This introduction to technical translation and usability draws on a broad range of research and makes the topic both accessible and applicable to those involved in the practice and study of translation. Readers learn how to improve and assess the quality of technical translations using cognitive psychology, usability engineering and technical communication. A practical usability study illustrates the theories, methods and benefits of usability engineering.

Chapter 4 Usability Engineering(p. 151-152)

Accommodating the diverse human perceptual, cognitive, and motor abilities is a challenge to every designer…the presence of a computer is only incidental to the design, human needs and abilities are the guiding forces. (Schneiderman 1998: 18)
This chapter deals with usability engineering and how we can adapt user guides or"interfaces" to suit humans while making their work as simple and undemanding as possible. In essence, usability engineering allows us to put our understanding of human cognition into practice. The chapter will discuss how an understanding of cognition can inform the way we look at the translation of user guides to make them more usable and to ensure that users can work with a product effectively and efficiently. First of all it is necessary to define what we mean by interface and then apply this definition to texts. By treating user guides as a form of interface between users and a software application, we are able to draw on various principles of interface design and set clear usability goals which will guide the translation process. We will then explore ways of examining user guides from an interaction point of view to identify areas where we can make improvements.

This chapter will then introduce Iconic Linkage (IL) as one possible method for improving the usability of user guides. The chapter will present the origins and nature of IL and proceed to discuss the potential benefits of IL and how it can improve usability.

Interfaces

When we speak about user interfaces many people assume we are referring specifically to the graphical user interfaces (GUI) of modern computers. While GUIs are perhaps one of the most common and recognisable types of interface, they are precisely that– types of interface. The reality is that not all interfaces have windows, icons and menus: interfaces can be found on VCRs, mobile phones, digital watches, ATM machines and even microwave ovens. It is very easy to give examples of interfaces but actually defining interfaces is another matter. Card et al. (1983:4) state that it is easy to locate the interface between computer and human simply by starting at the CPU and tracing"a data path outward… until you stumble across a human being". This, however, by the authors’ own admission is less than clear and we are left with no real clue as to the nature or boundaries of the interface. Faulkner (1998:54) maintains that the human-computer interface mediates between the user and the computer system. Again, this is somewhat vague. Perhaps we should look to the function of the interface in order to understand what an interface is. Bødker (1991:77) proposes that"the basic role of the user interface is to support the user in acting on an object or with a subject". She continues by saying that a good user interface allows users to focus on the task at hand rather than on other objects or subjects. So, like the software system itself, the purpose of interfaces is to allow us to do something– in this case, to use the system. In other words, an interface is a tool or a means to an end. Such a view is echoed by Raskin (2000:2) who defines interfaces as"the way that you accomplish tasks with a product". Perhaps one of the clearest and most useful definitions of an interface is that provided by Preece (1994:13):

The user interface of a computer system is the medium through which a user communicates with the computer. […] the user interface can be thought of as those aspects of the system with which the user comes into contact both physically and cognitively (Preece 1994:13).