Interaction Styles

User-computer dialogs

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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interaces

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What is a Command-line Interface?
 An interface wherein the user types in
commands in direct response to a prompt
 Examples
 Operating systems
 MS-DOS
 Unix
 Applications
 ftp
 telnet

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Command-line Interfaces
 Features
 This was the first interaction style
 Still widely used
 Provides a means to express commands to a
computer directly
 May use function keys, single characters,
appreviations, or whole-word commands
 Only interaction style available in some situations,
such as remote access (e.g., telnet)

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Command-line Interfaces (2)
 Advantages
 Direct access to system functionality
 Flexibility through options or parameters that
modify behaviour of commands
 Useful for repetitive tasks
 Good for expert users
 Disadvantages
 Arcane syntax difficult for novices
 Options difficult to remember

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Example

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Guidelines for Good Command-line
Interfaces
 Commands should use vocabulary of the
user, not of the technician or system
 Consistency from one command to the next

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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interaces

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Menu-based Interaction
 Features
 Options available displayed on the screen
 Used on text-based and GUI-based systems
 On text-based systems, options may be numbered
 Shortcuts/accelerators possible
 Just type the first letter or a unique letter of a command
 Use TAB or arrow keys to navigate menu options
 Advantages
 Since options are visible, they are less demanding on
the user
 Relies on recognition, rather than on recall

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Designing Menu-based Interactions
 Make menu options meaningful in the user’s
language
 Logically group similar options to aid recognition
 User hierarchical organization where appropriate
(viz. submenus)

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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interaces

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Natural Language Interaction
 Very attractive mode of interaction (at least at
first glance)
 Scenario: the user cannot remember a
command or is lost in a hierarchy of menus
 The cure: natural language understanding
 Forms: speech, written input
 Subject of considerable interest and research

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Difficulty of Natural Language
 Parsing language is very difficult
 E.g., “the man hit the boy with the stick” Who has the stick?
 Words are vague or ambiguous
 E.g., “exit” vs “close” Are they the same?
 Homonyms exacerbate speech input
 E.g., “caret” vs “carrot” (same sound, different meaning)
 Spelling errors and/or variations exacerbate written input
 E.g., “disk” vs “disc”, “color” vs “colour”, “center” vs “centre”
 Synonyms exacerbate written and speech input
 E.g., “automobile” vs “car” (same meaning, different spelling)
 Converting audio speech to machine-readable text is very
difficult!
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Promise of Natural Language
Interaction
 Relatively successful in restriced domains
(but, is this natural language?)
 User must learn phrases that are (and are not)
understood
 But… Language is, by it’s very nature, vague
and imprecise, and this promotes flexibility
and creativity
 Computers require precise language

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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interaces

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Features
 Simple medium to provide input to an application
 User is asked a series of questions
 Mainly with yes/no responses or multiple choices
 Constraining answers means input is always
“parsable” by the application
 Easy to learn
 Limited in functionality
 Relaxing constraints means bogus input is possible
 E.g., What is your name? (Response: buzz off)
 Appropriate for restricted domains
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Qwery Languages
 Used to constuct queries for databases
 Appear to use natural language phrases
 SQL example…
SELECT Students.LastName, Students.FirstName, Students.Faculty
FROM Students
WHERE (((Students.Faculty)="arts"));

 But, in fact, specific syntax is required (as well as

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Qwery vs. Natural Language
 Distinction is sometimes blurred
 What appears as a natural language interface
may simply be a front for a query system
 E.g., MS Word
 Question parsed into
keywords to form
query

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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interaces

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Features
 Used primarily for data entry
 Can also be used for data retrieval
 User is presented with a display resembling a
paper form (often based on actual form)
 User already familiar with actual form (aides
memory)
 Easy movement from field to field
 Some fields optional
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Features (2)
 Require correction facility (because users
change their mind or make a mistake with
data previously entered)
 Good for novice users or expert users

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Spreadsheets for Forms
 Can be used as sophisticated forms
 Grid of cells
 Cells have formulae (e.g., the total for a row or
column)
 Data may be added in any order
 System maintains consistency and updates values
immediately
 User can manipulate values and observe effects
 Blurrs distinction between input and output
 Attractive medium for forms

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Spreadsheet Example

= Qty * Unit Price

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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interaces

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Features
 WIMP = windows, icons, menus, pointers
 Currently the most common environment for
interactive computing
 Examples Microsoft Windows 98, Windows
NT, Apple MacOS, X-Windows (for unix),
Motif (for unix)

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Example

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Mixing Interaction Styles
 X-Windows “on top of” UNIX mixes the old with the
new
 Old systems are often called legacy systems
 Legacy systems are very hard to replace or update,
due to investment and momentum
 Adage: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
 The old: command-line interaction
 The new: WIMP
 E.g., command-line interaction in a window

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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interaces

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Features
 In multimedia systems (e.g., web browsers), most
interactions require only a single click of a mouse
button
 Closely related to WIMP (i.e., buttons are also used
in WIMP interfaces)
 Point-and-click philosophy is simpler
 Closely related to hypertext idea
 Not limited to mouse
 Also use for touch screen, such as information
kiosks
 Popularized by WWW pages
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Interaction Style Categories
 Command-line interfaces
 Menus
 Natural Language
 Question/answer and query dialog
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three-dimensional interfaces

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Features
 Increasing use of 3D in user interfaces
 Most obvious example is virtual reality
 Simplest example is 3D appearance for WIMP
elements, raised buttons
 Appearance of being sculped out of stone with
light source to the upper-left/right

Press me Press me
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Features (2)
 Indiscriminate use of sculpted effects (e.g., on
text, borders, menus) reduces sense of
differentiation

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Beyond WIMP Effects
 3D also used for more complex workspaces
 Objects may be flat, but are displayed with
perspective
 Shrink when farther away

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Beyond WIMP Effects (2)
 3D workspaces pose serious interaction
problems
 Not for novices
 Output appears in 3D, but input is still the
keyboard and mouse
 Problems in navigation, object manipulation,
scene manipulation
 Systems tend to be highly moded
 Must think about degrees of freedom
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3D = 6 Degrees of Freedom

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Next topic…

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