Language and Communication: Essential Concepts for User Interface and Documentation Design

✍ Scribed by Agnes Kukulska-Hulme

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 173
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Computer interfaces and documentation are notoriously difficult for any user, regardless of his or her level of experience. Advances in technology are not making applications more friendly. Introducing concepts from linguistics and language teaching, Language and Communication proposes a new approach to computer interface design. The book explains for the first time why the much hyped user-friendly interface is treated with such derision by the user community. The author argues that software and hardware designers should consider such fundamental language concepts as meaning, context, function, variety, and equivalence. She goes on to show how imagining an interface as a new language can be an invaluable design exercise, calling into question deeply held beliefs and assumptions about what users will or will not understand. Written for a wide range of computer scientists and professionals, and presuming no prior knowledge of language-related terminology, this volume is a key step in the on-going information revolution.

✦ Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction and Foundation......Page 12
Contents......Page 10
ONE: Introduction......Page 14
TWO: Foundation Concepts......Page 32
Part II: Essential Language Concepts and the User Interface......Page 50
THREE: Language Varieties......Page 52
FOUR: Language Change......Page 64
FIVE: Language Correspondences......Page 76
SIX: The Effect of Context......Page 88
SEVEN: The Effect of Medium and Interaction......Page 103
Part III: Languages for Special Purposes and Functions......Page 112
EIGHT: Labeling and Abbreviation......Page 114
NINE: Explanation and Assistance......Page 120
Part IV: Summary and Recommendations......Page 136
TEN: Making It Work......Page 138
Appendix: Language Resources and Further Readings......Page 146
Bibliography......Page 152
A......Page 160
C......Page 161
E......Page 162
G......Page 163
L......Page 164
N......Page 165
P......Page 166
S......Page 167
T......Page 168
W......Page 169
C......Page 170
L......Page 171
S......Page 172
Z......Page 173