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mEtaPHor’s rolE in tHE inFormation BEHavior oF Humans intEractinG witH comPutErs  |  sEasE   9

Robin Sease

Metaphor’s Role in the 
Information Behavior of Humans 
Interacting with Computers

Metaphors convey information, communicate abstrac-
tions, and help us understand new concepts. While the 
nascent field of information behavior (IB) has adopted 
common metaphors like “berry-picking” and “gap-bridg-
ing” for its models, the study of how people use metaphors 
is only now emerging in the subfield of human informa-
tion organizing behavior (HIOB). Metaphors have been 
adopted in human–computer interaction (HCI) to facili-
tate the dialogue between user and system. Exploration of 
the literature on metaphors in the fields of linguistics and 
cognitive science as well as an examination of the history 
of use of metaphors in HCI as a case study of metaphor 
usage offers insight into the role of metaphor in human 
information behavior.

Editor’s note: This article is the winner of the LITA/ 
Ex Libris Writing Award, 2008.

O
ur world is growing increasingly digital; our entire 
lives—our interactions, our entertainment, even 
our personal memories—are mediated by technol-

ogy. Humans have had thousands of years to learn to 
communicate with each other, largely employing meta-
phors and analogies to negotiate meaning. Our experi-
ence communicating with computers is both nascent yet 
broadening every day with increasing dependency. We 
must fully understand the role that metaphors play in the 
exchange of information to facilitate the communication 
between humans and computers.

n Metaphors: a definition
Originally regarded as rhetorical devices, Plato abhorred 
the use of metaphors, arguing that they could convince 
a man to do the illogical. Schön explains that at that 
time metaphors were considered a “kind of anomaly of 
language, one which must be dispelled in order to clear 
the path for a general theory of reference or meaning.”1 
Aristotle, on the other hand, saw that they provided 
insight into the items of comparison. “Ordinary words 
convey only what we know already; it is from metaphor 
that we can best get hold of something new.”2 

Traditionally the objects in the equation have been 
called the tenor and the vehicle, but more recently they are 
referred to as the target and source domains. In the meta-
phor, “Alex is a space cadet,” Alex is the tenor or target 
domain (the abstract or undefined), and space cadet rep-
resents the vehicle or source domain (the known). If “the 
essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing 

one thing in terms of another,” then the vehicle or the 
source domain is responsible for elucidating the tenor or 
target domain.3 One measures the relationship between 
these domains, the tenor and the vehicle, with “ground” 
and “tension.” Ground concerns the similarities between 
the domains and tension represents the dissimilarities.4 

Metaphors have been studied from multiple perspec-
tives: from the creative use of metaphors in literature to 
the comprehension or appreciation of metaphors.5 The 
research from other disciplines can offer insight into the 
effect of metaphors on human information behavior. I 
will first discuss the use of metaphors in language and 
then review some of the theories on how they work.

n Metaphorically speaking: the role of metaphors in language
The work of Lakoff and Johnson has been fundamental 
to understanding the pervasive use of metaphors in our 
language. They propose that metaphors are an underly-
ing structure forming and shaping the way we discuss 
and even think about the world. They argue that the 
“human conceptual system is metaphorically structured 
and defined.”6 Mapping from a source domain to a target 
domain is central to the semantics of language and com-
munication. “Domains need structure so that one can 
reason about them. The major function of metaphor is 
thus to supply structure in terms of which reasoning can 
be done.”7 

In Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson cata-
logue examples of underlying conceptual metaphors. 
They identify orientation metaphors that underlie how 
we speak about abstract concepts such as health, happi-
ness, and success. Each of these states is associated with 
the direction up. One can be “up and at ‘em” or in “high 
spirits” or of “high standing.” Counter examples include 
“being under the weather,” “feeling down,” and “low 
comedy.” Metaphors shape the way we think about the 
concepts we are describing. For instance, the metaphor 
“argument is war” (“defending your point of view,” 
“attacking your opponent’s stance,” and “he shot me 
down”) may define expectations for “winning” and “los-
ing” and detrimentally shape our ability to negotiate and 
compromise.8

Lakoff and Johnson refer also to Michael Reddy’s 
1979 piece, “The Conduit Metaphor.”9 Reddy hypoth-
esizes that linguistically and conceptually we see ideas 
or meanings as objects, linguistic expressions as contain-
ers, and communication as sending. The “receivers” of 

robin sease (seaser@u.washington.edu) is an MLIS candidate 
at the iSchool, University of Washington, Seattle.



