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Enactment in information farming
HYPERTEXT '93 Proceedings of the fifth ACM conference on Hypertext
The semiotic engineering of user interface languages
International Journal of Man-Machine Studies
Of metaphor and the difficulty of computer discourse
Communications of the ACM
Minimising conceptual baggage: making choices about metaphor
HCI '94 Proceedings of the conference on People and computers IX
ACM SIGCHI Bulletin - Special celebration issue: 50 years of ACM
A semiotic framework for multi-user interfaces
ACM SIGCHI Bulletin
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human factors in computing systems
TOG on Interface
Knowledge Representation and Metaphor
Knowledge Representation and Metaphor
User Centered System Design; New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction
User Centered System Design; New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction
Apple: The inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders
Apple: The inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders
The importance of models in marking complex
Selected papers of the 8th Interdisciplinary Workshop on Informatics and Psychology: Mental Models and Human-Computer Interaction 2
Metaphors and Layers of Signification: The Consequences for Advanced User Service Interfaces
IS&N '94 Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Intelligence in Broadband Services and Networks: Towards a Pan-European Telecommunication Service Infrastructure
Learning text editor semantics by analogy
CHI '83 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
CHI '82 Proceedings of the 1982 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
An e-customer behavior model with online analytical mining for internet marketing planning
Decision Support Systems
The semiotic inspection method
IHC '06 Proceedings of VII Brazilian symposium on Human factors in computing systems
An e-customer behavior model with online analytical mining for internet marketing planning
Decision Support Systems
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This paper presents a semiotic technique as a means of exploring meaning and understanding in interface design and use. This is examined through a study of the interaction between the 'file' metaphor and 'save as' command metaphor. The behaviour of these (from a functional or computational basis) do not exactly match, or map onto, the meaning of the metaphor. We examine both the denotation of a term to the user, i.e. its literal meaning to that person, and the term's connotations, i.e. any other meanings associated with the term. We suggest that the technique applied is useful in predicting future problems with understanding the use of metaphor at the interface and with designing appropriate signification for human-computer interaction. Variation in connotation was expected but a more fundamental difference in denotation was also uncovered. Moreover, the results clearly demonstrate that consistency in the denotation of a term is critical in achieving a good user understanding of the command.