Direct+Manipulation

Direct Manipulation
is a good form of interface design in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), allowing users to physically control in an operating system directly instead of working as an intermediary. All the actions are immediately visible while performing tasks, resulting in actions to be "rapid, incremental and reversible." (Golbeck,2002) One best example is driving a car. The driver can control the steering wheel however he/she wants, the car will immediately response to driver’s action. Also for instance, dragging files into a trashcan on the desktop or drawing a square by using mouse are all direct manipulation between humans and machines. pic1 One key characteristic of direct manipulation is the visual representation of objects that behave as if they are the objects themselves. For example, the visual representation of a trashcan on the desktop actually looks like the trash can in real life. This strength of visual representation allows users to perform tasks more easily. Direct manipulation of HCI design bring us closer to machines, and also enhances the speed of completing tasks with less errors.Computer science, graphic design, psychology and art all contribute to this field.

References "Direct Manipulaiton", 13 Sept 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_manipulation Golbeck,Jennifer, 26 Oct 2002, http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/fall2002/cmsc838s/tichi/dirman.html ,