unity-design team mailing list archive

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 06/09/2011 08:22 PM, GonzO wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 2:18 AM, Thorsten Wilms<t_w_@xxxxxxxxxx>  wrote:
> > On 06/09/2011 03:02 AM, GonzO wrote:
> > >
> > Regarding "intuitive": https://lists.launchpad.net/ayatana/msg01963.html
>
> Talk about a post that misses the point of the word.
>
> "Intuitive," WRT to design, means "easy to learn" or "able to be
> learned without specifically being taught or having to read a manual"
> - not "able to use without learning".

Too funny, as it is your kind of use that robs the word of meaning.

It's just a terrible sloppy use of language. In every other context, 
intuitive refers to knowledge that is "just there", a person is said to 
have intuition. The term is specifically about not requiring learning. 
So if you mean "easy to learn", then say "easy to learn".

There's absolutely no way that an interface can be intuitive as long as 
it doesn't have a mind. A program does not intuit. It would be 
"intuitable", if at all.


--
Thorsten Wilms

thorwil's design for free software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com/