that this might be age-related. Whilst this was confirmed to a limited extent in the pilot study, experimentation provided clear evidence of internalised concept development that would, in itself, validate full-scale examination. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.