AMO - the interface as medium. Poster sessions, HCI International'89, . Abstract Various interface styles suggest paradigms for understanding interaction.
Direct manipulation suggests the interface as a passive entity, tools for the user to control.
User interface management systems typically have a paradigm between the two where the interface is seen primarily as a translator, or mediator between the user and the application. Each of these paradigms seem useful in different contexts, but mixing them runs the risk of getting the worst, rather than the best, of all worlds. Viewing the interface as a medium allows us to make sense of the interplay between passive and active components of an interface. In addition, the very passivity of the system gives the user a sense of control, the initiative lies with the user. Successful as such interfaces are the concept becomes dangerously stretched when extended beyond those applications most well suited such as drawing and simple word processing.