Can software be “intuitive”?

Let me state from the start that I am currently a Mac user. I began using Apple products about 20 years ago. It was a slow progression into the Apple domain. It started with an iPod, then an iPhone, an iPad (or 3), and eventually to a MacBook Air, followed by MacBook Pros and now a Mac Studio. I have been fully “converted” for many years now - at least 10.

I was a long time PC user (measurable in decades) - building my own, supporting corporate users, and using productivity applications. I was skeptical of the Apple marketing about how “intuitive” their products were - and to be fair, it was just corporate marketing, the hype included enthusiastic user groups that would tout the usability - and, the Mac/PC commercials with Justin Long were both entertaining and pointing at the usability of a Mac over the PC all over the media landscape. What I would always hear was how intuitive the interfaces were - and, frankly, that wasn’t my experience.

How can that be?

Let’s start with a working definition of intuition: “Intuition is the ability to understand or know something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.” (via ChatGPT)

I don’t disagree with this definition and it is similar to those found in various dictionaries - which is likely the source of ChatGPT’s response. However, the definition is describing how we experience intuition, not what intuition is or how it is developed. This is a key aspect for this discussion.

The source of our intuition is biological, not mystical. It has to do with how our brains work, not the supernatural. Our intuition is really what appears obvious to us, based on our backgrounds. That is why when a PC user is converting to a Mac, he (me) doesn’t find it intuitive - the background built when using a PC is different from the background built by using a Mac. There are some fundamental similarities, but the organization of the components is very different and not obvious. (For more on what is obvious, check out our previous blog post here.)

What is really happening that produces our intuition?

Your experiences are training you to anticipate outcomes - your skill level and experience produces what people consider to be intuition. It isn’t magic and software isn’t “intuitive”, people are. No software can be “intuitive” if it isn’t designed to trigger the users intuition. It has to be done on purpose and built from the perspective of the people that will be using it, because it is their brains that produce the experience of intuition.

Here’s really what is going on…

The brain works to identify patterns that it recognizes from past experiences - our brains are doing this all the time and in all situations - it is the reason we can take actions without thinking. It is an evolutionary function that keeps us alive. As an example, when an adult crosses a busy street we look both ways to ensure it is safe to cross. If we begin to cross the street and see a bus coming at us (or a bicycle messenger) we react without thinking and jump out of the way. A toddler doesn’t do this because they haven’t built a background that includes these patterns yet.

Software designers are often credited with designing intuitive products…but the intuition isn’t in the software (really) it is in the user. The designer's skill is to trigger the user’s intuition by including methods that exist in other products and arranging them so they appear obvious to the user - because it is already in their background.

To build intuitive software, the designer uses patterns that are familiar to their user base and uses them consistently to reinforce the users behavior. Feedback during the usage process also has to be consistent so that the user learns (building their background) as they encounter new patterns.

So, the answer to the question: Intuition or intuitive design? is yes. It has to be both - the intuitive design triggers the intuition of the user - but only if it is designed for that user’s already existing background. Different user types will have different backgrounds - what may seem intuitive to an engineer may not be intuitive to a poet - or even a PC user when adopting a Mac.

At 8 Penny Labs, before we build any software, we work to understand your business and the people that work in or with that business so that the software we build triggers their intuition - lowering their cost to adopt your software.

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