10   inFormation tEcHnoloGY anD liBrariEs  |  DEcEmBEr 2008

the communication are the information users or seekers. 
The designers “package their ideas,” “put them down 
on paper,” and “convey” them to the user who “gets” 
them or not. Reddy argues that this underlying metaphor 
influences the way we think about the communication 
process, making information and meaning an object 
rather than a process, which trivializes the function of the 
reader or listener.10

Metaphors are undeniably central to our ability to 
communicate and use language, and perhaps more fun-
damentally, to convey meaning or to infer meaning—to 
illustrate and explain as well as to identify and to catalog. 
The role of metaphors in human cognition is still a matter 
of great debate.

n Thinking about metaphors:  the cognitive role of metaphors
Information science is at its heart the study of informa-
tion. If metaphors exist as a necessary component of 
language—a tool to convey meaning and to transfer 
information—then metaphors are by necessity a compo-
nent of information science. Understanding how meta-
phors work provides insight into information itself. 

Early propositions about how metaphors were under-
stood stemmed from poetic and rhetorical research. That 
is, if a sentence cannot be interpreted literally, then it 
must be interpreted figuratively. To illustrate, the asser-
tion “my child is a pig” is initially illogical, so the receiver 
would then move on to figurative interpretation. Once 
that determination is made, the mind sets about find-
ing meaning from the expression. This theory argues 
that once the statement is deemed false, the statement 
is treated like a simile, or a comparison statement, by 
identifying traits or attributes in the source domain (the 
pig: sloppy, slovenly, fascinated with mud) that would be 
applicable to the target domain.11 

One group of theorists questions this premise, point-
ing to sentences that can be interpreted literally and figu-
ratively. One useful example is the statement “my dog is 
an animal.”12 While this expression is true literally, most 
would reject the literal interpretation in favor of one that 
depicts the dog as a ferocious or uncontrollable beast. 
Glucksberg and Keysar, among others, seek a model that 
focuses on the associations between the domains. They 
hypothesize that metaphors are not “implicit compari-
sons” but are class-inclusion statements or “assertions 
of categorization.”13 Research in cognitive processing of 
analogies has shifted from plain association of A is to B 
where A traits are matched to B traits to a hypothesis that 
maps from A to B and leads insight into a super-ordinate 
category that includes both A and B. 

Gentner’s work studying science metaphors in the 
1980s is partially founded on this theory. She notes that 

through “analogical reasoning, learning can result in 
the generation of new categories and schemas.”14 She is 
particularly interested in creating ways for computers to 
interpret figurative expressions. She proposes a structure-
mapping theory: a system of relations (not just traits) from 
the source domain to the target domain with a parallelism 
between the structures that allows for a one-to-one map-
ping of the domains and relationships. Weiner explores a 
similar tactic with human–computer interaction language 
processing by prototyping the shared framework. The 
prototype theory allows for a range of possible predicates 
and would accommodate greater tension (the differences 
in a metaphor) in the same way that we can categorize 
penguins and chickens under the prototype of bird.15

These theories of categorization remain popular today, 
but still struggle to account for certain things about the 
way metaphors are comprehended. Specifically, take the 
Shakespearean line, “Juliet is the sun.” Categorization 
theory does not explain why some attributes like “glow-
ing” and “center of the solar system” are transferred from 
the source while others such as “nuclear” and “huge” 
are not.16 This theory also stumbles with novel poetic 
metaphors like e e cummings’ “the voice of your eyes is 
deeper than all roses.”17 Alternative theorists argue that 
while the categorization-based theories accommodate the 
ground (commonality) in a metaphor, they fail to fully 
explain the effect and purpose of the tension (differences) 
in the equation.

