Glossary » Interaction Design

screen inertia

the principle that as a user moves from screen to screen or web page to web page, there should be such consistency that the only things that change represent new information.

In contrast to this approach, there are certainly times…

screen pop

a feature in telephone-based customer service applications that brings up a customer record automatically on the screen of the customer service representative when they receive a call.

search

the mechanism that enables users to find things in large information spaces. Search issues fall into 3 common categories: how people specify their search queries, what determines a “relevant” match, and how search results are displayed.

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search engine

a tool that allows a person to enter a word or phrase and then lists web pages or items in a database that contain that phrase. The success of such a search depends on a variety of factors including: the…

see-and-point interface

a user interface that displays objects and options, and a user only has to point to (and click on) the relevant object to issues commands and perform tasks. See-and-point interfaces are in contrast to remember-and-type interfaces that do not have…

select-then-operate paradigm

an approach to direct manipulation user interfaces where a user must first select an object (icon, piece of text) and then choose an action to perform on that object (copy, make it boldface, print). This is the typical approach used…

selection

an object, set of objects, or region that the user has recently chosen. The user can then act on the selection, e.g. by cutting and pasting it or selecting menu items that set attributes of the selection. Examples of selections…

semantic directness

the degree of translation required from a user’s conceived goal to the action needed to achieve the goal, based on how that action is supported by system features.

shortcuts

any means of providing a faster method to accomplish a task than the general-purpose method, such as assuming typical default values. Shortcuts can be provided for experts that novices might have difficulty using, such as inconsistent methods for common tasks,…

side effects

actions that occur as the result of a user action which do not seem to the user to be related to the primary goal of the action. For instance, when starting a game changes system configurations (such as screen and…

slip

(psychology) an error resulting from skilled behavior being performed at a time when it shouldn’t, such as accidentally driving to the office when you intended to drive to the store. Highly-practiced behaviors become automatic and the triggers for these automatic…

small user interface design

SUI; design for extremely small output devices such as cell phone displays, watches, car radio displays, and other small information appliances.

snapping / gravity

a graphics input technique – when people draw or drag objects near a gridline, guideline, or another object, the object they are drawing or moving automatically jumps into alignment (snaps) as soon as it gets close, as if the guideline…

speed-accuracy tradeoff

in many types of perceptual-motor tasks, there is a tradeoff between how fast a task can be performed and how many mistakes are made in performing the task. That is, a user can either perform the task very fast with…

spoken language interface

a user interface where the user can, at a minimum, issue spoken commands, and optimally, conduct all interaction with the computer via speech. Speech systems are differentiated by:

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spring-loaded mode

also called a user-maintained mode or quasimode. A mode that must be actively maintained by the user, such as the use of the shift key on a keyboard, where other keys are only interpreted as capital letters while the shift…

state machine diagram

a visual representation of a series of “states” and transitions between those states, useful for modeling a wide variety of simple programming problems. Also called a “state transition diagram” or “transition network”.

storyboard

a series of illustrations that represent a process, such as the steps of interacting with a computer or frames from an animation or movie. Storyboards are useful for presentations, such as with focus groups, and for checking that the steps…

tab traversal order

the order in which widgets on the screen accept user input as the user tabs between them. In entering forms, this typically means the order in which text fields are entered, but may also apply to checkboxes and other buttons…

tangible user interface

a user interface whose input and/or output are tangible objects that typically directly represent information in the application domain (as opposed to a mouse, which provides abstract, domain-independent input). Examples include interactive plush toys, blocks, and toy cars.

task analysis

a set of methods for decomposing people’s tasks in order to understand the procedures better and to help provide computer support for those tasks. The basic approach is to define the task and the goal of the task and then…

task-based help

or “task-oriented help system”; instructions for users that are given in terms of step-by-step procedures for performing tasks. This is in contrast to help systems that simply provide explanations of what different parts of the program are and what they…

tethered viewpoint

a virtual reality or immersive environment where people’s actions control a remote representation of themselves, an avatar, or a device, that they can watch and control within the environment, as opposed to thinking of themselves as directly inside the environment.…

thesaurus

a collection of synonyms defined to help handle the wide variety of terminology people may use in indicating the same objects or commands, especially useful in search engines.

timesharing system

a computer designed to support multiple simultaneous users, usually with the intent to minimize their impression that any other user is on the system and not intended to allow the users to communicate. Unix systems are common timesharing systems today.…