Direct manipulation interfaces

Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction, 1997

2000

Summary In this paper we provide an overview of our research investigating what functionality should be provided to users of a future Joint Battlespace Infosphere (JBI). We characterize and discuss the development of the JBI as a new form of automation that employs intelligent agents to autonomously seek, retrieve, and fuse information We believe that the development of new types of direct manipulation interfaces are the best approach to achieving JBI goals of reducing decision time and manning while maintaining positive control over the command and control (C2) system. Further, we argue that the integration of direct manipulation interface techniques with interface agents will change the HCI from a mechanism to execute tasks into a decision-aid that supports cognitive information processing. We contextualize this discussion by providing an overview of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Interaction with Software Agents (HISA) project. This effort is developing a HCI for ...

Information and Communications Technologies in School Mathematics, 1998

More natural interfaces are likely to be a main feature in the future design of Direct Manipulation Software, including Dynamic Geometry. This, however, will not be without problems in the actual design and in the tensions these new possibilities will bring due to constraints implied by the nature of the curriculum, specific content knowledge which is deemed to be important, and the expectations of teachers-the teachers' culture.

Summary In this paper we provide an overview of our research investigating what functionality should be provided to users of a future Joint Battlespace Infosphere (JBI). We characterize and discuss the development of the JBI as a new form of automation that employs intelligent agents to autonomously seek, retrieve, and fuse information We believe that the development of new types of direct manipulation interfaces are the best approach to achieving JBI goals of reducing decision time and manning while maintaining positive control over the command and control (C2) system. Further, we argue that the integration of direct manipulation interface techniques with interface agents will change the HCI from a mechanism to execute tasks into a decision-aid that supports cognitive information processing. We contextualize this discussion by providing an overview of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Interaction with Software Agents (HISA) project. This effort is developing a HCI for A...

ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 1990

Many existing interface representation techniques, especially those associated with UIMS, are constructional and focused on interface implementation, and therefore do not adequately support a user-centered focus. But it is in the behauioral domain of the user that interface designers and eualuators do their work. We are seeking to complement constructional methods by providing a toolsupported technique capable of specifying the behavioral aspects of an interactive system-the tasks and the actions a user performs to accomplish those tasks. In particular, this paper is a practical introduction to use of the User Action Notation (UAN), a task-and user-oriented notation for behavioral representation of asynchronous, direct manipulation interface designs. Interfaces are specified in UAN as a quasihierarchy of asynchronous tasks. At the lower levels, user actions are associated with feedback and system state changes. The notation makes use of visually onomatopoeic symbols and is simple enough to read with little instruction. UAN is being used by growing numbers of interface developers and researchers. In addition to its design role, current research is investigating how UAN can support production and maintenance of code and documentation.

1986

Abstract Software engineers are often called upon to design user interfaces, but strategies and guidelines are only beginning to emerge. Shneiderman (1983) introduced the term" Direct Manipulation" to describe user interfaces which have: 1) continuous representation of the objects of interest. 2) physical actions (movement and selection by mouse, joystick, touch screen, etc.) or labeled button presses instead of complex Syntax. 3) rapid, incremental, reversible operations whose impact on the object of interest is immediately visible.

2007

In this paper we present a general definition of the concept 'intuitive use of user interfaces' on the basis of our current interdisciplinary work. 'Intuitive use' is regarded as a characteristic of human-machine systems. It refers to a special kind of interaction process between users and technical systems that use the users' intuition. The main part of the paper deals with central aspects of this definition in detail and discusses pre-conditions and restrictions of the use of the concept. The main aspects that we discuss are the design of technical systems, application and non-conscious use of previous knowledge, intuition as a non-conscious process, interaction, and effectiveness. We complement this discussion by addressing the relationship between aesthetics and intuitive use.

Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human factors in computing systems, 1997

This paper reports on the experimental evaluation of a Graspable User Interface that employs a "spacemultiplexing" input scheme in which each function to be controlled has a dedicated physical transducer, each occupying its own space. This input style contrasts the more traditional "time-multiplexing" input scheme which uses one device (such as the mouse) to control different functions at different points in time. A tracking experiment was conducted to compare a traditional GUI design with its time-multiplex input scheme versus a Graspable UI design having a space-multiplex input scheme. We found that the space-multiplex conditions out perform the time-multiplex conditions. In addition, we found that the use of specialized physical form factors for the input devices instead of generic form factors provide a performance advantage. We argue that the specialized devices serve as both visual and tactile functional reminders of the associated tool assignment as well as facilitate manipulation due to the customized form factors.

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual …, 2004

When a person grasps an object, they create a hand-plus-object system. In perceiving properties of hand-held objects (including hand-held tools), people seem to show sensitivity to inertial variables relevant to the control of that object. Tool users demonstrate sensitivity to such variables in perceiving (1) whether a hand-held object could be used as a striking implement, where an implement should be brought into contact with another object, and where a hand-held object should be grasped so that object would be most effective as a striking implement. Importantly, tool users show taskspecific sensitivity to inertial variables in each case depending on the functional constraints of the striking task (i.e., whether it emphasizes precision over power or vice versa). These findings may be relevant not only to the design of hand-held tools but also to the design of interfaces that allow the remote use of tools (e.g., telesurgery).