Linking Design Intention and Users' Interpretation through Image Schemas

Usability is often defined as the ease of use of a product but this definition does not capture other important characteristics related to the product design as being effective, efficient, engaging, errorfree and easy to learn. Usability is not only about measuring how people use a product but more importantly, it is about exploring the relationship between how designers have intended their products to be used and how users interpret these designs. Previous research has shown the feasibility of using image schemas to evaluate intuitive interactions. This paper extends previous research by proposing a method, which uses image schemas to evaluate usability by measuring the gap between design intention and users' interpretations of the design. The design intention is extracted from the user manual while the way users interpret the design features is captured using direct observation, think aloud protocol and a structured questionnaire. The proposed method is illustrated with a case study involving 42 participants. The results show close correlation between usability and the distance between design intent and users' interpretation.