Case Study: Expert Evaluations of Complex UIs - Cross-Cultural Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design - page 47

the toolbox in the second group of tools from the top. All the tools in the group
can modify the content of the picture in different ways (not cutting or cropping the
picture, which modifies only the lexical dimension). The button is not readily visible,
so the user has to click and hold the first icon of the subgroup, after which a list of
all the included tools appears. The first subgroup icon has an arrow attribute in the
bottom-right corner. The subgroup contains also two “retouching” brushes (“Healing
Brush Tool” and “Spot Healing Brush Tool”) and a patch tool.
Syntax.
The system processes are constituted by elements of interaction language. In the
interaction transcript we can find many of the elements mentioned earlier. There are
basic lexemes (“click,” “option-click”), interaction sentences (“Open the picture to
adjust”), rhetorical tropes (e.g., verb metaphors, such as “Red Eye Tool,” symbolized
by the combination of an indexical crosshair and symbolic human eye; metonymy,
e.g., when clicking on the center of the eye applies the effect to the whole eye), and
interaction games (these are the complete functions enabling us to achieve our goal,
e.g., “Remove red eye”). The designer's narration element is found, for example, in
the tool tip that helps reinforce an icon's meaning. Another example: In the status
bar of the window or a dialogue window, text gives instruction about how to use the
tool. In other dialogue windows, the UI presents the user with different choices, and
finally, in the help menu, the UI describes the program functions comprehensively.
Rhetorical tropes.
Perhaps the most prominent of the rhetorical tropes in this context is the metaphor. The
program metaphor builds upon the metaphor of a painter's canvas or photographer's
studio. The product tries to transfer the environment into the present paradigm. There-
fore, the image is placed on a “canvas,” the pointer changes to different “brushes,” the
user can further apply different optical “filters,” or use a choice of retouching “tools.”
By applying this approach, a number of inconsistencies emerge, which force users
to twist or update their interpretation of the metaphor. The canvas, for example, is
in fact infinite and can be resized in different ways at any time. The picture “lying”
on the canvas can consist of infinite layers. Almost any tool can be customized using
the “brush” metaphor: One can modify the thickness, shape, or profile of the brush.
A filter can be used afterwards, applied as a part of retouching. More fundamentally,
time can be manipulated also through the “undo” function that steps back through the
history of actions.
Interaction phases.
On the level of interaction sentence, the interaction changes to reflect the constant
evaluation of results on the user's part. The interaction sentence is then modified
or repeated accordingly. Considering the example from the transcripts, the action is
modified after the system's feedback (when clicking on the plane to clone with the
clone tool, the user is instructed to option-click on the source plane first), the action is
repeated (click on several instances of red eyes in the picture), or the action is needed
only once (when applying the changes by pressing the “OK” button). The middle of