Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

The Benefits of Iconic Linkage 
The idea of implementing Iconic Linkage in a user guide draws on several 
areas of cognitive psychology and represents a way of implementing a vari-
ety of principles. On the basis of the areas examined in Chapters 2 and 3 
we can see that, in theory at least, Iconic Linkage presents the following 
benefits in the production of user guides. 
Reduction of Short Term Memory Load 
Iconic linkage reduces the demands placed on short-term memory by help-
ing to chunk information into meaningful and manageable units. Not only 
does this help maximise on STM capacity but it also reduces the amount of 
processing needed and speeds up the retrieval of information.
Habit Formation 
Iconic Linkage facilitates the formation of good habits. Raskin (2000:20) 
maintains that one obstacle to the formation of habits is the provision of 
multiple methods of doing something because it shifts the attention away 
from the task to the process of choosing the method. By ensuring that in-
formation is phrased in a standard, uniform way, we eliminate the need for 
readers to decode the same information all over again. Thus, users concen-
trate more on the task at hand and not on the interface (user guide). 
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Iconic Linkage as a Cognitive Strategy
Subconscious Learning & Perceptual Learning 
In a way similar to habit formation, the repetition of information phrased in 
precisely the same way takes advantage of latent learning (see Chapter 3) 
whereby users learn information without realising it or intending to. 
As we discussed earlier in Chapter 3, perceptual learning is the way we 
know h
how to perceive sensory information each time we encounter it. This 
is important for Iconic Linkage in that we can change the response of users 
to sensory perception. For example, where the sight of a particular piece of 
text may result in confusion, over time it will provide reassurance, informa-
tion etc. for readers.