Signs and Representations: Semiotics for User Interface Design

Goguen has proposed the use of semiotics to study the ways in which information is mediated in computer systems, particularly in user interfaces. His algebraic semiotics provides a formal tool for studying the systematic use of signs in computer systems, and for presenting formal comparisons of different interface designs. The formal elements of algebraic semiotics make it a kind of algebraic engineering for sign systems, and introduces an engineering rigour to interface design.