The process in which a new word becomes part of the accepted vocabulary of a community is known as institutionalisation. The reason why neologisms have become embedded in every-day vocabulary so quickly is because they swiftly pass through all the stages of this process. First, they are used more and more frequently as they are spread via social media and various applications. Second, their meaning does not need a lot of definition since the pictures or applications are usually self-explanatory. Ultimately these words start appearing in various forms within common texts.
I edited this quick-and-dirty infographic (using “Paint”) to provide an easy to understand explanation of how neologisms are created. I hope you enjoy it! A better quality is available on Pinterest.
Infographic on neologims.TIF
30 luglio 2013
9 luglio 2013
Terminology loves U(X)
So you just realised
that in the same website you found "Login"and "Log in". Do you hesitate (like me) when choosing between Sign In and Sign Up?
The same button was labeled “Submit” in a page and “Save”
in another? Did you find “New” and “Create”
when uploading new content to your blog?
If “module”,
“plugin” or “extension” are used to refer to one same concept, they might raise
terminology inconsistencies in UX (User Experience).
Keep It Short and Sweet
The website has to speak the same language as its audience. Technical people tend to think terms like “stack overflow” and “fatal exception” make perfect sense. There should be more attention on how users think about what those buttons and words mean to them.
How to avoid terminology inconsistencies in websites?
- Dear developer, put yourself in the shoes of the person who is accessing the website. You have to be able to use a terminology that can be undestood by the users.
- Check always that your website adopts the technical standards of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
- The standard terms and their definitions are given in platform style guides, such as the ones for Windows [Microsoft Corp., 2006], Macintosh [Apple Computer, 2006], and Java [Sun Microsystems, 2001] and the -standard User interface (UI) vocabulary for target platform (Microsoft Language Portal). TAUS Data is also very helpful.
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