INTERACTION ELEMENT - PART 2

Command line interface

Way of expressing instructions to the computer directly

Command line interface

function keys, single characters, short abbreviations, whole words, or a combination

Command line interface

suitable for repetitive tasks, better for expert users than novices

Command line interface

offers direct access to system functionality, command names/abbreviations should be meaningful

Command line interface

Typical example: the Unix system

Menus

Set of options displayed on the screen

Menus

Restricted form of full WIMP system

Natural Language

Familiar to user, speech recognition or typed natural language

Questions/answer interfaces

user led through interaction via series of questions, suitable for novice users but restricted functionality

Questions/answer interfaces

Often used in information systems

Query languages (e.g. SQL)

used to retrieve information from database, requires understanding of database structure and language syntax, hence requires some expertise

Form-fills

Primarily for data entry or data retrieval, screen like paper form, data put in relevant place

VISICALC, Lotus 1-2-3, MS Excel

first spreadsheet ____, followed by _____; _____ most common today

Spreadsheets

sophisticated variation of form-filling.

Windows Icons Menus Pointers
or
Windows Icons Mice Pull-down Menus

WIMP Interface:

WIMP Interface

default style for majority of interactive computer systems, especially PCs and desktop machines

Point and click interfaces

used in multimedia, web browsers, hypertext

Point and click interfaces

just click something! – icons, text links or location on map, minimal typing

Three dimensional interfaces

virtual reality

Windows

Areas of the screen that behave as if they were independent

Windows

can contain text or graphics, can be moved or resized, can overlap and obscure each other, or can be laid out next to one another (tiled)

Scrollbars

allow the user to move the contents of the window up and down or from side to side

Title bars

describe the name of the window

Icons

small picture or image, represents some object in the interface

iconised

windows can be closed down (_____)

WIMP

____ style relies on pointing and selecting things

Pointers

uses mouse, trackpad, joystick, trackball, cursor keys or keyboard shortcut

Menus

Choice of operations or services offered on the screen, required option selected with pointer

top

Menu Bar at ___ of screen (normally), menu drags down

pull-down, drop-down,fall-down

• ____ menu - mouse hold and drag down menu

• ____ menu - mouse click reveals menu

• ____ menus - mouse just moves over bar

Contextual

______ menu appears where you are

pop-up, pie

• ____ menus - actions for selected object

• ____ menus - arranged in a circle

Pie menus

easier to select item (larger target area) and quicker (same distance to any option) but not widely used

Cascading menus

hierarchical menu structure, menu selection opens new menu and so in ad infinitum

Keyboard accelerators

key combinations - same effect as menu item

open, closed

• active when menu ___ – usually first letter

• active when menu ___ – usually Ctrl + letter

Buttons

individual and isolated regions within a display that can be selected to invoke an action

radio buttons, check boxes

____ - set of mutually exclusive choices
____ - set of non-exclusive choices

Toolbars

long lines of icons, fast access to common actions

Palettes

Little windows of actions, shown/hidden via menu option

Tear-off and pin-up menus

menu ‘tears off’ to become palette

Dialogue boxes

information windows that pop up to inform of an important event or request information