Verbal communication of semantic content in products

Research carried out so far includes 3 investigations with a combination of questionnaires and an experiment where product search was carried out based on verbal communication alone. Preliminary results indicate that there exists a mutual understanding of many of the terms describing the qualities and properties and that good verbal communication of sensory and perceived product qualities are possible. However a number of the selected terms seem to have several interpretations causing ambiguous information. We suggest more emphasis in design education on training precise verbal communication concerning semantic contents in products.