Topic
Semiotic engineering
About: Semiotic engineering is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 170 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2695 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
Book•
11 Feb 2005
TL;DR: The Semiotic Engineering of Human-Computer Interaction (SIEI) as mentioned in this paper is an account of HCI that draws on concepts from semiotics and computer science to investigate the relationship between user and designer.
Abstract: In The Semiotic Engineering of Human-Computer Interaction, Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza proposes an account of HCI that draws on concepts from semiotics and computer science to investigate the relationship between user and designer. Semiotics is the study of signs, and the essence of semiotic engineering is the communication between designers and users at interaction time; designers must somehow be present in the interface to tell users how to use the signs that make up a system or program. This approach, which builds on -- but goes further than -- the currently dominant user-centered approach, allows designers to communicate their overall vision and therefore helps users understand designs -- rather than simply which icon to click.According to de Souza's account, both designers and users are interlocutors in an overall communication process that takes place through an interface of words, graphics, and behavior. Designers must tell users what they mean by the artifact they have created, and users must understand and respond to what they are being told. By coupling semiotic theory and engineering, de Souza's approach to HCI design encompasses the principles, the materials, the processes, and the possibilities for producing meaningful interactive computer system discourse and achieves a broader perspective than cognitive, ethnographic, or ergonomic approaches.De Souza begins with a theoretical overview and detailed exposition of the semiotic engineering account of HCI. She then shows how this approach can be applied specifically to HCI evaluation and design of online help systems, customization and end-user programming, and multiuser applications. Finally, she reflects on the potential and opportunities for research in semiotic engineering.
771 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents a theoretically-based online community framework (OCF) and elaborate on its communication constituent using semiotic theory to help demonstrate the efficacy of the framework.
294 citations
19 Nov 2006
TL;DR: This paper describes semiotic inspection, a semiotics engineering evaluation method, which is based on a semiotic theory of HCI, and discusses its theoretical stance in semiotic engineering compared to the communicability evaluation method.
Abstract: This paper describes semiotic inspection, a semiotic engineering evaluation method. It briefly identifies the essence of theory-based evaluation methods in HCI. Then it provides a detailed description and illustration of this method, which is based on a semiotic theory of HCI. It discusses its theoretical stance in semiotic engineering compared to the communicability evaluation method, as well as the perceived advantages and disadvantages of semiotic inspection. Finally, it points at the next steps in the semiotic inspection research agenda.
194 citations
Book•
30 Mar 2009TL;DR: De Souza and Leito as discussed by the authors discuss how SIM and CEM can also be used in scientific contexts to generate new knowledge about human-computer interaction (HCI) and how to improve the metacommunication of specific systems.
Abstract: Semiotic engineering was originally proposed as a semiotic approach to designing user interface languages. Over the years, with research done at the Department of Informatics of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, it evolved into a semiotic theory of human-computer interaction (HCI). It views HCI as computer-mediated communication between designers and users at interaction time. The system speaks for its designers in various types of conversations specified at design time. These conversations communicate the designers' understanding of who the users are, what they know the users want or need to do, in which preferred ways, and why. The designers' message to users includes even the interactive language in which users will have to communicate back with the system in order to achieve their specific goals. Hence, the process is, in fact, one of communication about communication, or metacommunication. Semiotic engineering has two methods to evaluate the quality of metacommunication in HCI: the semiotic inspection method (SIM) and the communicability evaluation method (CEM). Up to now, they have been mainly used and discussed in technical contexts, focusing on how to detect problems and how to improve the metacommunication of specific systems. In this book, Clarisse de Souza and Carla Leito discuss how SIM and CEM, which are both qualitative methods, can also be used in scientific contexts to generate new knowledge about HCI. The discussion goes into deep considerations about scientific methodology, calling the reader's attention to the essence of qualitative methods in research and the kinds of results they can produce. To illustrate their points, the authors present an extensive case study with a free open-source digital audio editor called Audacity. They show how the results obtained with a triangulation of SIM and CEM point at new research avenues not only for semiotic engineering and HCI but also for other areas of computer science such as software engineering and programming. Table of Contents: Introduction / Essence of Semiotic Engineering / Semiotic Engineering Methods / Case Study with Audacity / Lessons Learned with Semiotic Engineering Methods / The Near Future of Semiotic Engineering
190 citations
Book•
1 Mar 2005
125 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2017 | 27 |
| 2016 | 11 |