Lakoff fervently contends that simplifying conceptual 
models to mere categorization ignores the unique nature 
of each specific mapping: 

Each mapping defines an open-ended class of potential 
correspondences across inference patterns. When acti-
vated, a mapping may apply to a novel source domain 
knowledge structure and characterize a corresponding 
target domain knowledge structure.18

In other words, each pairing creates new meaning or 
conceptual frameworks from which other metaphors and 
meanings can be instantiated. A is to B creates meaning C, 
rather than A and B are part of C. Looking at it from the 
perspective of Lanier, a vocabulary is created upon which 
we can define even more vocabulary.19 Lakoff maintains 
that the theory of conceptual domains speaks to both the 
uni-directional nature of metaphors as well as the “syste-
maticity” that allows the interpreter to selectively identify 
the aspects that are consistent and discard the aspects that 
are inconsistent with the metaphor.20 

More recent work approaches the question from a 
connectivist point of view, seeking ways to identify an 
overarching model consistent with and encompassing 
of other theories. This premise rests on the foundation 
of metaphor as communication and examines the use 
of metaphors in conversational contexts. The necessary 
mutual cognitive environment of the communicators, the 



mEtaPHor’s rolE in tHE inFormation BEHavior oF Humans intEractinG witH comPutErs  |  sEasE   11

working memory, and the common ground that they find 
are all of importance, but so are context and motivation 
as influencing factors. The context in which the statement 
is made, the place in which it is interpreted, and the moti-
vation of the user to understand the statement combine 
to affect the meaning that is derived. For instance, the 
phrase, “I want you to sheepdog this project” could mean 
something different in the context of a chaotic group of 
workers than in the context of a core team threatened 
by competing entities.21 Likewise, the relationship of the 
receiver to the sender could modify the motivation of 
the receiver to seek meaning beyond the first or easiest 
interpretation. 

n Classifying metaphors: metaphors in information science
These notions of context and user-motivation are not new 
to the field of information science. At the turn of the cen-
tury the subfield of information behavior had begun to 
direct its attention to cognitive psychology, the nature of 
man–machine dialogue, and to a certain extent the role of 
metaphor in deciphering and creating meaning. 

Spink investigates human information behavior (HIB) 
from an evolutionary perspective.22 After exploring a 
wide variety of research in fields, Spink and Currier per-
formed a qualitative analysis of the information behavior 
of historical figures. They postulated that modular cogni-
tive architecture makes Homo sapiens rare in their ability 
to think of one thing in terms of another.23 The resulting 
mapping allows for the creation of new cognitive struc-
tures in a similar fashion to Lanier’s vocabulary develop-
ment conjecture. Spink and Currier’s work launched a 
new theory of information use, which has led to recent 
research into metaphor use. In an attempt to model 
an integrative approach to human information behav-
ior incorporating the everyday life information-seeking 
and sense-making approach, the information-foraging 
approach, and the problem-solution view of information 
seeking, Spink and Cole recognized a gap in the research 
covering actual information use and proffered a fourth 
information approach to account for it. Their informa-
tion-use theory “starts from an evolutionary psychology 
notion that humans are able to adapt to their environment 
and survive because of our modular cognitive architec-
ture.”24 Development of this theory has birthed a sub-area 
within the field of human information behavior dubbed 
human information organizing behavior (HIOB) of which 
the use of metaphors or metaphor instantiation is a neces-
sary component. 

Cole and Leide explore the notion of modular cog-
nitive architecture in an attempt to model a cognitive 
framework for metaphor use in HIOB. Similar to the 
categorization theory of metaphor use, they claim that 

“metaphor instantiation is similar to a form of super-
ordinate category instantiation . . . along with the meta-
phor comes the structure of the metaphor.”25 Following 
in Belkin’s footsteps, they address the problem of a 
“domain novice attempting to formulate his information 
need into an effective query to an information retrieval 
system.”26 They conducted three case studies with the 
purpose of developing a methodology that researchers 
can use to “ascertain the efficacy of metaphor instantia-
tion as an information need structuring device.”27 They 
conclude that metaphor instantiation might help us create 
systems that more closely resemble the way that humans 
behave with information: interaction, organization, and 
retrieval. 

