Pragmatics in the usability discipline

The usability discipline is a growing area both in information sciences and ICT technologies, especially for the interactive use of professional e-services: e-business, e-government, etc. Pragmatics, as a subfield of semiotics, the general study of signs and sign-systems, is concerned with the external context(s) of signs and sign-systems, namely the function(s) and use of signs. The usability discipline has not yet exploited it.