Opravy

Object of study for several disciplines, digital interfaces appear as a heterogeneous object: a human-computer dialogue, a reflection of a mental model, an instrument, a set of semiotic signs ...

All these dimensions, addressed individually by disciplinary approaches, have never been gathered in a common paradigmatic framework.

This thesis argues that interfaces, as a complex object of study, must be addressed in a framework capable of dealing with this complexity.

It proposes to do so by the Systemic Communication Theory and to think about not in terms of interface quality attributes (usability, communicability, conviviality...) but in terms of meanings.

This implies a human-centered model and provides an integrated point of view enabling the design of new interfaces as well as their implementation in numerous contexts and sensory modalities.

The trifocal model is thus a systemic approach to communication via the interface.

It studies the relationships between user and machine, between user and object of his activity and between user and designer, as well as emergent properties of the system.

The trifocal model provides an interface description transposable from one modality to another.

It allows, on one hand, to study the meaning of non-visual interfaces and, on the other, to translate interfaces from one modality to another.

The trifocal model takes a fresh look on designing accessible interfaces since it complements existing methods with new analytical dimensions.