Ethics and anesthetics of the image interface

Abstract

In order to better understand the effects of technology on human users and to determine improved design parameters for user interface development it is important to establish a taxonomy which provides classification and establishes and helps analyze causality.John Walker (1991) has suggested five significant stages in the historical development of computer/human interface: jackfields/ plugboards; punch cards and batch processing; timesharing and interaction; menus; and the GUI/WIMP (windows, icons, mice and pull-down-menu) interfaces. Considering this analysis it would seem to me that the following taxonomy may be of interest. It is based on the semiology of the American philosopher Charles Saunders Peirce and uses his three classifications of signs: symbolic, conic and indexical.