The star user interface

Smith, David Canfield; Irby, Charles; Kimball, Ralph; Harslem, E.

doi:10.1145/1500774.1500840

Cited by 241 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Many of the icons found in the Star (Smith, Irby, Kimball, Verplank, & Harslem, 1982), Lisa (Williams, 1983), and Macintosh systems are representational icons (see Figure 1). However, representational icons do have their limitations.…”

Section: Types Of Iconsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earcons and Icons: Their Structure and Common Design Principles

Blattner¹,

Sumikawa²,

Greenberg³

1989

Human-Comp. Interaction

696

367

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In this article we examine earcons, which are audio messages used in the user-computer interface to provide information and feedback to the user about computer entities. (Earcons include messages and functions, as well as states and labels.) We identify some design principles that are common to both visual symbols and auditory messages, and discuss the use of representational and abstract icons and earcons. We give some examples of audio patterns that may be used to design modules for earcons, which then may be assembled into larger groupings called families. The modules are single pitches or rhythmicized sequences of pitches called motives. The families are constructed about related motives that serve to identify a family of related messages. Issues concerned with learning and remembering earcons are discussed.

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Section: Types Of Iconsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earcons and Icons: Their Structure and Common Design Principles

Blattner¹,

Sumikawa²,

Greenberg³

1989

Human-Comp. Interaction

696

367

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The best documented examples of the explicit use of metaphor for GUIs are the Xerox Star, the Apple Lisa and the Apple Macintosh. What is now usually known as the desktop metaphor began with the Xerox Alto and was refined on the Xerox Star (Smith et al 1982). The designers chose what they referred to as the "physical-office metaphor" because the Star was intended as an office information system, so reflecting the familiar world of the potential users and providing a 'physical' environment rather than a language of interaction (Smith et al 1982, p.246-247).…”

Section: Choice Of Metaphormentioning

confidence: 99%

Denotation and connotation in the human – computer interface: The ‘Save as …’ command

Condon¹,

Perry²,

O’Keefe³

2004

Behaviour & Information Technology

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This paper presents a semiotic technique as a means of exploring meaning and understanding in interface design and use. This is examined through a study of the interaction between the "file" metaphor and "save as" command metaphor. The behaviour of these (from a functional or computational basis) do not exactly match, or map onto, the meaning of the metaphor. We examine both the denotation of a term to the user, i.e. its literal meaning to that person, and the term's connotations, i.e. any other meanings associated with the term. We suggest that the technique applied is useful in predicting future problems with understanding the use of metaphor at the interface and with designing appropriate signification for human-computer interaction. Variation in connotation was expected but a more fundamental difference in denotation was also uncovered. Moreover, the results clearly demonstrate that consistency in the denotation of a term is critical in achieving a good user understanding of the command.

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“…SmallStar is a prototype of the Xerox Star system, which pioneered the desktop metaphor and the direct manipulation interface [26]. SmallStar contains a macro recorder that produces an 'English-like' transcript of user actions.…”

Section: Smallstarmentioning

confidence: 99%