Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

Error Rates 
detecting errors during the test. The following tables illustrate only those 
error criteria which provided at least one observable instance during the 
test. The remaining criteria have been omitted. In gathering the data, the 
scores from the post-test survey were used as data for the criterion “Com-
mands & Icons Remembered Afterwards”. 
In the main study this data is referred to as the “PTS Score”. Once the 
data has been compiled, all of the figures except the PTS Score and the 
number of tasks completed were added together. The PTS Score and num-
ber of tasks completed were subtracted from this total to give an overall er-
ror score. The purpose of this score is to facilitate comparing the number of 
errors made by each subject. The following list shows the new amended er-
ror criteria for the main study. 
Tasks Completed 
Times User Guide Used 
PTS Score 
Incorrect Icons 
Incorrect Menus 
Verbal Interactions 
Confusion 
Satisfaction 
Error Score 
Again, owing to the difficulties encountered with one participant, it was 
impossible to gather data for this part of the experiment. Nevertheless, 
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Of the large list of criteria on page 198, only some proved to be useful for 
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Experiment to Test the Impact of Iconic Linkage
Figure 4: Initial Graph Attempting to Show Pilot Error Scores 
It also became apparent when presenting this data in the form of a graph, 
that there were problems in the way the results were calculated for each 
criterion. Figure 4 shows that the results for the “Tasks Completed” (Crite-
rion 1) and particularly the PTS Score (Criterion 3) noticeably skew the 
graph. This fact highlighted faulty logic in the way criteria were worded 
and applied. The list of usability criteria provided a list of errors which each