In computing, post-WIMP ("windows, icons, menus, pointer") comprises work on user interfaces, mostly graphical user interfaces, which attempt to go beyond the paradigm of windows, icons, menus and a pointing device, i.e. WIMP interfaces.
The reason WIMP interfaces have become so prevalent since their conception at Xerox PARC is that they are very good at abstracting work-spaces, documents, and their actions. Their analogous desktop metaphor to documents as paper sheets or folders makes WIMP interfaces easy to introduce to new users.
Furthermore their basic representations as rectangular regions on a 2D flat screen make them a good fit for system programmers, thus favoring the abundance of commercial widget toolkits in this style.
However, WIMP interfaces are not optimal for working with certain tasks or through input devices which differ from a mouse and keyboard. WIMPs are usually pixel-hungry, so given limited screen real estate they can distract attention from the task at hand. Thus, other interfaces can better encapsulate workspaces, actions, and objects for such tasks.
Interfaces based on these considerations, now called "post-WIMP", have made their way to the general public in mobile and embedded applications. Meanwhile, software for desktop computer workstations still uses WIMP interfaces, but has started undergoing major operational changes as desktop marketshare declines. These include the exploration of virtual 3D space, interaction techniques for window/icon sorting, focus, and embellishment.
The seminal paper for post-WIMP interfaces is "Non Command User Interfaces" by Jakob Nielsen 1993,
[
] followed by "The Anti-Mac Interface".
Updated proposals are discussed in "Post-WIMP user interfaces" by Andries van Dam. Michel Beaudouin-Lafon subsequently proposed a framework called
instrumental interaction, that defines a design space for Post-WIMP interaction techniques and a set of properties for comparing them. Examples of Post-WIMP interaction include 3D interaction and reality-based interaction.
[{{cite conference
, author = Robert Jacob, Audrey Girouard, Leanne Hirshfield, Michael Horn, Orit Shaer, Erin Solovey, Jamie Zigelbaum
, title = Reality-Based Interaction: A Framework for Post-WIMP Interfaces
, book-title = CHI '08: Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
, year = 2008
, isbn = 978-1-60558-011-1
, pages = 201–210
, location = Florence, Italy
, doi = 10.1145/1357054.1357089
, publisher = ACM
]
Examples
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Computer game
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Virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
systems
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Gesture-based interfaces
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Voice user interface
A voice-user interface (VUI) enables spoken human interaction with computers, using speech recognition to understand spoken commands and answer questions, and typically text to speech to play a reply. A voice command device is a device controlle ...
s
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See-through tools
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Smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s and
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
s
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Zooming user interface
In computing, a zooming user interface or zoomable user interface (ZUI, pronounced zoo-ee) is a type of graphical user interface (GUI) where users can change the scale of the viewed area in order to see more detail or less, and browse through ...
s
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Tangible user interface
A tangible user interface (TUI) is a user interface in which a person interacts with digital information through the physical environment. The initial name was Graspable User Interface, which is no longer used. The purpose of TUI development ...
s
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Web application
A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to dynamically build a response to the request, ...
s
See also
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10-foot user interface
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Natural user interface
In computing, a natural user interface (NUI) or natural interface is a user interface that is effectively invisible, and remains invisible as the user continuously learns increasingly complex interactions. The word "natural" is used because most c ...
References
Graphical user interfaces
User interface techniques