Read the whole article here

“In their recent book, de Souza and Leitão show how the communication approach of “semiotic engineering” can help ensure consistency and coherence [1]. They critique the HCI community (and my past work) for optimizing the individual components at the expense of the whole. They are correct. A systems analysis goes beyond the design of individual screens or actions. It considers the entire experience from start to finish: thought through action through reflection. To make this a whole, seamless, coherent experience requires considering each action, each system response, each message – whether verbal or visual, silent or audible, visceral or behavioral, haptic or happenstance – all as part of the whole. Make sure that each message is consistent with the others in tone, voice, locus, and message. All steps must be readily accommodated, with the system always anticipating and ready for whichever choice the person makes. This is what it means to be a system: to think of everything.”