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An Interface Metaphor is an icon used to metaphorically explain a more abstract concept. Its purpose is to promote easier navigation and access to information. Mac OS X Panther allows continuous scaling of icons up to 128x128 pixels A computer icon is a small pictogram, usually ranging from 16 by 16 pixels up to 128 by 128 pixels, which represents a file, folder, application or device on a computer operating system. ...
 An example of an interface metaphor (Vaananen & Schmidt, 1994). Image File history File links Image17. ...
Image File history File links Image17. ...
Functional Definition Interface metaphors are designed to be similar to physical entities but also have their own properties. (e.g.: desktop metaphor, web portals.) The desktop metaphor is a set of unifying concepts currently used in a number of GUI-based operating systems. ...
See also portals on Wikipedia Web portals are sites on the World Wide Web that typically provide personalized capabilities to their visitors. ...
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.
System Problems In most situations, icons must be small so they do not intrude on an application's workspace. This results in a limited message space, reductions in recognition potential, and severe design constraints. Application software is a loosely defined subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform. ...
Workspace is a term used in computer programming. ...
It can often be extremely difficult to find sets of icons that are useful across many different cultures. The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ...
Creating icons for every function can also prove problematic. In many modern computer-based applications, system functionality is extremely high. The use of many functions can mean the design of many icons.
The way metaphors are used within an interface can also cause problems. An inappropriate or badly used metaphor can mislead users into believing that an event has occurred when it has not.
In particular, when interface metaphors are used poorly, their icons can be much less able to transmit their meanings, and therefore their functions, to users. The meanings of the icons needs to be easily understood within the context of the interface.
In addition, the communicativeness of icons can have major effects on both their learnability and their memorability. If an icon is highly communicative, then it is much more likely to be easy to learn. In addition, icons that are easy to learn will generally be highly memorable.
Generation of Metaphors
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. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...
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Xerox Star 8010 The Xerox Star workstation, officially known as the 8010 Star Information System was introduced by Xerox Corporation in 1981. ...
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. Apple Computer, Inc. ...
A graphical user interface (or GUI, pronounced gooey) is a method of interacting with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulation of graphical images and widgets in addition to text. ...
http://www.sensomatic.com/chz/gui/image/win95.jpg Windows 1995 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. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, SEHK: 4338) is an international computer technology corporation has global annual sales of over 41. ...
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. Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology is the science of life (from the Greek words bios = life and logos = word). ...
Health care or healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions [1]. The organised provision of such services may constitute a healthcare system. ...
This article is about computer and video games. ...
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. Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ...
Interface Metaphors have become very popular, and we are often unaware that we are using them.
Apple is in the process of designing a new interface: "Aqua." It looks similar to older interfaces, but it has new functions that replace older ones, such as new window controls, menus, and dialogue boxes. Mac OS X 10. ...
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. Conintual 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.
References 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.
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