n Metaphors in human–computer interaction: a case study
reality bytes 

While theorists of various fields explored the nature of 
metaphors, the field of human–computer interaction 
(HCI) found itself thrust into the thick of it. Rarely does 
one intentionally adopt new ideas so whole-heartedly 
without first considering the ramifications, but the history 
of HCI shows that that is exactly what happened. It began 
with enthusiastic adoption to improve communication, 
then reeled in recognition of the drawbacks of metaphor 
mismatches, and finally has lurched to a standstill while 
new approaches to metaphor use are explored.

The first instances of metaphor and analogy in the 
field of computer science and HCI preceded images of 
windows, desktops, mice, scrollbars, and icons. The ini-
tial focus was on natural language processing to improve 
the communication between the user and the system.28 
Although the field of information science was on the 
periphery of metaphor research at the time, it certainly 
was interested in improving the dialogue between users 
and systems. Belkin proposed a model of information 
seeking that highlighted the user ’s anomalous state 
of knowledge. He argued for a better understanding 
of user’s conceptual models in order to improve sys-
tem communications.29 Although he did not propose 
metaphors specifically, the advent of the graphical user 
interface (GUI) placed metaphors in a position to tackle 
Belkin’s concerns.

Hci Gets Gui 

Perhaps because of the difficulty of man–machine dia-
logue, GUIs emerged. By simplifying the “language” to 
“point and click,” even an average user could make the 
system do what it was supposed to do.30 With its more 
intuitive and memorable interface, the GUI was the 



12   inFormation tEcHnoloGY anD liBrariEs  |  DEcEmBEr 2008

result of years of frustration trying to remember system 
functions and commands. Because illustrations of the 
abstract are necessarily grounded in something concrete, 
GUIs and metaphors were inexorably intertwined; in 
a sense, metaphors were “inescapable.”31 Metaphors 
enacted through the user interface would become the 
primary mechanism of communication between the user 
and the system.

GUI metaphors can be categorized several ways. A 
typical breakdown is to break out noun and verb meta-
phors into “organization metaphors” and “operations 
metaphors.”32 Alternatively, Fineman further divides the 
nouns and classifies various metaphors into three basic 
types: functionality metaphors, interface metaphors, and 
interaction metaphors.33 Fineman describes an e-mail 
program. Functionality metaphors outline the expecta-
tions that a user should have for an application and gen-
erally guide the overall behavior of the tool. In the e-mail 
program the functionality metaphor would be “e-mail 
is postal mail.” Interface metaphors are the mechanical 
metaphors that allow the user to accomplish the tasks 
within the functionality metaphor. The interface meta-
phors should be guided by the functionality metaphors, 
but not constrained by them. Examples would include 
the address book and printer metaphors. Interaction 
metaphors, or the verbs, are the underlying metaphors 
that define the form of the action, how things are per-
formed; these metaphors span beyond a particular tool, 
but greatly affect the functionality metaphor.34 

The effect of the selected metaphors cannot be under-
estimated. For instance, many feel that the direct manipu-
lation metaphor (data is an object that can be manipulated) 
and GUI are synonymous.35 And within the graphical user 
interface, the choice of desktop has affected all aspects of 
the interface with the user. One need only reflect upon 
the famous Englebart demonstration of the “mouse” 
most often viewed in Alan Kay’s video presentation.36 
Englebart’s mouse preceded the notion of a desktop and 
more closely resembled a pilot’s controls than an office 
worker sitting at a typewriter keyboard. Imagine how 
different our computers would be today had the pilot 
metaphor ever got off the ground.37 

the ground we walk on

Having adopted metaphors, the field of HCI wanted 
a better understanding of why and how they worked. 
Carroll and Thomas stressed the importance of psychol-
ogy research and rallied for the use of metaphor for its 
grounding purposes, that is, bridging abstract concepts 
to concrete attributes. In a manner similar to Belkin, they 
brought forth the notion that the designer of the system 
creates a conceptual model of how it works. The meta-
phors used within the user interface serve as bridges to 
the user’s mental model of the system. “People employ 

metaphors in learning about computing systems, the 
designers of those systems should anticipate and support 
likely metaphorical constructions to increase the ease 
of learning and using the system.”38 They encouraged 
designers to consider the limitations and consequences 
of metaphors; ideally, the metaphor should convey its 
limitations to the user. Their eagerness to adopt meta-
phors, which they considered “crucial” for motivating 
and facilitating understanding, was countered only by 
their warning that “for most computer systems there will 
come a point at which the metaphor or metaphors that 
initially helped the user understand the system will begin 
to hinder further learning.”39 

