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This research paper intends to tackle, from a theorical point of view, the functional aspects of exploration interface design and their impact on human communication processes.For that, the interface has been conceived as a technical device that connects people physically and psychologically with «communication machines» in the performance of a certain task; at the same time, however, it is a symbolically constructed space in which the objects interact with each other on different levels of significance. Seen this way, the design of an exploration interface will present two seemingly different realities: on the one side, the one that intends the design to be a functionally efficient, technical device for accessing, navigating and controlling an information system; on the other side, the reality of the design of a space formally represented by semiotic objects whose arrangement determines the flow and sense of a communicative experience. In both cases, the functional equivalences of the objects represented in the interfaces will question the traditional delimitations of both visual and technical design of production. That is why distinguishing any descriptions of the system itself from the ones constitutive of its phenomenology is prioritized in this research paper, that is to say what belongs to our interaction with it, the represented entities, and the context in which it is used. These questions will be analysed in an interdisciplinary way and under a holistic way of looking at the problem with the goal of confronting and evaluating different conceptual approaches of design. The document is structured in four parts.The first puts us in front of the object and its function in the system context that, from a philosophical point of view, describes our natural and technological environment. The second part is centered in the information technologies, tracing a line of historical events whose intent is to describe the motivations that brought such important scientists to invent the concepts and techniques that made it possible for computers to become authentic communication machines. The third one deals with the general aspects of communication and the technological and cultural devices that allow us to acquire and transmit knowledge. The fourth part analyses, in a critical way, the functional design of interfaces, their sense and their domain.

Agradeço ao Prof. Dr. Jorge Luiz e Silva, pela orientação do trabalho realizado, pela paciência em corrigir meus erros no decorrer desse processo e pelos conselhos ao longo desses últimos anos.Agradeço aos colegas de projeto Lucas Sanches e Vitor Astolfi, pelas discussões e pelo subsídio à este trabalho, no qual não seria possível sem eles.Agradeço ao CNPq, pelo auxílio financeiro de Agosto de 2008 até Fevereiro de 2010. Ao Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação da Universidade de São Paulo pela oportunidade de realizar esse curso de mestrado. Aos professores pelos ensinamentos,e aos funcionários pelos excelentes serviços prestados. Agradeço aos funcionários do ICMC pela presteza, paciência e dedicação em sanar minhas incontáveis dúvidas, em especial às funcionárias Lhaís Visentin, Ana Paula, Laura Aparecida e Elizabeth Luisa Moretti e Silva.Agradeço aos meus amigos de laboratório Daniel F. Bonetti, Bruno Mazzotti, Christiane Brasil, Marcilyanne Gois e Vinicius Melo, pelo auxílio, paciência e ajuda na correção de trabalhos e total apoio nas minhas necessidades. Agradeço aos meus amigos Renato Rodrigues e Rodrigo Córdoba pela paciência pelo convívio ao longo desses anos e pela ajuda preciosa na elaboração deste trabalho.Agradeço aos meus amigos e colegas de São Carlos, Adalberto Gonzaga, Bruno

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