TY - GEN
T1 - Improving window switching interfaces
AU - Tak, Susanne
AU - Cockburn, Andy
AU - Humm, Keith
AU - Ahlström, David
AU - Gutwin, Carl
AU - Scarr, Joey
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Switching between windows on a computer is a frequent activity, but current switching mechanisms make it difficult to find items. We carried out a longitudinal study that recorded actual window switching behaviour. We found that window revisitation is very common, and that people spend most time working with a small set of windows and applications. We identify two design principles from these observations. First, spatial constancy in the layout of items in a switching interface can aid memorability and support revisitation. Second, gradually adjusting the size of application and window zones in a switcher can improve visibility and targeting for frequently-used items. We carried out two studies to confirm the value of these design ideas. The first showed that spatially stable layouts are significantly faster than the commonly-used recency layout. The second showed that gradual adjustments to accommodate new applications and windows do not reduce performance.
AB - Switching between windows on a computer is a frequent activity, but current switching mechanisms make it difficult to find items. We carried out a longitudinal study that recorded actual window switching behaviour. We found that window revisitation is very common, and that people spend most time working with a small set of windows and applications. We identify two design principles from these observations. First, spatial constancy in the layout of items in a switching interface can aid memorability and support revisitation. Second, gradually adjusting the size of application and window zones in a switcher can improve visibility and targeting for frequently-used items. We carried out two studies to confirm the value of these design ideas. The first showed that spatially stable layouts are significantly faster than the commonly-used recency layout. The second showed that gradual adjustments to accommodate new applications and windows do not reduce performance.
KW - Revisitation patterns
KW - Spatial constancy
KW - Window switching
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70349581937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-642-03658-3_25
DO - 10.1007/978-3-642-03658-3_25
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:70349581937
SN - 3642036570
SN - 9783642036576
VL - 5727 LNCS
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
SP - 187
EP - 200
BT - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
T2 - 12th IFIP TC 13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, INTERACT 2009
Y2 - 24 August 2009 through 28 August 2009
ER -