Using visual representation of concepts to explore users and designers' concepts of everyday products

Enhancing the design of user–product interactions prompted the emergence of research that supports designers' engagement with users' experience as an essential component of the design process. One such study focusses on investigating the influence of human experience on users' and designers' differing concepts of products. The paper introduces this study's methodological approach, which employs visual representations of concepts to uncover the experiential and contextual component of people's understanding of product use. Findings are presented in the form of design principles that aim to assist the design of product usability by informing designers about the specific aspects of human experience that trigger people's understanding of products and product usage.