We will consider human-computer interactions from several perspectives:<\/p>\n
Although WIMP interfaces, which are a combination of Menus, dialog boxes, and \u2018point and click,\u2019 currently dominates interface designs there are other forms of interfaces<\/b>:<\/p>\n We will go through the list and identifying the technique in terms of how fast it is for the user, how flexible it is for users or expressive it is for the user, how long it takes for the user to learn, and how hard it is for the programmer to implement.<\/p>\n Command line interfaces<\/b> are the original interfaces for the computer and are still used.\u00a0 Examples of command line interfaces are UNIX operating system commands and the VI editor.\u00a0 They are loved by system administrators for their accuracy, speed and flexibility.\u00a0 If the user knows the commands then typing is faster than searching for it in menus.\u00a0 Consequently, some applications try to offer both; for example auto cad or Windows Excel.\u00a0 Users can directly create script files and verbally specify the command sequence.\u00a0 Some commands can be hard to visualize and searching for commands or files can be frustrating and slow.\u00a0 The interface is easy for programmers to implement.<\/p>\n Menus<\/b> are a basis of WIMP interfaces and a favorite with inexperienced users. Novice users can easily find commands.\u00a0 Searching the menus, the user builds up a metaphor for the application.\u00a0 Using menus is slow but fun. Using toolkits, menus are not too bad to program.<\/p>\n Dialogs<\/b> or \u201cquestion and answer\u201d boxes are another old interface style. They are windows that pop up asking for information, fields to be filled or buttons to be pressed. Dialogue windows have been around before WIMP interfaces, they first appeared in database entry application programs. \u00a0Other example are wizards and some help agents. They ask a sequenece of questions using dialog boxes and in order to determine what the user needs. They are rather inflexible form of interface. Dialog boxes are easy to understand but\u00a0not very flexible or fast. They are easy to program.<\/p>\n Forms<\/b>\u00a0are much like dialog boxes. They can be more sophisticated, and like dialog boxes not very\u00a0flexible for the user.\u00a0 Spreadsheets<\/b> are a flexible and powerful form of interface, especially if the user can specify cell types.\u00a0 Data entry in spreadsheets is typically slow. They are more difficult to program.<\/p>\n Point and click<\/b> interfaces were made popular by the web. \u00a0They represent I and P in WIMP. They were very suitable for the initial\u00a0web browsers (gopher) when web pages were all text.\u00a0 Users knew to interpret the underscore as a link to another web page.\u00a0 Now, links are hidden<\/b>, for examples in images.\u00a0Icons on the desktop is another example of point and click style interface.\u00a0The notion of point and click is a short interaction that results in a very specific result.\u00a0 Because the user must move the mouse, this interface style tends to be slow for the user. It is flexible because many different kinds of UI objects can be pointed at. Short key interaction is a “point and click” interaction style without the point. Both are generally easy to implement.<\/p>\n The most common example of natural<\/strong> language interface<\/b> are the interfaces for search engines. \u00a0Users type words in to the search box that the software interprets and return the result for the user. \u00a0They are hard to implement, but can be very flexible for the user.<\/p>\n Command gesturing <\/b>interface style selects an object and uses a gesture to issue commands. In essences, it is a generalization of “point and click” interfaces. \u00a0Examples are swiping on smart phones and windows OS. Some games, Brother in Arms,\u00a0use command gesturing. Keith Ruthowski has demonstrated that a pie menu can become a form of command gesturing, and once the gestures are learned nearly as accurate and fast as text entry. Because algorithms for interpreting gestures are in its infancy, the flexibility of command gesturing is not known. They are difficult to implement. Learning a large set of gesture can take a long time.<\/p>\n General gesturing<\/b> is a more general interface style than command gesturing. There does not have to be an object and the gesture does not have to represent a command. Examples of general gesturing are drawing applications and text entry by writing, like in a notebook. The Wii is advancing general gesturing in games. Because this is a very new interaction style, it is unknown how easy it is to learn, but it should be more flexible. It is more difficult to implement.<\/p>\n Direct manipulation is closely related to command gesturing. An example of direct manipulation<\/b> is drag and drop files into folders or trash. Drawing applications use direct manipulations. They can be slow to use but are fast to learn. They can be difficult to implement.<\/p>\n Tangible interactions<\/b> refer to manipulating physical objects other than the mouse and keyboard. There are few current popular examples, but RFID and NF technology does make some tangible interactions possible. Low tech examples of tangible interactions are real buttons, switches and sliders. They can be fast or slow to use, but should be easy to learn, and can be hard to implement.