From: susanp@sierra.com (Susan Pappalardo)
Subject: Found Usability Studies on Tiling vs. Overlapping Windows
Organization: Sierra Geophysics,  Kirkland WA
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 17:17:37 GMT


I had previously posted a request for references to usability studies
on the topic of tiled vs. overlapping windows. I have done alot
of referencing and cross referencing and have come up with the
following list. I received a few references via email, thank-you!!

I have read through most of these and some of my questions were
answered, but it seems that there is an obvious need for current 
research on this topic given the user interfaces of today. Alot
of the interesting studies were done in the mid '80's. Maybe,
someone out there will be sparked by this need and embark on
a usability study( those of you at grad school looking for a
Ph.d. or Master's topic!! ).

Books:

   Helander, Martin, _Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction_, 
	North-Holland, 1988, 1991(2nd edition)

	Patricia Billingsley writes Chapter 19, Taking panes: Issues in
	the Design of Windowing Systems

	So far, this chapter is the best at summarizing the different
	studies that have been done and providing some insight into
	the issues.

	She has alot of references at the end of her chapter too.

   Mayhew, Deborah J., _Principles and Guidelines In Software User
        Interface Design_, Prentice Hall, 1992, Chapter 13, Windowing,
        pg. 443

        - She summarizes findings from several studies done on windowing.
          She also lists several references at the end of her chapter.

   Rubin, Tony, _User Interface Design For Computer Systems_, Ellis
        Horwood Limited, England, 1988, Chapter 5, section 5.3 WIMP
        Interfaces, 5.3.3 Windows

        - This is a very limited reference, i.e. talks a little about
          the disadvantages/advantages of tiled and overlapping
          windows

   Shneiderman, Ben, _Designing the User Interface_, _Strategies for
        Effective Human-Computer Interaction_, Addison-Wesley Publishing
        Company, 1987, section 8.6 Window Designs, pg. 342

        - at the end of this chapter Shneiderman lists alot of references

   Shneiderman, Ben, _Designing the User Interface_, _Strategies for
        Effective Human-Computer Interaction_, Addison-Wesley Publishing
        Company, 1992, chapter 9 Multiple-Window Strategies, pg. 336

        - good references at the end of this chapter, some recent
                studies are mentioned. This is a 'the way things are'
		chapter and mentions good research ideas.


Papers:

    Bly & Rosenberg "A comparison of tiled and overlapping windows"
        CHI 86 proceedings, 1986, pp. 101-106
   
    Card, S.K., and Henderson, A. Jr., (1987). A multiple, virtual-workspace
        interface to support user task switching. Proceeding of the CHI'87
        Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference. ACM, 53-59

    Gaylin, K.B. (1986) How are windows used? Some notes on creating
	an empirically-based windowing benchmark task. Proceeding of the
	CHI'86 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference. ACM, 96-100

    Mander, Richard, Salomon, Gitta, Wong, Yin Yin, "A 'Pile' Metaphor
	for Supporting Casual Organization of Information", SIGCHI
	proceedings 1992, pg. 627-634

	- tangentially interesting

    Norman, Kent L, Weldon, Linda J., and Shneiderman, Ben, Cognitive
        representation of window and multiple screen layouts of computer
        interfaces, International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, May 1986


    Stelovsky, J. _XS-2: The User Interface of an Interactive
        Operating System_. Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule,
        Zurich, 1984.

	- Peter Castine sent me this reference, but I haven't tried to
		locating it yet.
-- 
Susan Pappalardo		email: susanp@sierra.com
Sierra Geophysics, Inc.		phone: 206-822-5200, ext. 523
11255 Kirkland, WA 98033	fax:   206-828-9729