Table of contents:
Invited Contributions to Books
Contributions to Conference Proceedings
For links to the authors' home pages, see the
list of members
and former members of our team
For a more complete listing of publications on Word Manager (without abstracts),
see our list of
publications
A computational lexicon for natural language processing needs to deal not
only with simple words, but also with lexemes consisting of more than one
orthographic word. Multi-word lexemes such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and
collocations display different degrees of flexibility concerning their morphology
and syntax. In the context of NLP applications, it is vital to know which
modifications are possible for each idiom (as this will determine whether
both an idiomatic and a literal reading are possible) and to express these
acceptable variations in an appropriate way. The present work describes the
linguistic specification of English multi-word units in
Word Manager
, a system for reusable morphological dictionaries developed at the University
of Basel. Word Manager makes it possible to express and integrate this description
with a morphological lexicon database. The detailed description of the classes
of multi-word units in English is the first full-scale application of this
part of the Word Manager formalism.
This book should be of interest not only to the computational linguist
and lexicographer, but also to linguists interested in the phraseology of
the English language.
The demand for linguistic techniques in software applications is growing.
However, current use of linguistic techniques is often unsatisfactory, due
to poor quality of the morphological dictionary. The
Word Manager
project recognizes the primary importance of the modelling of compounding
phenomena, in addition to inflection and derivation. The present work, embedded
in the Word Manager project, focuses on the acquisition of the lexicon after
the morphological rules have been specified. We introduce the lexicographic
environment Modalage. It is composed of a graphical user interface
and a powerful tool which analyses the morphology of unknown wordforms for
the purpose of entering new lexemes semi-automatically.
ten Hacken, Pius (1994), Defining Morphology: A Principled Approach to Determining the Boundaries of Compounding, Derivation, and Inflection , Olms, Hildesheim. 376 pp., ISBN 3-487-09891-1, DM 68.
Cover text:
In the context of Natural Language Processing, the question of how borderlines of compounding, derivation, and inflection with each other and with the area outside of morphology can be determined gains a new relevance. The present work develops a framework providing the background for an answer which is at the same time theoretically interesting and practically useful. On the basis of a thorough discussion of the literature, language-independent definitions are given for compounding, derivation, and inflection. The use of these definitions is illustrated by their application to constructions from various languages.
Extract from the preface:
The central question of this book is how we can determine the borderlines of compounding, derivation, and inflection with each other and with the world outside morphology in a way which is intelligent enough to satisfy any linguistic needs, and rigorous enough to be used in a natural-language processing environment.
Since it is not at all obvious a priori what the needs of linguistics and
NLP are, Chapter 1 addresses the question of how (parts of) definitions can
be evaluated. In a sense, the other chapters are a fairly elaborate justification
of the model presented there. They contain critical overviews of criteria
found in the literature and trace my search for proper definitions. Chapter
2 is devoted to compounding, which can relatively easily be set apart as
a topic, because its most contentious borderline is with syntax. The chapters
3 to 5 cover inflection and derivation, where disentanglement seemed at
first an almost hopeless task. Chapter 3 and 4 each treat a borderline of
inflection, and chapter 5 presents the definitions of both inflection and
derivation. In each case, my definitions are exemplified so as to demonstrate
their use.
Pedrazzini, Sandro (1994), Phrase Manager: A system for Phrasal and Idiomatic Dictionaries, Olms, Hildesheim. ISBN 3-487-09856-3.
Most computerized analysis systems are unable to identify idiomatic and phrasal expressions as semantic units. The present work introduces Phrase Manager, an operational system allowing these expressions to be specified, administered in a database, and recognized in a text. For the user, Phrase Manager is a tool which permits an incremental, cyclical process of development of rules and dictionary entries.
The preface
is available at IDSIA.
Bopp, Stephan (1993), Computerimplementation der italienischen Flexions- und Wortbildungsmorphologie, Olms, Hildesheim. ISBN 3-487-09810-5.
Die Modellierung morphologischen Wissens ist eine Voraussetzung für die computergestützte Verarbeitung natürlicher Sprachen. Während der achtziger Jahre wurden mit der Einführung verschiedener "finite-state" Modelle grosse Fortschritte im Bereich der Flexions- bzw. Wortformenanalyse erzielt. Ein neu entwickeltes System ? Word Manager ? erwieterte den "finite-state" Ansatz u.a. in bezug auf die Modellierung der Wortbildung, die in den vorgängigen Modellen keine oder relativ wenig Beachtung fand.
Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt eine mit Word Manager vorgenommene Formalisierung der italienischen Morphologie. Sie umfasst neben der gesamten Flexion auch die Wortbildung und ist damit die zur Zeit ausführlichste Formalisierung der Morphologie dieser Sprache. Die Beschreibung erfolgt aus der Sicht des Linguisten und zeigt u.a. Schwierigkeiten auf, die bei der durch einen Computerformalismus gestützten Formalisierung morphologischer Phänomene zu überwinden waren.
Extract from the preface:
The book describes Word Manager , a system for the construction of dictionaries containing morphological knowledge, and their use by NLP-systems. Word Manager dictionaries can be accessed via a network, so that several NLP-systems can use the same dictionary in parallel, adding their system-specific information on syntax, semantics or other areas if necessary. The system is capable of handling different natural languages and has two particularly interesting features: its user- centeredness and its ability to model wordformation processes. It has been developed at the University of Basel, and will be made available free of charge to research institutions by mutual agreement.
The book consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 first describes the problem
for which Word Manager has been designed as a solution. Then it presents
and evaluates some representative existing systems that might be considered
for solving this problem. Chapter 2 outlines the Word Manager approach to
the problem. Chapter 3 and 4 present the details of the specification process
for morphological knowledge in Word Manager, and give some examples of how
the knowledge can be accessed. Chapter 5 describes how some theoretically
based analyses can be implemented, as alternatives to the ones presented
in the preceding chapters. An appendix gives a formal description of the Word
Manager syntax.
Chomskyan linguistics does not enjoy great popularity in the communication
sciences, despite the importance of linguistic description in both disciplines.
In part this is caused by misunderstandings about the nature of Chomskyan
linguistics. Therefore, before addressing the interaction with communication
sciences, these misunderstandings are addressed and the research programme
underlying Chomskyan linguistics is explained as a basis for progress in
a scientifically sound field within linguistics. The consequences of this
research programme for some other domains of linguistics are then sketched.
On the basis of this overview it is argued that Chomskyan linguistics is compatible
with research in communication sciences and that the adoption of a Chomskyan
perspective on language constitutes an attractive option.
ten Hacken, Pius (2001), "Has There Been a Revolution in Machine Translation?", Machine Translation 16:1-19.
When we compare the contributions on MT in the proceedings of Coling 1988
and Coling-ACL 1998, it seems obvious that in the period between them a
revolution has taken place. Often this intuition is formulated as the replacement
of linguistic approaches by statistical approaches. On closer inspection,
however, this position cannot be defended. An analysis of Rosetta, concentrating
on the different levels of discussion and of underlying assumptions, shows
that the choice of knowledge from linguistic theories or information theory
and corpora is by itself not a decisive issue. More important is the question
of how the problem to be solved by an MT system is defined. An analysis
of the decisions underlying Verbmobil, resulting in a list corresponding
point by point to the one for Rosetta, shows how far-reaching the new approach
to defining the problem of MT is. As it is shown that these systems are representative
of the work in MT as it was done ten years ago and nowadays, it can reasonably
be argued that a revolution in MT has taken place, though not in exactly
the way it is often believed.
ten Hacken, Pius & Tschichold, Cornelia (2001), "Word Manager and CALL: Structured access to the lexicon as a tool for enriching learners' vocabulary", ReCALL 13:121-131.
Morphology consists of inflection and word formation. In foreign language teaching it occurs mainly in the form of inflectional paradigms. While this is certainly an important part of mastering a foreign language, an adequate use of morphology, both inflection and word formation, can facilitate the acquisition of foreign language vocabulary. By applying word formation rules as a way to structure their knowledge, advanced learners can multiply their active vocabulary.
A practical problem in using inflectional classes and word formation processes in vocabulary teaching is that the information required to devise exercises is not readily available. In a dictionary, it is not possible to get an overview of word formation relationships or classes of words belonging to the same inflectional class. The nature of word formation processes even makes it impossible in principle to fully cover them in a printed dictionary without creating a lot of redundancy.
An electronic dictionary does not automatically solve the problems involved,
unless it is structured appropriately. In the Word Manager (WM) project morphological
relationships have been taken as a starting point in the design of the lexicon.
