The vocabulary problem in human-system communication Export

@article{citeulike:117727, abstract = {In almost all computer applications, users must enter correct words for the desired objects or actions. For success without extensive training, or in first-tries for new targets, the system must recognize terms that will be chosen spontaneously. We studied spontaneous word choice for objects in five application-related domains, and found the variability to be surprisingly large. In every case two people favored the same term with probability <0.20. Simulations show how this fundamental property of language limits the success of various design methodologies for vocabulary-driven interaction. For example, the popular approach in which access is via one designer's favorite single word will result in 80-90 percent failure rates in many common situations. An optimal strategy, unlimited aliasing, is derived and shown to be capable of several-fold improvements.}, author = {Furnas, G. W. and Landauer, T. K. and Gomez, L. M. and Dumais, S. T.}, citeulike-article-id = {117727}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=32206.32212}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/32206.32212}, doi = {10.1145/32206.32212}, issn = {0001-0782}, journal = {Commun. ACM}, keywords = {priv\_g4, tagging}, month = {November}, number = {11}, pages = {964--971}, posted-at = {2007-02-06 09:13:24}, priority = {0}, publisher = {ACM Press}, title = {The vocabulary problem in human-system communication}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/32206.32212}, volume = {30}, year = {1987} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:117727 L3 - citeulike-article-id:117727 N2 - In almost all computer applications, users must enter correct words for the desired objects or actions. For success without extensive training, or in first-tries for new targets, the system must recognize terms that will be chosen spontaneously. We studied spontaneous word choice for objects in five application-related domains, and found the variability to be surprisingly large. In every case two people favored the same term with probability <0.20. Simulations show how this fundamental property of language limits the success of various design methodologies for vocabulary-driven interaction. For example, the popular approach in which access is via one designer's favorite single word will result in 80-90 percent failure rates in many common situations. An optimal strategy, unlimited aliasing, is derived and shown to be capable of several-fold improvements. IS - 11 JF - Commun. ACM SN - 0001-0782 EP - 971 TI - The vocabulary problem in human-system communication PB - ACM Press VL - 30 SP - 964 KW - priv_g4 KW - tagging AU - Furnas, GW AU - Landauer, TK AU - Gomez, LM AU - Dumais, ST PY - 1987/11// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/32206.32212 ER -