Redirecting direct manipulation or what happens when the goal is in front of you but the interface says to turn left?

It is argued here that the essence of direct manipulation is not directness per se, but manipulation of task relevant objects in a task relevant manner.

Abstract

The feeling of directness arises when the interface permits the user to manipulate an interface object in a way analogous to manipulating the real object. However, we argue here that the essence of direct manipulation is not directness per se, but manipulation of task relevant objects in a task relevant manner. The research reported studies users of HyperCard after 20 hours of practice. We found that when users deviated from taught strategies that 25% of the time they invented new strategies that attempted a more direct manipulation of the task object than that permitted by the design of the interface.