In our daily life too often we encounter products
that are difficult to use. For example, selecting
different options of the washing machine at home, or
using the different settings of the photocopy
machine at the office. This book postulates that
people s knowledge of products usage is prompted by
their experiences in particular contexts. It
describes an empirical study that investigates how
human experience and the context of products use
influence the way people understand everyday
products. This study provides greater detail about
the differences between designers and users
concepts of a product s usage, and explains the
connection between experience, context-of-use and
product usability. It demonstrates the relevance of
these principles to the initial stages of the design
of product usability, and proposes a conceptual tool
to make the new knowledge accessible during a design
process. By informing designers about specific
causal-relationships between experience, context-of-
use and product usability, this study hopes to
contribute to the design of more usable products.
that are difficult to use. For example, selecting
different options of the washing machine at home, or
using the different settings of the photocopy
machine at the office. This book postulates that
people s knowledge of products usage is prompted by
their experiences in particular contexts. It
describes an empirical study that investigates how
human experience and the context of products use
influence the way people understand everyday
products. This study provides greater detail about
the differences between designers and users
concepts of a product s usage, and explains the
connection between experience, context-of-use and
product usability. It demonstrates the relevance of
these principles to the initial stages of the design
of product usability, and proposes a conceptual tool
to make the new knowledge accessible during a design
process. By informing designers about specific
causal-relationships between experience, context-of-
use and product usability, this study hopes to
contribute to the design of more usable products.