Direct Manipulation and Other Lessons

The main thrust of the chapter is to guide the reader through the many twists and turns of the arguments and findings surrounding direct manipulation as a philosophy, in order to draw out some of the most valuable lessons that are taught about usability and design.

Abstract

This chapter discusses the conception of direct manipulation as complex notion of direct manipulation as a design philosophy rather than presenting a simple conception as a graphical interaction style. The chapter returns to the original definition of direct manipulation introduced by Shneiderman and to the early debate that the original definition sparked about why certain manual/graphical forms of interaction are more attractive than command line interfaces. The chapter also concerns the updating of this debate in the light of recent critiques and findings on direct manipulation and of other relevant developments in the human-computer interaction field. The chapter concludes with a re-evaluation of the direct manipulation philosophy in the modern context and an attempt to resolve aspects of the ongoing debate that is now fuelled by concerns over the negative effects of graphical standards. Thus the main thrust of the chapter is to guide the reader through the many twists and turns of the arguments and findings surrounding direct manipulation as a philosophy, in order to draw out some of the most valuable lessons that are taught about usability and design.