In fourteen pages the historical difficulties of designing direct manipulation interfaces are examined with a consideration of whether or not DMIs are the best way to achieve interaction between user and computer with both pros and cons evaluated. Fifteen sources are cited in the bibliography.
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put forward are predicated on DMI design. Given the difficulties associated with DMIs, a pertinent question for human-computer interaction (HCI) is whether or not DMIs are the optimum method for
facilitating user-computer interaction. The following examination of this topic explores both sides of this issue, pro and con. Evaluation/discussion of DMI theories Within the framework of HCI, there
is an extraordinarily large variety of possible solutions. A complicated software interface can be formulated in an almost endless variety of ways (Smith, 1997). An design engineer, deciding how to
span a river, has a number of possible options (suspension, cantilever, etc.), but once a course of action is determined, the physics of bridge design limit possible options. This compares
sharply with the situation in HCL, which has no single best design (Smith, 1997). For instance, when the designer is selecting a method for user navigation within an interface, the
option of push buttons may seem to be a good choice because their use if obvious to the user. On the other hand, push buttons take up a great deal
of screen space, so, particularly where there are a large number of options for navigation, pop-up menus may serve the design better, even though their use is less obvious to
the user (Smith, 1997). As a term "direct manipulation" (DM) refers to a style of human-computer interactive design that features natural representation of task objects and actions, which the illusion
that users are actually performing the task themselves, i.e. "directly," rather than through the intermediary provided by the designers programming (Dennehy, no date). To explain how direct manipulation works, a
favorite analogy (cited often in the literature) draws parallels between DM and driving a car. A car is responds to the direct manipulations of the driver. Turn the steering