Interface metaphor
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An Interface metaphor is a set of user interface visuals, actions and procedures that exploit specific knowledge that users already have of other domains. The purpose of the interface metaphor is to give the user instantaneous knowledge about how to interact with the user interface.
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[edit] Functional definition
Interface metaphors are designed to be similar to physical entities but also have their own properties (e.g., desktop metaphor and web portals).
They can be based on an activity, an object, or a combination of both. They work with users' familiar knowledge to help them understand ‘the unfamiliar.’ They conjure up the essence of the unfamiliar activity, but they put it in terms users are better able to understand.
[edit] Generation of metaphors
[edit] Historical contributions
In the mid-twentieth century, computers were extremely rare and used only by specialists. They were equipped with numerically-based interfaces comprehendible only to these select few. In the 1970s, technologists at Xerox developed the first personal computer, the Xerox Star.
Unfortunately, the Xerox Star was too expensive for the average consumer and thus unmarketable. An up-and-coming company called Apple Computer developed the idea of a personal computer even further in 1984, by launching the first Apple Personal Computer. The new system implemented graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to enhance the productivity of inexperienced consumers.
An example of a GUI: Windows 1995
In order to sustain efficiency, Apple computers succeeding the original utilized a similar user interface. Computer company Microsoft replicated many of the features first presented by Apple to be used in its system as well, enabling the consumer to interchangeably use computers manufactured from both companies and learn to use a computer in a relatively short period of time.
[edit] Recent findings
Interface metaphors have come a long way since they were first used. Recently, it has been predicted that the latest metaphors will come from life sciences. Others may come from health care or other industries, as they are going to become information-dense environments. An interface for a next-generation technology might come from the gaming world, where quick visualization metaphors will be.
A downside to changing interface metaphors on a constant basis is that the owners of software with many users are reluctant to make big changes, and their interfaces tend to evolve incrementally and to keep their familiar look and familiarity.
[edit] Evaluation
Software designers attempt to make computer applications easier to use for both novice and expert users by creating concrete metaphors that resemble the users' real-world experiences. Continual technological improvement has made metaphors depict these real-world experiences more realistically to ultimately enhance interface performance.
Beginning users, however, could use a sort of help box, because the metaphor not always going to be clear enough for them to understand, no matter how much effort its programmers devote to making it resemble something the users understand.
Experts, on the other hand, understand what is going on with the technical aspects of an interface metaphor. They know what they want to do and they know how to do it—-they could just use a way to do it faster, so they could use shortcuts.
While the concept behind interface metaphors appears simple (to promote more efficient facilitation of a computer), a lack of empirical evidence exists to support these claims. Little research has actually been completed that demonstrates the benefits of implementing metaphors in computer systems as well as what makes a metaphor most effective. Therefore, it is imperative that more research be done to discover how to further improve interface metaphors so that both novice and expert computer users are able to increase their performance.
[edit] References
- Carroll, J. K., Mack, R. L. & Kellogg, W. A. (1988), Interface Metaphors and User Interface Design, in M. Helander (ed.), "Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction", Elsevier Science, pp.67-85.
- Zmoeinig,C. (2000). The graphical user interface. Time for a paradigm shift? Retrieved March 31, 2006 from http://www.sensomatic.com/ch2/gui/index.html
- Vaananen K. and J. Schimdt (1994). "User Interface for Hypermedia: How to Find Good Metaphors?". In Proceedings of CHI'94. Boston, April 1994.
