Semiotic Perception of Signs in Web Interfaces on Mobile Devices

Signs and icons are a part of user interfaces (UIs) that are both designed for and mediated between humans and mobile devices in order for users to achieve tasks. Users act on signs as a result of their comprehension of a sign’s content. Meaningful signs improve users’ comprehension. The study of signs and its meaning- semiotics – has been used in HCI to improve the usability of systems. Signs appear in many different contexts, and their interpretation varies between contexts. One increasingly prevalent context is mobile devices, but there is scant knowledge of how the interpretation of signs is affected by small displays and other mobile limitations. We propose a study for determining the influence of mobile devices on the interpretations of icons and signs by users. This study focuses on the impact of interaction sequences on the accuracy of user interpretations of signs, as series of displays are often used instead of large one-screen interfaces in mobile interfaces.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Waleed AlNuwaiser

George Buchanan

Conference

Publication date: July 2016

Publication date (Print): July 2016

Pages: 1-9

Affiliations

[0001]Centre for HCI Design

City University, London

Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2016.10

SO-VID: 1c12c88d-b974-47b1-98fd-d068727c3261

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of the 30th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference

Conference acronym: HCI

Conference number: 30

Conference location: Bournemouth University, Poole, UK

Conference date: 11 - 15 July 2016

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Fusion

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2016.10

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

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Helen SharpPreece JennyYvonne Rogers Interaction design: beyond humancomputer interaction 2007
Davide BolchiniRupa ChatterjiMarco Speroni Developing heuristics for the semiotics inspection of websites SIGDOC 2009 ACM
Abdalha AliMuasaad AlrasheediAbdelkader OudaLuiz Fernando Capretz A study of the interface usability issues of mobile learning applications for smart phones from the users perspective arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.01875
Muhammad Nazrul Islam A Systematic Literature Review of Semiotics Perception in User Interfaces. Journal of Systems and Information Technology 15 1 45 77
ISO 9241-11: Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) - Part 11 : Guidance on usability 1998
Christian StickelHans-Martin PohlJan-Thorsten Milde Cutting edge design or a beginner's mistake?- semiotic inspection of iOS7 icon design changes in Design, User Experience, and Usability. User Experience Design for Diverse Interaction Platforms and Environments Springer 358 369
S.Peirce CharlesPaul WeissCharles Hartshorne Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce 1931 London Belknap Press of Harvard U.P
Ferdinand de Saussure Course in General Linguistics 1916 London Duckworth
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Aurora Bedford Icon Usability 2014 cited 20 Jan 2016 Available from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/icon-usability/
Franco Landriscina Simulation and learning: A model-centered approach Springer Science & Business Media
Joao QueirozFloyd Merrell Semiosis and pragmatism Sign Systems Studies 2006 34 1 37 64
Philippe DessusDaniel Peraya Cognitive modeling of icon comprehension Enhancing Learning through HCI Hershey Idea Group Publishing 2007
Jan DerbovenDavid GeertsDirk De Grooff Researching user interpretation beyond designer intentions. in CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems ACM
ISO 9186-1:2014 Graphical symbols --Test methods -- Part 1: Method for testing comprehensibility 2015 20 Jan 2016
Charles TijusJavier BarcenillaBrigitte Cambon De LavaletteJean-Guy Meunier The design, understanding and usage of pictograms Studies in writing 2007 21 17
Jennifer Snow WolffMichael S. Wogalter Comprehension of pictorial symbols: Effects of context and test method Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 1998 40 2 173 186
Muhammad Nazrul IslamHarry Bouwman An assessment of a semiotic framework for evaluating user-intuitive Web interface signs Universal Access in the Information Society 14 4 563 582
Clarisse Sieckenius de SouzaCarla Faria LeitãoRaquel Oliveira Prates'e da Silva Elton Jos The Semiotic Inspection Method. in Proceedings of VII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2006 New York, NY, USA ACM
Soraia de S ReisRaquel O Prates Assessing the semiotic inspection method: the evaluators' perspective.in Proceedings of the 11th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems Brazilian Computer Society
Umberto Eco A theory of semiotics / Umberto Eco First Midland Book ed. ed 1979 Indiana University Press Bloomington ix 354
Marco Speroni Mastering the semiotics of information-intensive web interfaces 2006 Universit della Svizzera italiana
Jan DerbovenDries De RoeckMathijs Verstraete Semiotic analysis of multi-touch interface design: The MuTable case study.International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 70 10 714 728
Clarisse Sieckenius De SouzaCarla Faria Leitão Semiotic engineering methods for scientific research in HCI.Synthesis Lectures on Human-Centered Informatics 2009 2 1 1 122
Antti Oulasvirta Human-computer interaction in mobile context: a cognitive resources perspective Unpublished licentiate thesis, University of Helsinki Finland 2004
Dongsong ZhangBoonlit Adipat Challenges, methodologies, and issues in the usability testing of mobile applications International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 2005 18 3 293 308
Tingyi S. LinCai Siou Lai The recognition and comprehension of application icons on mobile devices 5th IADSR 4069 4078
Adrian FernandezSilvia AbrahãoEmilio Insfran A systematic review on the effectiveness of web usability evaluation methods. in Evaluation & Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE 2012), 16th International Conference on IET
Jennifer FerreiraPippin BarrJames Noble The semiotics of user interface redesign. in Proceedings of the Sixth Australasian conference on User interface 40 2005 Australian Computer Society,Inc
Petter Silfver The Elements of Navigation 2012 cited 2016 16 January 2016 Available from http://www.informationdesign.org/the elem ents of navigation/
Anind K. DeyJonna H¤kkil¤ Context-awareness and mobile devices User interface design and evaluation for mobile technology 2008 1 205 217
Robert SchleicherTilo Westermann et al Research On Mobile HCI-Taken Out Of Context Research and design innovations for mobile user experience 60 75
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Catherine GarrisonMichael Ehringhaus Formative and summative assessments in the classroom 2007
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Kuo-Ying Huang Challenges in human-computer interaction design for mobile devices. in Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2009 I WCECS 2009

