User Interfaces (UI) that are matched with users’ prior knowledge can be easily understood. UI designers often follow the practical approach that utilizes interface elements that are familiar to users to exploit users’ relevant prior knowledge. However, applying fractional knowledge to the UI design is not fully effective because the interaction is not understood as a simple sum of elementary methods but a heavily related set of tasks and interface means.
The role of Prior Schema Knowledge (PSK) and reflecting it in user interface design are discussed in this thesis. Users develop PSK while using a specific system and apply it to the use of similar devices. The proposed analysis of PSK is based on the task-interface matching framework within which the user interaction knowledge and the related design problems are stated in a relational network. This thesis proposes an integrative method to reflect those relations based on a systematic analysis of the PSK. To validate the proposed method, a case study was conducted. The results show that the application of the proposed PSK analysis enhances the output of user interface design.
