WIMP (computing)

Not to be confused with WIMP (software bundle).
This article is about the human–computer interface. For other uses of the term, see Wimp (disambiguation).
Windows, icons, menus and pointer

In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus, pointer",[1][2][3] denoting a style of interaction using these elements of the user interface. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980.[4] Other expansions are sometimes used, substituting "mouse" and "mice" or "pull-down menu" and "pointing", for menus and pointer, respectively.[5][6][7]

Though the term has fallen into disuse, some use it incorrectly as an approximate synonym for graphical user interface (GUI). Any interface that uses graphics can be called a GUI, and WIMP systems derive from such systems. However, while all WIMP systems use graphics as a key element (the icon and pointer elements), and therefore are GUIs, the reverse is not true. Some GUIs are not based in windows, icons, menus, and pointers. For example, most mobile phones represent actions as icons, and some may have menus, but very few include a pointer or run programs in a window.

WIMP interaction was developed at Xerox PARC (see Xerox Alto, developed in 1973) and popularized with Apple's introduction of the Macintosh in 1984, which added the concepts of the "menu bar" and extended window management.[8]

In a WIMP system:

This style of system improves human–computer interaction (HCI) by emulating real-world interactions and providing better ease of use for non-technical people. Users can carry skill at a standardized interface from one application to another.

Criticism

Some human–computer interaction researchers[9] consider WIMP to be ill-suited for multiple applications.

WIMP-style user interfaces place visually impaired users at a disadvantage, especially when alternative text-based interfaces are not made available, and researchers are exploring other alternatives that make modern computer systems more accessible.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Markoff, John (February 16, 2009). "The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives". The New York Times (New York). Retrieved December 14, 2011. [...] so-called WIMP interface — for windows, icons, menus, pointer [...]
  2. ↑ Hinckley, Ken (December 1996). "Haptic Issues for Virtual Manipulation". Microsoft. Retrieved December 14, 2011. The Windows-Icons-Menus-Pointer (WIMP) interface paradigm dominates modern computing systems.
  3. ↑ Hinckley, Ken. "Input Technologies and Techniques" (PDF). Microsoft. Retrieved December 14, 2011. Researchers are looking to move beyond the current "WIMP" (Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointer) interface [...]
  4. ↑ Booth, Charlotte. "Alan Kay and the Graphical User Interface" (PDF).
  5. ↑ Flynn, Laurie (January 1, 1995). "The Executive Computer; When, Oh When, Will Computers Behave Like People?". The New York Times (New York). Retrieved December 14, 2011. "We've taken the WIMP interface as far as it can go," he added, referring to the Windows-icon-mouse-pull-down menu.
  6. ↑ Green, Mark; Jacob, Robert (July 1991). "SIGGRAPH '90 Workshop Report: Software Architectures and Metaphors for Non-WIMP User Interfaces". SIGGRAPH '90. SIGGRAPH. Dallas: ACM SIGGRAPH. CiteSeerX: 10.1.1.121.7982. The acronym, WIMP, stands for Windows, Icons, Mice and Pointing, and it is used to refer to the desk top, direct manipulation style of user interface.
  7. ↑ Patton, Phil (April 14, 1996). "Facing the Future". The New York Times (New York). Retrieved December 14, 2011. GUI and WIMP (for window, icon, mouse and pointer) are interfaces based on framed text, drop-down menus and clickable buttons arranged along on-screen panels called tool bars.
  8. ↑ Andries van Dam: Post-WIMP User Interfaces. In: Communications of the ACM, 40(2) (February 1997), pp. 63-67. Citeseer
  9. ↑ Past, Present and Future of User Interface Software Tools. Brad Myers, Scott E. Hudson, Randy Pausch, Y Pausch. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2000.
  10. ↑ Marcelo Medeiros Carneiro, Luiz Velho, Assistive Interfaces For The Visually Impaired Using Force Feedback Devices And Distance Transforms, Information Technology and Disabilities Journal, Vol. X, No. 2, December 2004
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