Case recognized the importance of assessing users’ 
needs and expectations when designing metaphors for 
systems. His study of historians found that metaphors 
and analogies are commonly used in the information 
behavior of historians. He endorsed their use in inter-
face development despite potential pitfalls. Concerned 
mostly with transitioning historians from physical to 
electronic format, Case argued that digital documents 
and files should more closely resemble physical files—
not necessarily physically but in the manner of retrieval 
and storage.40 

Espousing a slightly more conservative opinion, 
Marcus indicated that an “appropriate metaphor bal-
ances delicately expectation and surprise on part of the 
user/viewer.”41 Marcus repeated that the objective of 
the designer is to design a conceptual model that clearly 
indicates to users what their expectations of the system 
should be, the goal being that the conceptual model cre-
ated by the designers will map as much as possible to an 
existing mental model that the user can bring to refer-
ence.42 

Metaphors are not only useful for familiarizing users 
with the system, but also affect the system design as 
part of the design rationale. MacLean, Bellotti, Young, 
and Moran noted the usefulness of metaphors in the 
creative process, but expressed concern that designers 
should consider the effect of even implicit metaphors.43 
Some metaphors are inevitable because “new concepts 
and processes require new terminology. We can either 
coin new terms, borrow them from Greek, Latin, or 
other languages, create terms by adding prefixes or 
suffixes—or use metaphoric terms.”44 Many metaphors 
used by designers in their communications are simply 
embedded in the language of computer science. What 
makes computer science so unique among the sciences, 
especially when using metaphors, is that they not only 
talk about something in terms of metaphors, they imple-
ment them too. “We live with our metaphors.”45 This 
discourse may carry loads of inexplicable metaphors 
for common users, “heaps” and “stacks” and “parents” 
and “children,” for instance, come readily to mind 
for anyone with computer science experience, but do 



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not necessarily convey meaning to users. We should 
stay aware of our metaphors so that we avoid seeing 
“platforms, engines and objects rather than ‘platforms’, 
‘engines’ and ‘objects.’”46 

the tension builds

These caveats that metaphors must be constantly moni-
tored and selected with care, coupled with a growing 
collection of mismatched and ill-fitting metaphors, began 
the initial protestations over the use of metaphors in HCI. 
The field of HCI started experiencing the effect of the 
tension in the metaphorical equation—those attributes 
that fail to match. Gentner and Nielson summarize three 
“classic drawbacks” of metaphors: 

n  The target domain has features not in the source 
domain (magic attributes).

n The source domain has features not in the target 
domain (misleading attributes).

n  Some features exist in both domains but act differ-
ently (violation of expectations).47

Even proponents of metaphors readily admitted the 
limits of metaphors, specifically that they never match 
perfectly and that they can “limit meaning.”48

Halasz and Moran cautioned that teaching new users 
through analogical models may be an easy way to 
introduce a user to a new system but that “analogical 
models can act as barriers preventing new users from 
developing an effective understanding of systems.”49 
Halasz and Moran argued that computers are unique; 
we should abandon analogical models and rather seek to 
create a conceptual model of the system that would more 
accurately reflect the actual system. A system designer’s 
conceptual model would represent the system to improve 
the user’s ability to solve problems and apply reason 
within the system. They confess that moving away from 
analogical models leaves the user without the tool of 
“prior knowledge,” so for teaching purposes (though 
not long-term reasoning purposes) they offer the use of 
smaller, simpler metaphors—those that they liken to liter-
ary metaphors used to “make a point in passing. Once the 
point is made, the metaphor can be discarded.”50 

