::scr Re: Cognitive Friction

[Piers Cawley]

jo walsh <jo@abduction.org> writes:
> what was the bad word again? 'intuitive'. on the grounds the only things
> we do intuitively are eat and sleep, fuck and sing? sorry, i just had a
> few unhelpful words to share :)   

As the old joke has it, the only truly intuitive interface is the
nipple. After that everything is learned.

I've certainly seen and heard people who couldn't sing intuitively.
Didn't stop the buggers trying mind. I've also heard (and sung)
intuitive harmonies for songs that were entirely new to the people
singing... 

Anyway, how do you build learnability into anything? I have a
(purely gut) feeling that learnability is something 'deep' that
applies to far more than just interfaces. 

Why do I find myself thinking of Christopher Alexander, _A Pattern
Language_ and a _The Timeless Way of Building_?

-- 
Piers

   "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a language in
    possession of a rich syntax must be in need of a rewrite."
         -- Jane Austen?