As a consequence, the lexicon is structured in terms of word formation and
inflection rules, in such a way that complete and flexible access to the
morphological processes and classes of a language is guaranteed. The full
flexibility of WM lexicons requires that the entire system be installed locally.
For a dedicated operational component, however, no such installation is necessary.
It can be installed as an independently running programme or be made available
through the internet. Two such applications (which are freely available)
and their possible uses for teaching purposes are described.
ten Hacken, Pius (1999), "Two Perspectives on the Reusability of Lexical Resources", McGill Working Papers in Linguistics 14:39-49.
In computational linguistics (CL) the reusability of components and resources
has always been an important issue, especially for lexical resources. The
domain of reusability depends on the analysis of the tasks of CL systems
into modules. In this paper, two approaches to modularization are presented
and compared. The mainstream approach defines the domain of reusability in
terms of the declarative vs. procedural nature of information. The alternative
approach considered here defines the domain of reusability in terms of the
knowledge involved in a particular task. Examples of mainstream formalisms
are DATR and two-level morphology. They perform poorly in the alternative
approach. Word Manager is a system for morphological dictionaries developed
according to the alternative approach. A comparison of the two approaches
shows that the alternative approach has a number of significant advantages.
ten Hacken, Pius (1999), "Motivated Tests for Compounding", Acta Linguistica Hafniensa 31:27-58.
In this article I propose a system of tests for answering the question
what is a compound. Since this type of question is not common in present-day
linguistics, I begin by showing the importance of having a motivated answer.
Then I develop a framework for the application of a definition of compounding
in the identification of constructions in any language as belonging to the
phenomenon of compounding and in the identification of expressions as instances
of these constructions. By imposing certain conditions on a definition,
the framework guides the search for an appropriate formulation. The definition
found is valid for all languages. It is at the basis of tests whose general
applicability is suggested on the one hand by the solution of some apparent
problems, on the other hand by some examples from English and Turkish.
ten Hacken, Pius (1998), "The English Gender System in a Cross-Linguistic Perspective", RANAM : Recherches anglaises et américaines 31:23-35.
It is often claimed that the category of gender is rudimentarily developed
or even absent from English. In order to assess such claims it is necessary
to consider the nature of gender systems in a more general perspective. As
a starting point for the characterization of gender system Latin is chosen
because it has a well-developed system of gender of a broadly similar nature
to the one found in most Indo-European languages. On the basis of this discussion,
three parameters for the variation of gender systems are established, which
are subsequently applied to German, French, Dutch, and English in order
to show how the system in English differs from the ones in related languages.
The similarity between the gender systems of these languages is emphasized
by the description of the entirely differently structured gender system
of Fula in the appendix.
ten Hacken, Pius (1998), "Word Formation in Electronic Dictionaries", Dictionaries 19:158-187.
In this article I discuss the relationship of word formation to dictionaries.
Although I concentrate on electronic dictionaries, the discussion also touches
on certain types of dictionaries for human use, especially learner's dictionaries.
I argue that an approach diverging significantly from the traditional treatment
of word formation in dictionaries has decisive advantages for the development
and use of electronic dictionaries, and that some of these advantages carry
over to the treatment of word formation in learner's dictionaries. In section
1 the problem is explained. Section 2 is devoted to a review of some approaches
which are modeled on the traditional division of labor between dictionaries
and grammars. In section 3 the approach incorporated in Word Manager is
presented, which has a number of advantages compared to the approaches discussed
in section 2. Section 4 outlines a way of using these advantages in learner's
dictionaries. Finally, section 5 summarizes the conclusions.
ten Hacken, Pius (1997), "Progress and Incommensurability in Linguistics", Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft 7:287-310.
In this article I address two related questions with regard to some episodes of the past half century of linguistic research:
(2) To what extent is communication between different schools of linguistics hampered by incommensurability ?
ten Hacken, Pius & Domenig, Marc (1996), 'Reusable Dictionaries for NLP: The Word Manager Approach', Lexicology 2:232-255.
A significant proportion of current work in lexicography is devoted to so-called electronic dictionaries, dictionaries available on a computer and designed to be used by particular computer programs. A key notion in this context is reusability. In this article we will describe a system that has a fairly unconventional approach to reusability, based on a radical separation of lexical information below and above the lexeme level. The system combines comprehensive coverage of the rules for inflection, wordformation, and multi-word units with the advantages of database techniques.
