Prior schemata transfer as an account for assessing the intuitive use of new technology

• An experiment is conducted for assessing the intuitive use of an interface.
• Intuitive use relies on the transfer of prior knowledge schemata.
• Familiar and new features yield distinct patterns of prior schemata transfer and of new schemata induction, respectively.
• Transfer and induction patterns were moderated by participants' cognitive style.
• Assessment of these patterns is reported for the evaluation and redesign of interfaces.

New devices are considered intuitive when they allow users to transfer prior knowledge. Drawing upon fundamental psychology experiments that distinguish prior knowledge transfer from new schema induction, a procedure was specified for assessing intuitive use. This procedure was tested with 31 participants who, prior to using an on-board computer prototype, studied its screenshots in reading vs. schema induction conditions. Distinct patterns of transfer or induction resulted for features of the prototype whose functions were familiar or unfamiliar, respectively. Though moderated by participants' cognitive style, these findings demonstrated a means for quantitatively assessing transfer of prior knowledge as the operation that underlies intuitive use. Implications for interface evaluation and design, as well as potential improvements to the procedure, are discussed.