Interface Lab

Animation: From Cartoons to the User Interface

Applies cartoon animation techniques to the Self interface so that changes on screen are easier to understand.
Chang & Ungar (1993)Conferencedoi:10.1145/168642.168647

Citation

Chang, B.-W., & Ungar, D. (1993). Animation: From Cartoons to the User Interface. Proceedings of the 6th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST '93), 45–55.

Method

Design and implementation in a real system (the Self interface).

Claims used

  • Static interfaces poorly communicate change; events on screen can surprise and confuse users.
  • Objects that enter and leave smoothly, rather than appearing or disappearing abruptly, are easier to follow.

Limitations: A design report; no controlled evaluation is mentioned in the abstract.

Extracted principles

  • Interruptible motionSupported

    Rapidly successive state changes must remain interruptible: motion should reverse from its current position instead of jumping or ignoring input.

  • Signal changes where they occurNot tested

    Changes that users could overlook should be signaled where they happen; without a local cue, changes may go unnoticed.

Motion