The article is structured as follows. In section 1 we explain the problem
for which reusability is thought to be a solution, the conventional approach,
and our own analysis of the problem. In section 2 we describe the general
architecture of Word Manager
(WM), a system for morphological dictionaries based on this approach.
In section 3 we describe the different rule types in WM and their role in
lexical recognition. In sections 4 and 5 the tasks of the linguists and
lexicographers involved in WM are described. Finally, section 6 sketches
the current state of the project.
ten Hacken, Pius (1999), "Competence and Performance in Computational Linguistics", in Halter, Peter (ed.), Performance, Narr, Tübingen, p. 185-200.
In this paper I explore the relationship between Computational Linguistics
(CL) and the competence-performance distinction familiar from linguistic
theory. I start with an introductory analysis of CL (section 1) and a discussion
of different understandings of the competence-performance dichotomy (section
2). I then relate competence and performance to the processing of language
(section 3) and consider their relevance in each of the mappings distinguished
in CL (sections 4-5). On this basis I identify two basic approaches to CL
based on competence and performance respectively (sections 6-7). Finally
I evaluate the role of competence and performance in the progress of different
types of CL (section 8).
In the framework of Word Manager (WM), morphological dictionaries are produced
by the classification of lexemes in terms of a rule database. The intricate
structure of the resulting lexical resources, conceived primarily for flexible
use, also offers novel opportunities for the validation of the lexical specification.
Many of the inconsistencies and errors encountered in lexical specification
in a text file are excluded in WM, because the lexicographer’s interface
supports decisions by the exploitation of the procedural nature of inflection
and word formation rules. There remains a set of lexicographic decisions,
based on facts of the language and on the theoretical analysis of these facts,
which cannot be supported in this formal way. They include the contents of
the lexicographic guidelines. For the validation of these decisions, two
types of browser are provided, the tree browser which gives access to partitionings
of the set of lexemes, and the lexeme browser which concentrates on information
for a single lexeme and on its links to other lexemes. The possibilities
available because of the structure in the database constitute a challenge
for the generality of the approach to validation described by Underwood &
Navarretta (1997), which requires the reduction of lexical databases to text
files.
The problem of distinguishing word formation relationships in the lexicon
from etymological relationships arises because of the interaction of different
processes for the extension of the lexicon, in particular word formation
and borrowing. In an electronic dictionary in which word formation is taken
as the organizing principle for the description of the lexicon, the distinction
between word formation and etymology is of central importance. A procedure
is described which aims to achieve intersubjective and cross-linguistic consistency
in decisions about this borderline. This procedure is primarily based on
synchronic relationships. When borrowed items can be related by morphological
processes in the borrowing language, however, this analysis is preferred.
It has been applied successfully in the development of Word Manager dictionaries
for English and Italian.
The lexicon of several modern languages such as English, Italian, French,
and German contains words which are composed of components corresponding
to Ancient Greek and Latin words, but have not been borrowed from these ancient
languages. The coverage of this part of the lexicon involves the recognition
of the basic units, the description of the word formation processes, and
the analysis of existing words in terms of these units and processes. The
Word Manager system for reusable morphological dictionaries provides a formalism
in which neo-classical word formation can be described in a very natural
way. It is assumed that neo-classical formatives do not have a normal syntactic
category, so that they have to go through word formation processes which
turn them into lexemes of a regular class. By using the same principles and
guidelines in the coverage of English and Italian, similarities and differences
between these languages stand out.
Introduction:
Newmeyer (1998) assumes that formalist approaches can be taken as a general category, opposed to functionalist approaches. He takes Chomskyan linguistics as a concrete example of a formalist theory only because he needs to refer to a particular theory but claims that the choice of this example is not essential for the conclusions to be reached. In this paper I intend to argue against this claim, demonstrating that Chomskyan linguistics differs from formalist approaches in a narrower sense, represented by Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG) and Montague grammar, and that this distinction is at the same level of importance as the distinction between functionalist and formalist approaches.
Abstract:
Among people working in Computational Linguistics (CL) around 1990 and
still active in the field now, there is a widely shared feeling that they
have witnessed a revolution. This paper shows which developments are responsible
for this perception and which elements are central in the actual revolution.
