Case Study: Expert Evaluations of Complex UIs - Cross-Cultural Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design - page 50

(only one model should be chosen). GIMP shares the same user group as Adobe
Photoshop (photographers and advertising designers).

Symbols.
The users are addressed by symbols related to the user domain. In this case, GIMP's
icon of a stylized dog head connotes playfulness, fun, and also ease of use. The
icon is not used on the splash screen, however, in favor of a planet picture. The
toolbars and other screens show larger and more colorful button icons and larger
dialog windows, which are easily reached by the pointer. The icon symbols used in
the menus, for example, in the “Tools” menu, make no distinction between nouns
(e.g., Pencil, Eraser, Text) and verbs (e.g., Zoom, Measure, Heal) which could be
helpful. Also, the symbols are created by different methods (e.g., the Pencil tool has
an iconic representation of a pen but the Zoom tool icon is created by metonymy with
its action and uses a zooming lens; other are connected only loosely, as in the case of
Swap Colors).

Syntax.
The system processes are constituted by the same UI language components analyzed
above for Adobe Photoshop. In GIMP, there is only a difference in the tool metaphor
used (“Remove red eyes”). The designer's narration element is found in the dialogue
window, where it gives instruction about how to use the tool (“Manually selecting the
eyes may improve the results”) and presents the user with different choices.

Rhetorical tropes.
Perhaps the most prominent of the rhetorical tropes in this context is the metaphor.
As is the case of syntax, the same set of metaphors is shared with Adobe Photoshop.

Interaction phases.
The interaction phases are similar to those mentioned above in the Adobe Photoshop
analysis. Also, the interaction sentence level is similar. Taking the example from the
transcripts, the action is modified after the system's feedback (when selecting the tool
the user is instructed, that “Manually selecting the eyes may improve the results,”
the action is repeated (apply the tool on every red eye separately), or the action was
needed only once (when letting the system apply the filter automatically and clicking
the “OK” button). However, to get the best results, the user is forced to return to his
or her previous state and select the eyes manually first, thus traversing the natural
timeline.

4.1.2 B ARREL DISTORTION

Adobe Photoshop steps
(0) Open the picture to adjust.
(1) Find the proper function in the menu bar or toolbox.

(a) The subtask involved was to look at the toolbox for a button resem-
bling the intended action. Nothing like that was found.