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.