Aaron Marcus Aaron Marcus Associates, San FranciscoManaging Metaphors in Advanced UIs
May 13, 1994
Metaphors are a key component of user interfaces, in addition
to mental models, navigation schema, presentation standards,
and interaction paradigms. Advanced user interface developers
are introducing new metaphorical references or adjusting existing
ones, often without a clear understanding of the nature of metaphors
or their history in communication. The use of metaphor is only
one of several rhetorical techniques of substitution outlined
in visual semiotics. This presentation will introduce the subject
of metaphors, look at their use in computer systems of the past,
present, and future, and suggest ways in which the mappings could
be studied more systematically, varied for different cultures,
and perhaps be automated in part.
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Aaron Marcus received a BA in Physics from Princeton University
(1965) and a BFA and MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University
Art School (1968). He is an internationally recognized authority
on the design of user interfaces, interactive multimedia, and
printing/publishing documents, including charts, forms, icons,
and screens. He co-authored Human Factors and Typography for
More Readable Programs (1990) and Graphic Design for Electronic
Documents and User Interfaces (1992), both published by Addison-Wesley.
Mr. Marcus was the world's first professional graphic designer
to involved full-time in computer graphics (1967), the first
graphic designer to program a desktop publishing system (for
the AT&T Picturephone, 1969-71), the first graphic designer
to design virtual realities (1971-73), the first graphic designer
to establish an independent computer-based graphic design firm
for the purpose of designing user interfaces, electronic documents,
and multimedia (1982). As President of Aaron Marcus and Associates,
he and his staff design for and consult with marketing and development
groups at 3M, Apple, Applicon-Schlumberger, Beckman Instruments,
Digital Equipment, Dupont, Eastman Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
Linotype-Hell, MCC, McDonnell-Douglas, Motorola, NCR, Reuters,
and Ricoh, among others.
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