The term application posture characterizes the nature of a
software application
Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not computer operator, operating, system administration, administering or computer programming, programming the computer. An application (app, application program, sof ...
's
interaction with its user.
The term was coined by
Alan Cooper Alan Cooper may refer to:
* Alan Cooper (bishop) (1909–1999), English Anglican bishop
* Alan Cooper (biblical scholar), provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* Alan Cooper (software designer)
Alan Cooper (born June 3, 1952) ...
, who characterized four 'postures' for applications: sovereign, transient, daemonic and parasitic.
* A sovereign application is a program that monopolizes the user's
attention
Attention or focus, is the concentration of awareness on some phenomenon to the exclusion of other stimuli. It is the selective concentration on discrete information, either subjectively or objectively. William James (1890) wrote that "Atte ...
for long periods of time.
* Cooper defined transient applications thus: 'A transient posture program comes and goes, presenting a single, high-relief function with a tightly restricted set of accompanying controls. The program is called when needed, it appears and performs its job, then it quickly leaves, letting the user continue her more normal activity, usually a sovereign application.'
* Daemonic applications are background processes that require no direct user interaction.
* Parasitic or Auxiliary applications are similar to transient applications in providing a limited, focused set of functionality and occupy a small space, but they are shown persistently and can be used for a long period of time.
See also
*
Desk accessory
A desk accessory (DA) or desklet in computing is a small transient or auxiliary application that can be run concurrently in a desktop environment with any other application on the system. Early examples, such as Sidekick and Macintosh desk accesso ...
*
Helper application
In computing, a plug-in (also spelled plugin) or add-in (also addin, add-on, or addon) is a software component that extends the functionality of an existing software system without requiring the system to be re-built. A plug-in feature is one ...
Bibliography
* ''About Face'' by Cooper, Alan, Reimann, Robert & Cronin, David , 2007
*
*
References
{{reflist
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20090303083150/http://www.littlespringsdesign.com/blog/blog/2007/09/07/application-posture/
Computing terminology
User interface techniques