Intuitive Interaction Framework in User-Product Interaction for People Living with Dementia

This chapter is focused on intuitive interaction with various interfaces for people living with dementia. First, we describe the enhanced intuitive interaction framework, which contains a continuum suggesting various pathways to intuitive use that can be included in the design of interfaces. We discuss how it relates to users, and specifically how it may assist users living with dementia. Then three empirical studies conducted over two continents are discussed. Each involved participants living with dementia using interfaces in a lab. Data were analyzed for task completion, reaction times and completion times (Studies 1 and 2), and presence and effectiveness of physical and perceived affordances (two of the proposed pathways to intuitive use on the EFII continuum). These data were then compared according to the enhanced intuitive interaction framework, and the findings suggested that employing interface features that are more familiar and more ubiquitous for the target population would likely make the interfaces more intuitive for people living with dementia to use. The implications of these finders for users living with dementia and those designing for them are discussed.