In order to avoid terminological confusion, the concept of revolution as
it is used here is clarified first. Then the development in the subfield of
Machine Translation is studied in some detail. It is argued that the actual
revolution consists in a shift of attention from the application of theoretical
knowledge to the solution of practical problems. To the extent that this
shift is representative of more general developments in the field, the conclusions
can be generalized to CL as a whole.
Abstract:
In the practice of day-to-day communication, the use of specialized terminology
in a firm’s internal documents is often perceived as an obstacle to correct
understanding of a text. With the emergence of intranet communication, the
possibility arises of making available on-line explanations of terms used
in a document. A condition for the success of such an enterprise is that
terms are recognized also when they occur in inflected forms or when they
consist of more than one word.
Word Manager
(WM) is a system for reusable morphological dictionaries which is optimally
suited to these conditions. In addition it offers a user-friendly environment
for the specification and maintenance of a database, and a tool generator
which provides a model for the specification of a finite-state transducer
mediating between the WM database and the terminology database. The collaboration
between UBS AG
and WM has shown that these advantages can also be realized in practice.
Abstract:
In this article we want to discuss the design patterns used and proposed
for the realization of finite state automata. Various aspects in the design
of a framework for the implementation of FSA will be treated, presenting
not only the patterns for the single components, but the entire system design.
Using design patterns to sketch a framework means performing an "abstract
implementation", from which it is possible to realize concrete specific automata,
simply customizing some classes. In order to test the framework, some concrete
lexical tools have been created. The resulting automata and transducers are
used to perform word form analysis, word form generation, creation and derivation
history, spellchecking and phrase recognition.
Introduction:
The major question to be addressed here is the conditions under which MT
can be considered scientific. Before this question can be meaningfully discussed,
a number of preliminary issues should be settled. They include the distinction
between applied science and other kinds of science, the distinction between
applied science and technology, and the epistemological and practical consequences
of these distinctions (section 1). In section 2, the problem of MT is analysed
in such a way that some general choices which have to be made stand out clearly.
Each of these choices may influence the character of the approach to MT in
terms of the distinction between (applied) science and technology. In section
3, one of the choices, determining the boundaries of the problem to be solved,
is taken up for closer analysis. It has been chosen because its influence
on the scientific nature of the approach, though pervasive, is not immediately
obvious.
ten Hacken, Pius & Bopp, Stephan (1998), "Separable Verbs in a Morphological Dictionary for German", in Coling - ACL '98: Proceedings of the Conference, Université de Montréal, p. 471-475.
Abstract:
Separable verbs are verbs with prefixes which, depending on the syntactic
context, can occur as one word written together or discontinuously. They
occur in languages such as German and Dutch and constitute a problem for NLP
because they are lexemes whose forms cannot always be recognized by dictionary
lookup on the basis of a text word. Conventional solutions take a mixed lexical
and syntactic approach. In this paper, we propose the solution offered by
Word Manager
, consisting of string-based recognition by means of rules of types also
required for periphrastic inflection and clitics. In this way, separable
verbs are dealt with as part of the domain of reusable lexical resources.
We show how this solution compares favourably with conventional approaches.
Pedrazzini, Sandro & ten Hacken, Pius (1998), "Centralized Lexeme Management and Distributed Dictionary Use in Word Manager", in Schröder, Bernhard; Lenders, Winfried; Hess, Wolfgang & Portele, Thomas (eds.), Computers, Linguistics and Phonetics between Language and Speech, Proceedings of the 4th Conference on NLP, Konvens'98, Bonn, Germany, Frankfurt am Main: Lang, p. 365-370.
Abstract:
Word Manager (WM) is a system for reusable morphological dictionaries. A full German WM-dictionary has been implemented (ca. 100,000 entries). In this contribution it is shown that dedicated finite-state automata and transducers can be derived from such a database. The procedure involves the automatic generation of automata by a programming tool. Once generated, the automata operate independently of the master database. Their performance is comparable to automata developed in two-level morphology, but the range of applications for which automata can be derived in WM is significantly broader. In this way, practical reusability of linguistic resource encoded in the WM-database is demonstrated.
A demo
version of some of the automata is available on line.
ten Hacken, Pius (1998), 'Chomskyan Linguistics and HPSG as Competing Research Programmes', in Caron, Bernard (ed.), Actes du 16èCongrès International des Linguistes (Paris 20-25 juillet 1997), [CD-ROM] Oxford: Pergamon, Paper 0042.