Noting that there was room for error and rejection on 
behalf of the user, Marcus explained that some inappro-
priate metaphors simply become assimilated or evolve. 
For example, the original Apple trashcan icon more 
closely resembled a “kitchen garbage can” for scraps and 
rotting things than an office wastebasket for paper, but 
over the years it has evolved to its current office basket 
icon.51 Also, as technology changes, the metaphors will 
change. “The paradigm shift, or change in metaphors, 
will be constant and swift as paradigms evolve from 
prototypes, become typed, evolve to archetypes, and 

eventually become stereotyped or obsolete.”52 Without 
stating it explicitly, he spoke of dead metaphors: meta-
phors that no longer bring new meaning to light, the 
“arm” of a chair or the “leg” of a table, for instance. These 
metaphors are accepted idiomatically with no need for 
explanation and exploration.

Aware of the ease with which users employ idi-
omatic icons in computing, Cooper adduced that idi-
oms and meaningless symbols are preferable to new 
metaphors, claiming “metaphors offer a tiny boost in 
learnability to first time users at tremendous cost. The 
biggest problem is that by representing old technology, 
metaphors firmly nail our conceptual feet to the ground, 
forever limiting the power of our software.”53 He pro-
posed that we move away from a metaphoric paradigm 
to an idiomatic paradigm where a word or symbol sim-
ply stands for something else and does not carry with it 
the weight of analogy. Many of the metaphors originally 
created in computing have become dead metaphors or 
idioms already. People do not think of their memory 
buffer where they store copied or cut items as an actual 
clipboard.

The Macintosh trashcan is ubiquitously cited as a per-
fect example of a mismatched metaphor and illustrates 
what may happen when a metaphor becomes idiomatic. 
For many years to the horror and confusion of many 
users, the trashcan both deleted files and was used to 
eject a diskette. A user would drag their diskette icon to 
the trashcan to eject it. Although this may seem like just 
a poor choice of metaphor, it does have a sensible origin. 
Historically, computers had no hard drive, but rather ran 
applications from diskettes. When you were entirely done 
with the application you would remove the application 
icon from the desktop by placing it in the trash. You would 
also need to eject the diskette. For expediency, Apple 
engineers incorporated ejection and desktop removal into 
one quick task. It was user tested and readily adopted.54 
The metaphor was a natural extension until the function-
ality changed. 

The user is not the only potential victim of metaphors; 
the blinders of an adopted metaphor can curtail a sys-
tem designers’ vision.55 Gentner and Nielson take great 
offense at the direct manipulation metaphor because it 
reduces us to “pointing” and “grunting” as if we were 
children barely able to communicate or patrons at a res-
taurant where we don’t speak the language. When they 
state “computer interfaces must evolve to utilize more of 
the power of language,”56 they are not speaking of voice 
control and natural language processing, but to creat-
ing a shared language understandable by both the user 
and the system. Only “power users” of a machine have 
breached the walls of the interface and have attempted 
to learn the language of the machine itself, but even they 
are inevitably dragged down by the restrictions of direct 
manipulation.57



14   inFormation tEcHnoloGY anD liBrariEs  |  DEcEmBEr 2008

Near the end of the millennium, user interface guide-
lines and handbooks backed off—afraid to support or 
spurn metaphor use in HCI. Blackwell’s chronicle of the 
history of the desktop metaphor notes that 1990 “marked 
the middle of a decade (1985 to 1995) in which research-
ers anticipated problems with metaphor at the start and 
had experienced failure by the end.”58 The silence is most 
stunning in the Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, 
a 1,582 page volume in which only two of the sixty-two 
chapters even mention metaphors.59 Hollan, Bederson, 
and Helfman caution against metaphors in their chapter 
on information visualization,60 while Neale and Carroll 
cautiously return to Carroll’s original thesis, stress-
ing the importance of creating a conceptual model (the 
designer’s model of the system’s functions) that “should 
incorporate an accurate understanding of the user’s task, 
requirements, experience, capabilities, and limitations.”61 

