CHI 2009

Comparing Usage of a Large High-Resolution Display to Single or Dual Desktop Displays for Daily Work
Xiaojun Bi, Ravin Balakrishnan


Comments:
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Summary:
Previous studies have shown that users prefer large, high-resolution displays over smaller single displays and multi-monitor displays. Studies have also shown that, while the high-resolution displays are preferred, these displays also have some flaws, such as "keeping track of the cursor, distal access to windows and icons, and window management." These flaws can be attributed to the fact that the operating systems were not designed with these high-resolution displays in mind. This paper covers a user study that focused on studying how users managed windows when using a large display.

The authors observed that users managed windows very differently when using the large display then when using a normal single or dual desktop setup. When using a single display, users would have to do a lot of window switching. On a dual monitor setup, users would have a focal region and a peripheral region. The focal region would be one entire screen and the peripheral region would be the second screen. The main tasks get taken place in the focal region and the user will glance over at the peripheral region when information is needed from that region.

When using the large display, users would have a focal region and a peripheral region also. The focal region would be in the center of the screen and the peripheral region would be an on the left, top, and right sides of the screen. The peripheral regions are used for passive windows that are holding information but are not interacted with. Whenever a window that is in the peripheral region of the screen needed to be interacted with, the users always tended to grab the window, move it to the center of the screen, and resize it.

Looking at the trends of the users that used the high-resolution display, the authors suggested some improvements to current operating systems so that they can cater to larger displays. First, it was suggested to have the minimize and maximize buttons replaced by a button that would bring a window to the center of the screen and brought into the focal region. Second, whenever is dragged into the peripheral region, the window should automatically enlarge so that it can be easily seen even though it is at the perimeter of the screen.


Discussion:
This was an interesting paper. I personally enjoy the larger screens I have used and I am glad that some research is going into catering to those that use these large monitors. I have no good guess on how long it will take any of the major operating system developers to integrate this research into their operating systems. I hope that these developers start taking notice of these new user strategies of window management as computer displays become cheaper and larger.

Multi monitor displays have been around for awhile now and the operating systems do not seem to cater to these setups. To get good window management for this kind of setup, third party utilities need to be bought. Even though these large desktops are useful, window management for high-resolution displays might get as much attention from the operating system developers as the multi monitor window management has gotten: little to none. The only reason I can think of that might lead to more window management utilities at the operating system level for high-resolution displays is because it could become more popular than multi monitor setups. Setting up multiple monitors may present enough extra difficulty that it deters casual computer users. However, to get a high-resolution display setup, a user just has to throw more money in to buying the monitor. There is no added complexity to installing a high-resolution monitor over a standard resolution monitor.

UIST 2007

Dirty Desktops: Using a Patina of Magnetic Mouse Dust to Make Common Interactor Targets Easier to Select
Amy Hurst, Jennifer Mankoff, Anind K. Dey, Scott E. Hudson

Comments:
Comment #1
Comment #2
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Summary:
The authors of this paper are attempting to create a platform independent system that will aid users in selecting highly used buttons by jumping the mouse to these buttons when the mouse is close by. This is also independent from the applications that are being used. There is no code required by application developers for this to work in their applications.

The whole idea is to use every mouse click as "magnetic mouse dust." Wherever there was a mouse click on the window of an application, it would be recorded. As buttons were repeatedly clicked, magnetic mouse dust would gather over them. Whenever the mouse approached these dirty areas, the mouse would be attracted to the button and land on the buttons. This made it very easy to land the mouse on a button once the system had learned where all of your clicks have congregated. This is able to be independent from the application because system events just record the x and y coordinate of the click in relation to the window.

There were two types of dust: dust that accumulated when the mouse was clicked and dust that accumulated when the mouse was dragged. The dust that correlated to dragging the mouse aided in dragging scrollbars and the like. Users found the entire system to be helpful. Some users took longer to grow accustomed to the mouse being controlled by the computer, but after they got the hang of it, they enjoyed it.


Discussion:
This seems like an effective system. I would have to use it to see if it would benefit me at all, but I know that there are some users with physical disabilities that could really benefit from this kind of assistive device.

The one thing that the paper did not address that I had questions about was what happened when the window resizes, either by force of the user or the computer. It could either clear all the dust and start over, or, since the dust is computed in relation to the top left corner of the window, the dust move to still be at the same coordinates in relation to that corner. Both could be useful, depending on the application. Some applications anchor everything to the top left corner and it would be fine to keep the dust. Some buttons anchor to other sides though and the dust would be congregating over a portion of the screen that was no longer a button after a resize. The paper was not clear on what happened to the dust.