[2] Helen SharpPreece JennyYvonne Rogers Interaction design: beyond humancomputer interaction 2007

[3] Davide BolchiniRupa ChatterjiMarco Speroni Developing heuristics for the semiotics inspection of websites SIGDOC 2009 ACM

[4] Abdalha AliMuasaad AlrasheediAbdelkader OudaLuiz Fernando Capretz A study of the interface usability issues of mobile learning applications for smart phones from the users perspective arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.01875

[5] Muhammad Nazrul Islam A Systematic Literature Review of Semiotics Perception in User Interfaces. Journal of Systems and Information Technology 15 1 45 77

[6] ISO 9241-11: Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) - Part 11 : Guidance on usability 1998

[7] Christian StickelHans-Martin PohlJan-Thorsten Milde Cutting edge design or a beginner's mistake?- semiotic inspection of iOS7 icon design changes in Design, User Experience, and Usability. User Experience Design for Diverse Interaction Platforms and Environments Springer 358 369

[8] S.Peirce CharlesPaul WeissCharles Hartshorne Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce 1931 London Belknap Press of Harvard U.P

[9] Ferdinand de Saussure Course in General Linguistics 1916 London Duckworth

[10] Chrysoula GatsouAnastasios PolitisDimitrios Zevgolis The Importance of Mobile Interface Icons on User Interaction IJCSA 9 3 92 107

[11] Aurora Bedford Icon Usability 2014 cited 20 Jan 2016 Available from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/icon-usability/

[12] Franco Landriscina Simulation and learning: A model-centered approach Springer Science & Business Media

[13] Joao QueirozFloyd Merrell Semiosis and pragmatism Sign Systems Studies 2006 34 1 37 64

[14] Philippe DessusDaniel Peraya Cognitive modeling of icon comprehension Enhancing Learning through HCI Hershey Idea Group Publishing 2007

[15] Jan DerbovenDavid GeertsDirk De Grooff Researching user interpretation beyond designer intentions. in CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems ACM

[16] ISO 9186-1:2014 Graphical symbols --Test methods -- Part 1: Method for testing comprehensibility 2015 20 Jan 2016

[17] Charles TijusJavier BarcenillaBrigitte Cambon De LavaletteJean-Guy Meunier The design, understanding and usage of pictograms Studies in writing 2007 21 17

[18] Jennifer Snow WolffMichael S. Wogalter Comprehension of pictorial symbols: Effects of context and test method Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 1998 40 2 173 186

[19] Muhammad Nazrul IslamHarry Bouwman An assessment of a semiotic framework for evaluating user-intuitive Web interface signs Universal Access in the Information Society 14 4 563 582

[20] Clarisse Sieckenius de SouzaCarla Faria LeitãoRaquel Oliveira Prates'e da Silva Elton Jos The Semiotic Inspection Method. in Proceedings of VII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2006 New York, NY, USA ACM

[21] Soraia de S ReisRaquel O Prates Assessing the semiotic inspection method: the evaluators' perspective.in Proceedings of the 11th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems Brazilian Computer Society

[22] Umberto Eco A theory of semiotics / Umberto Eco First Midland Book ed. ed 1979 Indiana University Press Bloomington ix 354

[23] Marco Speroni Mastering the semiotics of information-intensive web interfaces 2006 Universit della Svizzera italiana

[24] Jan DerbovenDries De RoeckMathijs Verstraete Semiotic analysis of multi-touch interface design: The MuTable case study.International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 70 10 714 728

[25] Clarisse Sieckenius De SouzaCarla Faria Leitão Semiotic engineering methods for scientific research in HCI.Synthesis Lectures on Human-Centered Informatics 2009 2 1 1 122

[26] Antti Oulasvirta Human-computer interaction in mobile context: a cognitive resources perspective Unpublished licentiate thesis, University of Helsinki Finland 2004

[27] Dongsong ZhangBoonlit Adipat Challenges, methodologies, and issues in the usability testing of mobile applications International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 2005 18 3 293 308

[28] Tingyi S. LinCai Siou Lai The recognition and comprehension of application icons on mobile devices 5th IADSR 4069 4078

[29] Adrian FernandezSilvia AbrahãoEmilio Insfran A systematic review on the effectiveness of web usability evaluation methods. in Evaluation & Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE 2012), 16th International Conference on IET

[30] Jennifer FerreiraPippin BarrJames Noble The semiotics of user interface redesign. in Proceedings of the Sixth Australasian conference on User interface 40 2005 Australian Computer Society,Inc

[31] Petter Silfver The Elements of Navigation 2012 cited 2016 16 January 2016 Available from http://www.informationdesign.org/the elem ents of navigation/

[32] Anind K. DeyJonna H¤kkil¤ Context-awareness and mobile devices User interface design and evaluation for mobile technology 2008 1 205 217

[33] Robert SchleicherTilo Westermann et al Research On Mobile HCI-Taken Out Of Context Research and design innovations for mobile user experience 60 75

[34] L. Paul Saettler The evolution of American educational technology 2004 IAP

[35] Catherine GarrisonMichael Ehringhaus Formative and summative assessments in the classroom 2007

[36] Assessment-Inquiry Connection cited 06 02 2016 Available from http://www.iustsciencenow.com/assessment/index.htm

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