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HONS 04/07

Understanding Interaction with Command Interfaces

Philip Quinn
Department of Computer Science
University of Canterbury

Abstract

Developing models for describing the influences of interfaces on user interaction is a continuing goal of human-computer interaction research. Such models are developed through development of understanding and insight using the scientific method of observation and evaluation. We present a classification framework as a foundation for developing these models specifically for command interfaces. !is classification describes the components of interaction around four top-level categories: (1) organisation, (2) navigation, (3) interaction, and (4) presentation—as a set of theories and design considerations. We then develop the aspect of navigation, building a set of principles that describe the factors that influence it. Finally, we describe an empirical evaluation of one of these principles—a potential model for landmarking interfaces, that describes a logarithmic relationship between the number of visible items and the number of presented landmarks—and found it to hold true for the evaluation interface.