Käännösten käytettävyyden heuristinen arviointi = [heuristic evaluation of the usability of translations]

Suojanen, T. and Tuominen, T. (2015) Käännösten käytettävyyden heuristinen arviointi = [heuristic evaluation of the usability of translations]. In: Tänkta termer Terminologihänsyn i nordiskt perspektiv: VAKKI Symposium XXXV, Vassa, Finland, 12-13 Feb 2015, pp. 270-280. ISBN 9789526788784

Abstract

Defining the target audience is one of the crucial points during a translation project. Translators consider the needs and abilities of their future readers and strive to produce an appropriate translation. However, translation studies has not offered translators many concrete tools with which translators could analyze and specify target readers. One of the proposed solutions for this dilemma is the model of User-Centered Translation (Suojanen, Koskinen & Tuominen 2012, 2015). The model contains a number of practical methods with which translators can find out information about their readers and use that information while translating. One of these methods is heuristic evaluation, which is performed by an expert or a group of experts using heuristics, namely, rules, guidelines or usability principles. The user-centered translation model contains a newly created set of usability heuristics for translation, and we wanted to test how these heuristics work in practice. We created an evaluation assignment, which was given to several student groups at the Finnish Universities of Tampere and Turku. In the assignment, students were asked to familiarize themselves with the heuristics, use them to analyze a translation, report on their main findings and reflect on the use of the heuristics. In this article we will report on the students’ findings and examine the usability of the heuristics as a translator’s tool. We will also introduce a modified list of translation usability heuristics that has been created based on the students’ comments.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Keywords: Translation studies, user-centered translation, usability, heuristics, heuristic evaluation.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Tuominen, Dr Tiina
• Authors: Suojanen, T., and Tuominen, T.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics; P Language and Literature > PH Finno-Ugrian, Basque languages and literatures
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures
• Journal Name: Rajojen dynamiikkaa, Gränsernas dynamik, Borders under Negotiation, Grenzen und ihre Dynamik. VAKKI-symposiumi XXXV 12.–13.2.2015
• Publisher: VAKKI Publications
• ISSN: 2242-6841
• ISSN (Online): 2242-685X
• ISBN: 9789526788784