The Use of Metaphors in Information Systems

Metaphors: Here, There, and Everywhere

Designing for the Average Joe

A metaphor can be defined as “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison” (dictionary.com). We use metaphors in our everyday language more than most people realize. But metaphors are also vital in the field of Information Systems, especially in the design of user interfaces. To the “Average Joes” of the world, or those people who have difficulty understanding the complicated concepts of digital storage, information transmission, and processing, metaphors provide them with relevant concepts to which they can easily relate. Therefore, metaphors allow a significantly larger amount of the worldly population to use many of the common technologies that we take for granted today.

Metaphors “Right Under Our Nose”

Every person in that worldly population can relate to the use of metaphors in everyday speech, no matter what their language. It is not uncommon for someone to encounter metaphors multiple times in one day, though many times they go unnoticed even if they are “right under our nose.” These metaphorical phrases are not meant to be taken literally. For example, when someone tells you to “bite the bullet,” they are not requesting that you actually put a bullet in between your teeth. In fact, they are asking you to bravely face up to something unpleasant just as many soldiers were asked to clench a bullet in between their teeth (in lieu of anesthetics) to transfer the pain of the amputation or surgery (something very unpleasant indeed) that they were about to undergo (“Expressions and Sayings”).

You may also hear someone refer to a person as “blowing their own trumpet.” Again, this is not to mean that they are playing a brass instrument, but that they are boasting about themselves, as if they were providing their own fanfare for their arrival (“Expressions and Sayings”).

If anyone were to claim that such phrases were to be taken literally, they would be “pulling your leg.” In other words, they would be teasing you and not telling the truth. This particular metaphorical phrase originates in Scotland, where someone may have “withdrawn the legs” from under someone in order to put the person at a disadvantage, perhaps to rob him (“Expressions and Sayings”). The saying is used in a much lighter sense today, but still remains a very common metaphor.