<\/p>\n Preece, Rogers and Sharp in Interaction Design<\/em> propose that designers should understand users\u2019 conceptual models for interaction. The understanding can guide designers to the proper interaction techniques for their system.<\/p>\n The most important thing to design is the user\u2019s conceptual model. Everything else should be subordinated to making that model clear, obvious, and substantial. That is almost exactly the opposite of how most software is designed. (David Liddle, 1996, Design of the conceptual model, In Bringing Design to Software<\/i>, Addison-Wesely, 17-31)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The HCI designers’ goal is to understand the interaction in terms of the users understanding of them. Preece, Rogers and Sharp propose four conceptual models for interaction concepts, based on the type of activities users perform during the interaction.<\/p>\n I propose additional conceptual interactions that are more passive:<\/p>\n User may interact with a system using more than one conceptual interaction model.<\/p>\n Issuing commands is an example of instructional interactions. Instructional interactions are probably the most common form of conceptual interactions. It allows the user the most control over the system.\u00a0 Specific examples vary form using a VCR to programming. In most cases, issuing commands to the operating system\u00a0(example of “command line” interaction style) are instructional interactions. Icons, menus and control keys are examples of improving the usability command line like instructional interaction. Instructional interactions tend to be quick and efficient.<\/p>\n The conversational Interaction are \u00a0interactions like user-system dialog. Examples of systems that are primarily conversational are help-systems. Agents (such as the paper clip) use conversational interaction. Implementing conversational model may require voice recognition and text parsing or could use forms. The advantage of conversational model is that it can be more natural, but it can also be a slower interaction. For example, using automated phone based systems is a slow conversational interaction interface. Another disadvantage of conversational interaction is that the user may believe that the system is smarter then it really is, especially if the system uses an animated agent.<\/p>\n This model describes the interaction of manipulating virtual objects or navigating virtual worlds. Navigational interactions are popular in computer games. Manipulating interactions occur in drawing software. Navigational interactions occur even in word processors, for example zooming and using the scroll bar. Direct manipulations<\/strong> are manipulating interactions. Ben Shneiderman (1983) coined the phase and posed three properties:<\/p>\n Apple was the first computer company to design an operating system using direct manipulation in the desk top. Direct manipulation and navigational interactions have a lot of benefits. They are easy to learn, easy to recall, tend to have less error, give immediate feedback, and produce less user anxiety. But they have several disadvantages: the interactions are slower and the user may believe that the interaction is more than it really is. Poor metaphors such as moving the icon of a floppy to eject the floppy can confuse the user.<\/p>\n Exploring and browsing interactions refer to searching structured information. Examples of systems using exploring interactions are Music CDs, Movie DVDs, Web, portals. Also searching for files using window explorer is an example of Exploring interactions. Not much progress has been made in this conceptual model for exploring and browsing interactions, probably because the structuring information is a non\u00a0trivial task and is hard to model.<\/p>\n Passive Informative interactions are similar to instruments, for example the speedometer in an auto dashboard. They can provide feedback to users’ actions or movements, such as a GPS interface. The can also provide information to changes in the environment such as a light meter or an image in a viewfinder.\u00a0 Smart phones frequently used as instruments and make use of passive instrumental interactions.<\/p>\n Another example of passive informative interaction is using the smart phones to read books. The interaction is very passive and one way. The system is providing information to the users. The user primarily gestures to progress through the book. Viewing images is another passive informative interaction with only interactions for zooming and panning. Passive informative interaction may be a simplified Manipulating and Navigational Interactions.<\/p>\n We can make a table summarize interaction styles and conceptual interaction models. The related conceptual interaction model is the most common model that is supported by the interaction style. Implementation is how hard for the designer to implement. Because I made the table we should go through it and correct it.<\/p>\n\n
Conceptual Interaction Models<\/h2>\n
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Instructional Interactions<\/h3>\n
Conversational Interactions<\/h3>\n
Manipulating and Navigational Interactions<\/h3>\n
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Exploring and Browsing Interactions<\/h3>\n
Passive Informative Interactions<\/h3>\n