Chapter 13: Multiple-Window Strategies



Chapter 13: Multiple-Window Strategies

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13.1 Introduction

• Users need to consult multiple sources rapidly

• must minimally disrupt user's task

• With large displays, eye-head movement and visibility are problems

• With small displays, windows too small to be effective

• Need to offer users sufficient information and flexibility to accomplish task, while reducing window housekeeping actions, distracting clutter, eye-head movement

o opening, closing, moving, changing size

o time spent manipulating windows instead of on task

• Can apply direct-manipulation strategy to windows

• Rooms - a form of window macro that enables users to specify actions on several windows at once

13.2 Individual-Window Design

• Titles

• Borders or frames

• Scroll bars

• Window interface actions include:

o Open action

o Open place and size

▪ Most recently placement and size approach

▪ Open new window close to current focus to limit eye-movement

o Close action

o Resize action

o Move action

o Bring forward or activation

▪ Clicking on part of window

▪ Moving the cursor into a window

13.3 Multiple-Window Design

• Multiple monitors

o Reduce number of monitors because eye movement across monitors slows work

• Rapid display flipping

o Greater burdens on users to recognize where they are, to know the commands, to formulate a plan to reach the desired display, and to execute the plan

o At airport multiple monitors is better than flipping

• split displays (two show two or more parts of document)

• Fixed number, size, and place, and space-filling tiling

o No overlapping

• Variable size, place, and number, and space-filling tiling

o Start with a single large window and when a second window is opened, cut the first one in half horizontally or vertically

• Non-space-filling tiling

• piles-of-tiles

o windows stacked one on top of another

o Subsequent windows are placed on the least recently used pile, with tabs protruding to allow selection

• Window zooming

• Arbitrary overlaps

• Cascades

o Successive windows are offset below (or above) and to the right to allow each window tile to remain visible

13.4 Coordination by Tightly Coupled Windows

• Synchronized scrolling

o Scroll bar in one window tied to scroll in other

o Useful for comparing two versions of program or document

• Hierarchical browsing

o If one window contains the table of contents of a document, selection of a chapter title by a pointing device should lead to display, in an adjoining window, of the chapter contents

• Direct selection

o Pointing at an icon, a word in the text, or a variable name in a program pops up an adjoining window with the details of the icon, word definition, or the variable declaration. (e.g., Macintosh balloons)

• Two-dimensional browsing

o Similar to hierarchical

o Overview of map, graphic, or photograph in one window, and the details in a second window

• Dependent-windows opening

o E.g., when users open a main procedure, the dependent set of procedures could open up

• Dependent-windows closing

• Save or open window state

13.5 Image Browsing and Tightly-coupled Windows

• Large images from medical, geographic info, or graphic systems

• Tight coupling between an overview and detail view

• Action in one window tied to action in other

The design for image browsers should be governed by the user's tasks which can be classified into:

• Image generation

• Open-ended exploration

• Diagnostic

• Navigation

• Monitoring

13.6 Personal Role Management and Elastic Windows

• Vision statement

o Each role has vision statement reminding user of their goals

o As professor, teaching role might have vision statement about desire to “increase class participation by collaborative methods, improve teamwork on term projects by requiring regular management meetings …”

• Set of people

o Make role relevant people continuously visible (names and photos on the border of the large screen)

▪ Cues to remind user of need to inform, make request of, or communicate with individual

▪ Can be used to active menus initiate telephone, fax, or electronic mail

▪ Dropped onto an image to trigger electronic mail

• Task hierarchy

o Tasks for multiple grants

o Each ourse has multiple subtasks, such as writing the syllabus, ordering textbooks, giving exams, and preparing grades

o The task hierarchy acts as a to-do list, and is linked to the schedule calendar to remind users of upcoming deadlines

• Schedule

o For professor role, semester schedule is visible

• The requirements for personal role management include:

o Support a unified framework for information organization according to users' roles

o Provide a visual, spatial layout that matches tasks

o Support multi-window actions for fast arrangement of information

o Support information access with partial knowledge of its nominal, spatial, temporal, and visual attributes and relationships to other pieces of information.

o Allow fast switching and resumption among roles

o Free user's cognitive resources to work on task domain actions rather than interface domain actions.

o Use screen space efficiently and productively for tasks.

• Figure depicts an example of mapping of different roles of a student onto a hierarchical window organization

o Student takes two course this semester: software engineering and compuer networks

o Project materials and partners; homework assignments, and correspondence with the professor, TAs, and classmates for each course are organized in a hierarchical fashion

o This student has a number of other roles, in which he manages home duties, job responsibilities, and the planning of a birthday party.

o Partners, schedules, tools, and documents pertaining to each of these roles are mapped hierarchically into different windows

o The interface layout provides an overview of the roles, enables direct access on demand to details of role, and can be custom-tailored for a specific task

o In elastic windows, users can change the layout according to task quickly, by applying operation on groups of windows

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