Re: Conceptual, Semantic, Syntactic and Lexical Design

I agree the scheme is useful, but I always feel its expression is limited by
its links to language when not all communication follows a linguistic
metaphor. Semantic (meaning) - as you exemplify, a folder suggests itself to
be a container (visual semantics), just as a 'raspberry' (acoustic) suggests
an error (in my current game) - feedback! I also like the 'tring' (macintosh
system X acoustic feedback for completed actions) which definitely sounds
like success, and the 'bong' which could only mean failure !

Frank Wilson
Interaction Design




on 17/11/03 11:15, William Hudson at [email protected] wrote:

> Foley and Van Dam's (et al.) much cited (but little used) elements of UI
> design are:
>
> Conceptual (frequently omitted in citations, I notice)
> Semantic (functional)
> Syntactic (sequencing)
> Lexical (hardware binding)
>
> I have no trouble describing most of these sensibly (at least I like to
> think so<g>), but semantic/functional is giving me trouble. If concepts
> (e.g. a conceptual model including attributes and relationships) are
> dealt with at the conceptual level and sequences (e.g. use cases or user
> stories) are dealt with at the syntactic level, what does semantic or
> functional design look like? The sort of thing I can think of is what it
> means to drag a document to a folder. Do others agree? How does it apply
> to output/feedback from the system? Is it mostly to do with state
> changes in the interface?
>
> Thoughts and examples gratefully received!
>
> TIA!
>
> Regards,
>
> William Hudson
> Syntagm Ltd
> Design for Usability
> US Toll Free 1-866-SYNTAGM
> UK 01235-522859
> World +44-1235-522859
> mailto:[email protected]
> http://www.syntagm.co.uk
>
> PS - The reference is Foley, van Dam, Feiner and Hughes (1990),
> _Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice_, Addison-Wesley
>
> There is a "reissued" edition available:
> Amazon.com -
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/asin/0201848406/syntagmltd02
> Amazon.co.uk (paperback) -
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/asin/0321210565/syntagmltd
>
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