The history and future of direct manipulation

direct manipulation, direct conversation, user interface, metaphor, modality The earliest interactive computer systems were based on a conversational mode of interaction, in which user and computer communicated through the exchange of linguistic utterances. Since the advent of 'direct manipulation' technology, there has been a tendency to develop and promote an alternative mode of interaction, based on the user's manipulation of computer displayed objects. This paper reviews recent developments in the implementation and understanding of direct manipulation interfaces which point to various limitations in manipulative interaction which might be overcome through the selective re-introduction of conversational interaction. Are-conceptualization of the direct manipulation philosophy is suggested to accommodate these developments in which directness is said to be a property of both action and language based systems. A social definition of directness is proposed as the basis of a new philosophy of graceful interaction and a number of practical guidelines are offered to reduce the incidence of clumsy manipulation.