Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!ucsd!sdics!norman
From: norman@sdics.ucsd.EDU (Donald A Norman-UCSD Cog Sci Dept)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: The Window Focus Problem
Keywords: feedback windowing interfaces
Message-ID: <663@sdics.ucsd.EDU>
Date: 8 Dec 88 17:38:52 GMT
References: <318@aratar.UUCP> <651@sdics.ucsd.EDU> <1073@arctic.nprdc.arpa> <8134@megaron.arizona.edu> <329@aratar.UUCP>
Reply-To: norman@sdics.UUCP (Donald A Norman-UCSD Cog Sci Dept)
Organization: UC San Diego Department of Cognitive Science
Lines: 41

In thinking over Chuck Clanton's excellent summary of the issues and
findings of his experiments on the "window focus" problem, it occurred
to me that all of this may simply be a reflection of our current
primative technology.  In many ways, the use of multiple windows is
like the multiple work areas and stacks of papers on our desks.  I
have many piles of paper on my desk and shelves, but when I wish to
add some thoughts to one working paper, I never make the mistake of
writing onto the wrong paper.  This is because in the real world,
there is a direct coupling between the item being worked on and the
tools and place of working.  With most of today's computer systems,
there is a decoupling of these: the work area is on the screen, but
the tool is a mouse or keyboard on the desk.
	When we reach the point of having high-resolution, touch and
stylus sensitive work surfaces mounted within the desk (or like a
clipboard), then the entire problem will disappear, because when we
will wish to work on one task, we will write directly onto the screen
representation for that task.
  Maybe.

     (And thinking of the issue this way makes me realize that it is
     exactly what Steve Draper was referring to in his chapter on
     "inter-referential i-o," this horrible name meaning the relationship
     between what is referred to by the input and the output: in direct
     manipulation (DM) systems, the input and the output are the same.  My
     pen working on the manuscript on the table is this kind of a DM
     system.  My mouse-based window-driven Macintosh is a mimic of a DM
     system, but it loses in directness because of the loose coupling
     between the place on which I do my actions (the keyboard and mouse)
     and the place on which the output occurs (the window).  Which is why
     my input sometimes go to the wrong place.

     Draper, S.  (1986). Display managers as the basis for user-machine
     communication.  In D. A. Norman & S. W. Draper (Eds.), User centered
     system design.  Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Donald A. Norman	[ danorman@ucsd.edu   BITNET: danorman@ucsd ]
Department of Cognitive Science C-015
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, California 92093 USA
UNIX:  {gatech,rutgers,ucbvax,uunet}!ucsd!danorman
[e-mail paths often fail: please give postal address and all e-mail addresses.]