Direct Manipulation Interfaces

TLDR

Direct manipulation is widely praised as an effective interface design, with many such interfaces well received by users. The article aims to provide a cognitive account of the advantages and disadvantages of direct manipulation interfaces. The authors explain that directness arises from two phenomena: reducing the information‑processing distance between user intentions and machine facilities, and ensuring that interface representations behave as the objects themselves. These phenomena together produce the feeling of directness in manipulation.

Abstract

Direct manipulation has been lauded as a good form of interface design, and some interfaces that have this property have been well received by users. In this article we seek a cognitive account of both the advantages and disadvantages of direct manipulation interfaces. We identify two underlying phenomena that give rise to the feeling of directness. One deals with the information processing distance between the user's intentions and the facilities provided by the machine. Reduction of this distance makes the interface feel direct by reducing the effort required of the user to accomplish goals. The second phenomenon concerns the relation between the input and output vocabularies of the interface language. In particular, direct manipulation requires that the system provide representations of objects that behave as if they are the objects themselves. This provides the feeling of directness of manipulation.