Short abstract, distributed at the conference:
Abstract:
A comparison of grammatical frameworks such as GB, LFG, and GPSG is often
difficult. They each have their own set of favourite data they can account
for elegantly and problematic data for which no account is available. This
does not mean that they are all equally adequate as a basis for the scientific
study of language. In this paper I develop the concept of research programme,
which helps in the evaluation of frameworks in this respect.
Abstract:
Phrase Manager (PM) is a system for the specification and the use of databases
of multi-word units. Phrase Manager covers the mapping between text words
and dictionary entries where there is no one-to-one relation between these
entities. PM is an extension of
Word Manager
, a system that handles inflectional and derivational morphology. PM allows
the specification of classes of multi-word units and the construction of
dictionaries of phrasal expressions by relating individual units to these
classes. This paper will briefly discuss the mapping process and, then, focus
on the formalism for the specification of multi-word unit classes and multi-word
unit entries.
Summary
A language-independent definition is proposed for the phenomenon of inflection.
The definition is based on agreement between two elements in a certain configuration.
It differentiates inflection on the one hand from derivation, and on the
other hand from cliticization. This is especially urgent in Natural Language
Processing systems where consistency has to be maintained even when many
coders are involved. The definition can also be used in any theory of morphology,
and in lexicography.
ten Hacken, Pius; Bopp, Stephan; Domenig, Marc; Holz, Dieter; Hsiung, Alain & Pedrazzini, Sandro (1994), A Knowledge Acquisition and Management System for Morphological Dictionaries, Coling 94 Proceedings, Kyoto, p. 1284-1288.
Abstract:
A system for the acquisition and management of reusable morphological dictionaries
is clearly a useful tool for NLP. As such, most currently popular finite-state
morphology systems have a number of drawbacks. In the development of
Word Manager
, these problems have been taken into account. As a result, its knowledge
acquisition component is well-developed, and its knowledge representation
enables more flexible use than typical finite-state systems.
Abstract:
Phrase Manager (PM) is a system for the specification and use of phrasal
and idiomatic dictionaries. PM covers the mapping between text words and
dictionary entries where it is not one to one. PM is integrated with
Word Manager
(WM), which covers inflection and wordformation.
Abstract:
This paper presents an implementation of Italian inflection and word formation
with
Word Manager
. The system is developed by a group of computer scientists, computer
linguists and linguists at the Department of Computer Science, University
of Basel, Switzerland. Word Manager is a system intended for the specification,
use and maintenance of morphological dictionaries as described in
Domenig/ten Hacken (1992)
. It has different subformalisms for the specification of morphological
knowledge. All inflectional and word-formation processes described in the
consulted grammars have been implemented by means of these subformalisms.
At least as far as word formation is concerned, it is the at present most
comprehensive specification of morphological knowledge of the Italian language.
Abstract:
This paper presents a set of design criteria for online help systems and
shows howthese criteria have been applied in GoMan, an application independant
system developed at the University of Basel. Starting with a definition
and classification of help systems, the pros and cons of active vs. passive
systems are discussed. It is argued that passive online manuals are superior
to other approaches when a help system is required for an application designed
according to modern HCI-principles. A description of GoMans's presentation
system attempts to corroborate these findings.
Dorothee Buescher, Dieter Holz, Beyond Catalog-based Interface Design - Lessons that can be learned from Architecture and Industrial Design , Institutsbericht, 1995
Abstract:
Architecture, industrial design, and interface design deal with the design of the relationship between a technical product and its users. Disciplines of this kind evolve in three stages.
At the first stage, engineers work on both the technical aspects of the product and the design of the man-product-relationship. At the second stage, the stage of the catalog-based design, these tasks are largely separated. The profession of the designer emerges. Prefabricated technical components are composed by the designer and remain almost unchanged. At the third stage, the technical components are specifically engineered and manufactured to solve a design problem.
At each stage there are restrictions with respect to the application domain and the design complexity.
First stage products directly originate from the engineer's technical environment.
At the second stage, new application domains can be tackled, because the
user's needs are closely examined and lead to a dedicated design of the
man-product-relationship.
However, the catalog-based design is insufficient for complex design problems. In addition to user participation, a specialization of the technical components and the collaboration between designer and engineer are necessary to fulfill the user's needs at the third stage.
Keywords interdisciplinary design process, architecture, industrial design, interface design, user participation