Product semantics was developed and

Product semantics was developed and introduced by Krippendorff and Butter (1984: in Riley 2001) and is defined as the study of symbolic qualities of man-made shapes, in the cognitive and social context of their use. According to this definition, product semantics is concerned with the relationship between the user and the product on one hand, and the importance that objects assume in an operational and social context on the other hand. Intentionally or not, all manufactured products make a statement through shape, form, colour, texture, etc. They communicate with users and can never be contextually neutral. It is widely recognized that visualization is important when it comes to assessing the feasibility


of a product in terms of appearance, functionality, production feasibility, product semantics, ergonomics and social factors (Johanson 2000). Regardless of how designers use colour, shape, form, and texture in designing the product, messages are being sent through products via a part of language structures that deal with meaning called semantics. This implies that designers and ergonomists should not only know what message(s) they wish to transmit and the sort of response(s) that can be expected from the user being the receiver, but also the symbols and attributes forming that language.
A product tells us something, about itself and in certain cases also about the human being who owns it. Through its design and function, the product expresses values, whose importance individuals then interpret and value in relation to a certain social context in terms of acceptance or rejection, liking or disliking. However, the product can, through its semantic content and expression, either strengthen or weaken this role, in this way creating positive or negative perceptions, emotions, values and associations within the individual person (Wikstro¨ m 1996).
The products that we encounter have different functions, e.g., technical, practical and semantic. Mono¨ (in Wikstro¨ m 1996) defines four semantic functions of products:

. To describe –The product gestalt describes facts (e.g. its purpose = define the task), way of use, handling.
. To express – The product gestalt expresses the product’s values and qualities.
. To signal – The product gestalt urges the user to react in a specific way, for example to be careful and to be precise in his/her work.
. To identify – The product gestalt identifies (e.g., the purpose = establish similarity), origin, nature and product area (connection with system, family, product range etc, as well as the function and placement of individual parts).

The semantic functions provide the designer with the possibility to communicate a clear message through the product. This means that the designer has to make clear to him/herself what should and what should not be communicated through the product (Wikstro¨ m 1996).
Butter (Krippendorff and Butter 1984: 4), who first made up the phrase product ‘semantics’, claims that designers and ergonomists, with an awareness of the how to use function of design, can ‘demystify complex technology, improve the interaction between artifacts and their users and enhance opportunities for self-expression’. According to Wikstro¨ m (1996), the semantic functions should make the product comprehensible. Both the whole products and its individual parts should communicate the intended message, so that the user knows how the product should be handled merely by looking at it. For example, a knurled knob says ‘turn me’; a button so designed to say ‘press me’; a form that invites a particular handgrip, like a jack-plane; a teapot or kettle that says ‘hold me here and I’ll pour for you’; a chair that softly welcomes your relaxed posture; a shape or form that indicates ‘I move in this direction’ or ‘I fit into that part of your body’. The user’s reaction to what something is and how this something should be handled is an effective and immediate (semantic) indication of the extent to which a product’s design is self-instructing. Complicated products require a manual, but simpler products ought to be self-instructing. In cases where pictures, labels, or instructions are needed for simple things, arrows or labels to differentiate push from pull;


designers have failed to communicate through the form of the object (Norman 1988).
However, the requirement for comprehensibility varies with the context. In some cases, as Wikstro¨ m (1996) mentions, the product should even be incomprehensible to a certain user group, for example medicine bottles and medicine cabinets to children, in order to prevent them from accessing these. In public milieus, however, information-carrying products should be self-instructing. The user group focused upon here should be able to identify the product’s purpose, be able to use it, and be motivated to use it without the need for additional information (e.g., manuals, text).
Being one of the most important trends in design in the US, product semantics is an

結果 (中文) 3:

产品语义学的开发和krippendorff黄油介绍（1984：在赖利2001），德fi内德作为人为的形状象征性的特质的研究，在其使用认知和社会背景。根据这fi定义、产品语义学关注的是用户与产品之间的关系，一方面，而在另一方面，运营和社会语境假设物体的重要性。有意或无意，使所有出厂产品声明通过形状、颜色、纹理等形式，他们与用户沟通，不允许中性。广泛地认识到，可视化是很重要的，当它涉及到评估的可行性在外观、功能方面的产品生产的可行性、产品语义、人机工程学和社会因素（约翰森2000）。不管设计师如何使用颜色，形状，形状，和纹理在设计的产品，信息被发送通过产品通过一部分的语言结构，处理意义，称为语义。这意味着设计师和ergonomists不仅要知道消息（S）他们希望传递和反应类型（S），可以预期从正在接收用户，而且形成的符号和属性的语言。产品告诉我们一些东西，关于自己和在某些情况下，也对人类的人拥有它。通过它的设计和功能，产品表现值，其个人的重要性，然后解释和有关方面在接受或拒绝特定的社会背景下的价值，喜欢或不喜欢的东西。然而，该产品可以通过其语义内容和表达，加强或削弱这种作用，用这种方式产生积极或消极的看法，情感，价值观以及在个人协会（wikstro¨M 1996）。我们的产品具有不同的功能ff相遇，如技术、实用和语义。单¨（在wikstro¨M 1996）德fiNES四语义功能的产品：。描述–产品形态描述的事实（例如其目的=德fiNE的任务），使用方法，处理。。表达–产品形态表达了产品的价值和品质。。信号–产品形态，促使用户在某个特定的fiC反应，例如要小心，在他/她的工作是准确的。。确定–产品形态识别fiES（例如，目的为建立相似），起源，性质和产品区（连接系统，家庭，产品范围等，以及各部分的功能布局）。的语义功能，提供了一个明确的信息通过产品的可能性传达设计师。这意味着设计师必须明确向他/她什么应该和什么不应该通过产品传达（wikstro¨M 1996）。黄油（krippendorff黄油1984：4），谁fiRST组成短语产品语义学，声称设计师和ergonomists，一个对如何使用功能设计，可以让复杂的技术，提高文物和他们的用户和提高自我表现的机会之间的相互作用。据wikstro¨M（1996），语义功能应该使产品的理解。整个产品和它的各个部分都应该传达预期的信息，这样用户就知道产品应该如何处理，只是看它。例如，一个滚花旋钮说'把我'；按钮设计说“按我”；一个让一个特定的手柄的形式，像杰克平面；一个茶壶或水壶，说：“把我这里，我会给你倒的；一把椅子，轻轻地欢迎你一个放松的姿势；形状或形式，表示“我朝这个方向发展，”或“我fi进入你的身体的一部分。用户的反应是什么东西，以及如何处理这事应该是一个ff有效和直接的（语义）指示的程度，产品的设计是自我指导。复杂产品需要一本手册，但更简单的产品应该是自我指导。在情况下，图片，标签，或指令是简单的事情，箭或二fferentiate推拉标签；设计师没有通过对象的形式沟通（Norman 1988）。然而，可理解性的要求随着语境的变化。在某些情况下，如wikstro¨M（1996）提到，产品都应该有一定的用户群不可理解的，例如医药瓶和药品柜的孩子，为了防止他们访问这些。然而，在公共领域，信息产品应进行自我指导。这里的用户群集中在这里应该能够识别该产品的目的，能够使用它，并被激励使用它，而不需要额外的信息（例如，手册，文本）。作为一个最