n Metaphor ever after
By the year 2000, system designers found themselves 
stuck between a rock and hard drive. Investigations 
into the efficacy of metaphors find that metaphors are a 
mixed bag, unavoidable, useful, yet problematic.62 While 
creating a taxonomy of HCI metaphors, Barr, Biddle, 
and Noble conclude that “the analysis present in the 
taxonomy should indicate that there are many benefits 
to user-interface metaphors if we choose them correctly 
and harness them properly.”63 Yet Blackwell’s dissertation 
research finds that metaphors afford “surprisingly little 
benefit for cognitive tasks” and that the benefit is “largely 
restricted to mnemonic assistance.”64 Blackwell notes 
that the benefits were greatest when the user constructed 
his or her own metaphor rather than using the system- 
supplied metaphor. Interestingly, while studying stu-
dents’ understanding of search engines, Hendry identi-
fied a conceptual metaphor (not provided by the system) 
common to many of the students’ visions of an informa-
tion retrieval system. Although Hendry does not suggest 
that metaphors should be used when creating systems, he 
does question how existing conceptual metaphors might 
be identified through sketching and then incorporated 
to create mappings “between problem domains and pro-
gramming notations.”65 

Endeavoring to incorporate the benefits of metaphors 
while dodging the drawbacks, recent variations on the 
use of metaphor have been tendered. Neale and Carroll 
lobby for composite metaphors—metaphors made up of 
multiple metaphors—to alleviate the tension between 
source and target domains.66 Powell found composite 
metaphors useful for facilitating computer game play 
without unduly upsetting users. She explains that gamers 

have readily adopted the tool or inventory bag from 
which the user may equip their character with a man-
nequin style “dress-up” panel. The bag and mannequin 
metaphors have no real-world association but work 
effectively.67 Hsu, investigating composite metaphors, 
confirmed Neale and Carroll’s assertions and found that 
the “closer the mapping between designers’ conceptual 
models and users’ mental models, the greater the effect 
of interface metaphors.”68 

As an alternative to composite metaphors, Khoury 
and Simoff propose a new class of metaphors that they 
call “elastic.” They explain that metaphors in language 
are unavoidable, and we must deal with them in informa-
tion technology. Rather than focusing on concrete objects, 
however, metaphors should focus on social structures, 
such as relationships in game play. They conclude that 
“elastic metaphors can provide an optimal mapping from 
source to target domains.”69 

n Conclusion
Historically, in HCI the designer of the system supplies 
metaphors to help the user understand the system better. 
Unfortunately, this format falls prey to Reddy’s conduit 
metaphor: the receiver of the information is left out of the 
communication process. If HCI is to learn from human-
to-human interaction, then the user of the system should 
be able to communicate his or her needs to the system. If 
the system does not have the capacity to understand the 
request, then the user and the system should be empow-
ered to select mutually agreeable simple metaphors for 
communicating. The user should be given the option to 
choose his or her own metaphors, and the metaphors, 
vocabulary, and “language” created should be able to 
evolve as the boundaries of the comparison are reached. 
A common complaint from users is, “The computer just 
isn’t listening to me.” And they are, of course, right.

The field of information science, and particularly the 
subfield of human information behavior, are in a unique 
position to help resolve the long-standing debate over the 
use of metaphors in HCI. From Belkin’s early stated objec-
tives to improve information systems to Cole and Leide’s 
pursuit of metaphor instantiation in human information 
organizing behavior, the study of information behavior 
attempts to better understand and ideally facilitate the 
user—assisting them in their acquisition and application 
of information. Metaphors are clearly utilized by humans 
as they communicate with each other, seek and concep-
tualize information, and solve problems. To improve the 
interaction between human and computer, we must first 
gain better insight into the role that metaphors play in our 
own interaction with information. 



mEtaPHor’s rolE in tHE inFormation BEHavior oF Humans intEractinG witH comPutErs  |  sEasE   15

References

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10. Ibid.
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13. Ibid., 401.
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16   inFormation tEcHnoloGY anD liBrariEs  |  DEcEmBEr 2008

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50. Ibid., 185.
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52. Ibid., 16.
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