Principles of Direct Manipulation - Assignment Example

DIRECT MANIPULATION Direct Manipulation Affiliation Describe the three (3) principles of direct manipulation and give examples as to how they are used in video game controls. Direct Manipulation The latest evolution of direct manipulation is apparent in the interest of the users. The designers of initial direct manipulation technology based arrangements had a groundbreaking inspiration and an intuitive grasp of what clients would have desired. Basically, every instance or object has some clear characteristics that could be determined and used for performing certain actions; however it seems more creative to construct an integrated representation of direct manipulation. In this scenario, given below are three basic principles of direct manipulation (Browne, 2010): Constant illustration of the objects as well as actions of interest Physical processes or actions of labeled buttons in place of complex syntax Fast incremental alterable operations whose result on the object of interest can be directly perceived Video game is one of the best applications where the techniques of direct manipulation are very successful. At the present, the use of video games is increasing because of its entertainment and easy to recognize operations. In fact, people are able to build a variety of skills by playing video games. Additionally, the physical gestures of video games are straightforward and mistakes can be easily corrected depending on their severity; therefore error messages are needless. Similarly, these standards can also be implemented to office automation and personal computing and other arrangements (Huang, Miwa, & Cayabyab, 2013; Hundhausen, Farley, & Brown, 2009). The research has shown that the principles of direct manipulation can be used in video game controls for example game users always want to use games that are easy to use, system with better availability of feedback and much easier to learn than use. In addition, the principles of direct manipulation can also be employed for differing ones that lead to certainty as well as sense of control that system user needs much more. Moreover, another example of principles of direct manipulation is to have simple and intuitive action specification in video games (Sanderson, 1998; Shneiderman, Direct Manipulation A Step Beyond Programming Languages, 1983; Shneiderman, Direct Manipulation for Comprehensible, Predictable and Controllable User Interfaces, 1997). Analyze video game-type interfaces and discuss three (3) reasons why video game-type interfaces would not be effective for real-world applications. Interface design is believed to be one of the most difficult aspects of game development for that reason that it requires transferring huge data and instructions to the player as well as there is small screen space which has to be utilized for completing all these tasks that to do it. Hence, when the interface is less effectively designed, a good game idea can be minimized to an annoying user experience (Dev Mag, 2011). It is an admitted fact that with the passage of time and advancement of technology the real life applications are becoming easy to use and simple to manage. Question is can we use game-type interface in such applications? There are many issues that software developers can face while using game-type interfaces for real life applications. Some of the important issues are outlined below: Real life applications demand simple and straightforward user interface while gaming interfaces are complex and require high level computing capabilities and resources to run such user interfaces. There can be an issue that low appeal acts as a major barrier in running a real life application (Glinert, 2011). Another aspect that stops us from using the game type interface for real life application is the complexity of system controls. In other words, game type interfaces are sometimes difficult to learn or practice for common people. Simple application users can distract from such kind of complex controls that can lead to huge problem or breakdown (Glinert, 2011). Another major issue in making use of game type interface for real life applications is its problem in interacting with user interfaces for disabled people. In all over the world largest group of people working in organizations can face huge problems with such controls and user interface. These all aspects lead to various serious issues and problems that are not suitable for the management of such system (Glinert, 2011). Describe at least three (3) advantages of direct manipulation versus command line interfaces. Some of the major advantages of direct manipulation versus command line interfaces are presented below: User-specific customizing: direct manipulation interface offers one of the major benefits and that is its adaptability to individual users requirements. In this scenario, it allows every user to alter and customize their user interface according to their needs and requirements. These all aspects are very important for developing a GUI over a command line interface (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2013; Dennehy, 2011; Hutchins, Hollan, & Norman, 1985). Aids to navigation: Direct manipulation interface offers icons those are comparable to the list items in a menu-based user interface. In this scenario, icons are grouped into windows that can be considered similar to a graphic corresponding to menu headers. In addition, placement of aids and navigation makes huge systems easy to use and useful for approximately all type of people while it will be very difficult to use a huge system using command line approach. In this scenario, direct manipulation based systems offer a great deal of support as compared to command line based systems (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2013; Dennehy, 2011; Hutchins, Hollan, & Norman, 1985). Consistency and meaning in metaphor: direct manipulation interface also offers a great deal of consistency and meaning in metaphors that were previously imbedded for office atmosphere and have been intended to practice the understanding of that atmosphere among user population. In this scenario, desktop metaphor is eagerly understood by office workers used for whom a file laying on a flat apparentspace diligently matches their normal method of working. Here additional metaphors are as well probable (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2013; Dennehy, 2011; Hutchins, Hollan, & Norman, 1985). Evaluate direct manipulation and describe three (3) problems with it. This section evaluates the direct manipulation and outlines some of the problems associated with it. Direct manipulation is one of the successful paradigms of user interface design however there are some issues that lie at its core. Given below are some of the important issues: In direct manipulation based interface users have to learn meaning of components for example icons those are online understandable and meaningful to designer as well as developers not for user (The University of Michigan, 2013). Another major issue I have assessed is that direct manipulation based interfaces are sometime have some visual representation those can be misleading. For example visual representations are much more spread out as compared to simple text, which leads to some of the major "off page" issues (The University of Michigan, 2013). Direct manipulation based interface touch typists perform much better through a keyboard as compared to mouse (The University of Michigan, 2013). References Browne, K. (2010). Direct Manipulation and Virtual Environments. Retrieved August 20, 2013, from http://www.cas.mcmaster.ca/~brownek/CS4HC3/oct14.pdf Dennehy, M. (2011). Direct Manipulation. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://www.hitl.washington.edu/scivw/EVE/I.D.2.c.DirectManipulation.html Dev Mag. (2011, February 02). Video game user interface design: Diegesis theory. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://devmag.org.za/2011/02/02/video-game-user-interface-design-diegesis-theory/ Glinert, E. M. (2011). The Human Controller: Usability and Accessibility in Video Game Interfaces. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://gasig.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/the_human_controller.pdf Huang, J., Miwa, K., & Cayabyab, J. (2013). Reading From Text: "Direct Manipulation A Step Beyond Programming Languages". Retrieved August 10, 2013, from https://sites.google.com/a/uci.edu/arts11-2013-team2/reading-from-text-direct-manipulation-a-step-beyond-programming-languages Hundhausen, C. D., Farley, S. F., & Brown, J. L. (2009). Can direct manipulation lower the barriers to computer programming and promote transfer of training?: An experimental study. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), Volume 16 Issue 3 , 13. Hutchins, E. L., Hollan, J. D., & Norman, D. A. (1985). Direct Manipulation Interfaces. Human Computer Interaction, Volume 1, 311-338. Sanderson, P. (1998, October 22). Direct Manipulation Interfaces. Retrieved August 12, 2013, from http://faculty.otterbein.edu/psanderson/csc397/notes/DMI.html Shneiderman, B. (1983). Direct Manipulation A Step Beyond Programming Languages. IEEE Computer, Volume 16 Issue 8, 57-69. Shneiderman, B. (1997). Direct Manipulation for Comprehensible, Predictable and Controllable User Interfaces. ACM International Workshop on Intelligent User Interfaces (pp. 33-39). New York: ACM. The University of Michigan. (2013). Direct Manipulation User Interfaces. Retrieved August 21, 2013, from http://groups.engin.umd.umich.edu/CIS/course.des/cis577/lecture/Lec6.html U.S. Department of Transportation. (2013). Chapter 11 - The User-Computer Interface. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://ergotmc.gtri.gatech.edu/dgt/Design_Guidelines/hndchb28.htm Read More