I think this thread is starting to show some salient aspects about metaphor that warrant some discussion, namely what is a metaphor and when is one appropriate.
In my view, there are two kinds of metaphors: experiential and explanatory. Experiential metaphors are practically transparent - we use them without even thinking about them when we talk about one domain as another. My favorite example is POLITICS IS WAR - there are campaigns, one party attacks another, such a position is indefensible, what is their strategy for the ground game, etc. The way Westerners practice politics is talked about (and to an extent, experienced) the same way they practice war. The explanatory type is transient and (occasionally) forced. It is used to make a specific point about how one element in some domain (like UE architect) is kinda sorta like an element in another domain (like film directing). Yes, I can see some connections, but the systematicity of an experiential domain simply isn't there. That isn't to say "pshaw" to the whole thread - it's fun to try and link things together. But I think this opens up a larger topic about the place of metaphor in interaction design. I seem to recall a number of works that suggest leveraging metaphors in interaction, such as the "cut, copy, paste" of photocopying, which mapped to word processors, which in turn was generalized to OSs in general. That to me seems like a great experiential metaphor because users are manipulating things in the same way for the same purpose. But then I imagine some eager IxDers trying to ram every interface and every vocabulary item into a metaphor that just doesn't fit. I would argue that interaction designers should really think about how they choose and deploy metaphors and guard against "forcing" explanatory metaphors. As one of my friends says "Just because you can do it, it doesn't mean you can do it for a living". In this case, "just because you can imagine a metaphor doesn't mean the metaphor will make sense to your users". Out of curiosity, has anyone out there read Lakoff & Johnson's "Metaphors we live by"? Best, dave katten On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 2:58 PM, W Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Grip would be analogous to IT support for the team, I guess. > > On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 3:55 PM, Oleh Kovalchuke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > We didn't have slides. Instead the presentation served as a seed for > > audience discussion (we try to encourage audience participation, hence > all > > the interesting metaphors). > > > > As far as I understand, Project Manager analogous to Producer. Key Grip? > I > > wonder myself... > > > > Another good book on film, which is relevant to user experience design, > is > > Jon Boorstin's "The Hollywood Eye. What makes movies work." > > > > Do come to our next meetup on May 14th :) -- it will be as exciting. > Simon > > Hill of SpireMedia will cover user experience research and how it > translates > > into online experience. > > > > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
