This thesis examines the role of intuition in the way that people operate unfamiliar devices, and the importance of this for designers. Intuition is a type of cognitive processing that is often　non-conscious and utilises stored experiential knowledge. Intuitive interaction involves the use of knowledge gained from other products and/or experiences. Therefore, products that people use intuitively are those with features they have encountered before. This position has been supported by two initial experimental studies, which revealed that prior exposure to products employing similar features helped participants to complete set tasks more quickly and intuitively, and that familiar　features were intuitively used more often than unfamiliar ones. Participants who had a higher level of familiarity with similar technologies were able to use significantly more of the　features intuitively the first time they　encountered them, and were significantly quicker at doing the tasks. Those who were less familiar with relevant technologies required more　assistance. A third experiment was designed to test four different interface designs on a remote control in order to establish which of two variables - a feature's appearance or its location - was more important in making a design intuitive to use. As with the previous experiments, the findings of Experiment 3 suggested that performance is　affected by a person's level of familiarity with similar technologies. Appearance (shape, size and labelling of buttons) seems to be the variable that most affects time spent on a task and intuitive uses. This suggests that the cues that people store in memory about a product's features depend on how the features look, rather than where on the product they are placed. Three principles of intuitive interaction have been developed. A conceptual tool has also been devised to guide designers in their planning for intuitive interaction. Designers can work with these in order to make interfaces intuitive to use, and thus help users to adapt more easily to new products and product types.

Vi människor lever idag i ett samhälle där kraven från vår omgivning ökat markant, särskilt vad gäller komplexa produkter. Allt eftersom digitaliseringen och i sin tur digitala produkter utvecklas, ökar även kraven som ställs på̊ användaren i interaktionen. Detta medför en ökad mental ansträngning, också kallad kognitiv belastning, för användaren. Hemmet, vilket bör anses vara en kognitiv frizon, har nu blivit en plats för konstant interaktion och uppkoppling till sin omgivning. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka huruvida det går att designa produkter där den kognitiva belastningen vid användning är minimal. Detta med mål att utforma en produktserie vardagsprodukter där den kognitiva belastningen har reducerats. Studien ämnar att besvara nedan frågeställningar:Hur kan man genom produktdesign minska den kognitiva belastningen i hemmet?Vilken är den önskvärda interaktionen med kognitivt belastande fysiska vardagsprodukter?Studien grundar sig i viktig teori som avser kognitiv belastning, intuitiv design och användning, användarcentrerad design, affordance-teori såväl som fysisk interaktion. För att identifiera särskilt kognitivt belastande produkter bygger studien både på kvantitativ såväl som kvalitativ metod.Studien inleddes med en förstudie i form av en enkät för att få en överblick av problematiseringen. Detta följt av den kvalitativa undersökningen som utgör huvuddelen av studien. Detta i form av gruppintervjuer, workshop, probes och användartester. Det teoretiska ramverket tillsammans med genomförd metod resulterade sedan i en funktionsanalys och kravspecifikation. Tre produkter valdes ut som högt kognitivt belastande i hemmet. Dessa var; högtalare, dörrhandtag- och lås, samt fjärrkontroll. Studien resulterade i en produktserie av dessa produkter benämnd ”Mono”, som fick symbolisera utformningen av ett nytt fysiskt användargränssnitt. Studien visar på att det genom användarcentrerad design går att skapa kognitivt reducerande produkter, särskilt vad gäller att ta sig an ett samtida problemområde som kognitiv belastning, vilket produktserien ”Mono” lyckas med.Nyckelord: Kognitiv belastning, CLT, Kognitiv reducering, Intuitiv Design, Intuitiv användning, Användarcentrerad design, Affordance, Fysisk interaktion / Humans today live in a society where the demands from our surroundings have increased significantly, especially concerning complex products. As the digitalization increases and digital products develop, the demands on the user also enhance. The home environment, which is supposed to be every person's cognitive free zone has now become a place for continual interaction and constant availability to its surroundings. This causes an increased mental effort, also called cognitive load, for the user. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether it is possible to design products where the cognitive load is minimum when used. The study intents to design a product series of everyday products where the cognitive load has been reduced. The study aims to answer this following questions:How can the cognitive load in the home environment be reduced through product design?What is the desirable interaction with physical products that have a high cognitive load?The study is based on theories concerning cognitive load, intuitive design, and use, user-centered design, affordance theory as well as tangible interaction. To identify products with a high cognitive load, the study was based on both quantitative as well as qualitative methods.The study began with a quantitative survey whose purpose was to create an overview of the problem. The survey was followed by the qualitative method, which forms the main part of the study. The qualitative method included group interviews, workshops, probes, and user tests. The theoretical framework together with the completed method then resulted in a function analysis and a design specification. Three products were selected due to their high cognitive load. These three products were; a speaker, a door handle and lock, and remote control. The entire study resulted in a product series of these products named “Mono”. Mono symbolizes the design of a new physical user interface. The study shows that it is possible to create cognitively reduced products through user-centered design. Especially when it comes to addressing a contemporary problem such as cognitive load, which the product series “Mono” succeeds with.Keywords: Cognitive Load, CLT, Cognitive Reduction, Intuitive Design, Intuitive Use, User-Centered 3 Design, Affordance, Physical Interaction