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{{about|the human computer interface|other uses of the term|wimp (disambiguation)}}
{{about|the human computer interface|other uses of the term|wimp (disambiguation)}}
In [[human–computer interaction]], '''WIMP''' stands for "[[window (computing)|window]]s, [[computer icon|icon]]s, [[menu (computing)|menu]]s, [[cursor (computers)#Mouse cursor|pointer]]",<ref name="nytimes cellphone">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/science/17map.html | title=The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=February 16, 2009 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Markoff, John | location=New York | quote=[...] so-called WIMP interface — for windows, icons, menus, pointer [...] | authorlink=John Markoff}}</ref><ref name="microsoft ">{{cite web | url=http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=68165 | title=Haptic Issues for Virtual Manipulation | publisher=[[Microsoft]] | date=December 1996 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Hinckley, Ken | quote=The Windows-Icons-Menus-Pointer (WIMP) interface paradigm dominates modern computing systems.}}</ref><ref name="microsoft input technologies">{{cite web | url=http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kenh/papers/InputChapter.pdf | title=Input Technologies and Techniques | publisher=[[Microsoft]] | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Hinckley, Ken | quote=Researchers are looking to move beyond the current "WIMP" (Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointer) interface [...] | format=PDF}}</ref> denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lottiebooth.com/pdf/essay.pdf|title=Alan Kay and the Graphical User Interface|author=Charlotte Booth}}</ref> People sometimes interpret WIMP to mean other things, such as "windows, icon, mouse, pull-down menu",<ref name="nytimes computers behave like people">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/01/business/the-executive-computer-when-oh-when-will-computers-behave-like-people.html?scp=1&sq=computer wimp window icon point&st=nyt&pagewanted=2 | title=The Executive Computer; When, Oh When, Will Computers Behave Like People? | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=January 01, 1995 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Flynn, Laurie | location=New York | quote="We've taken the WIMP interface as far as it can go," he added, referring to the Windows-icon-mouse-pull-down menu.}}</ref> "windows, icons, mice, pointing"<ref name="siggraph90 ">{{cite conference | url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.121.7982&rep=rep1&type=pdf | title=SIGGRAPH '90 Workshop Report: Software Architectures and Metaphors for Non-WIMP User Interfaces | publisher=[[ACM SIGGRAPH]] | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Green, Mark | booktitle=SIGGRAPH '90 | year=1991 | month=July | conference=[[SIGGRAPH]] | location=Dallas | author2=Jacob, Robert | format=PDF | quote=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.}}</ref> or "window, icon, mouse, pointer".<ref name="nytimes facing the future">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/14/magazine/facing-the-future.html | title=Facing the Future | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=April 14, 1996 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Patton, Phil | location=New York | quote=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.}}</ref>
In [[human–computer interaction]], '''WIMP''' stands for "[[window (computing)|window]]s, [[computer icon|icon]]s, [[menu (computing)|menu]]s, [[cursor (computers)#Mouse cursor|pointer]]",<ref name="nytimes cellphone">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/science/17map.html | title=The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=February 16, 2009 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Markoff, John | location=New York | quote=[...] so-called WIMP interface — for windows, icons, menus, pointer [...] | authorlink=John Markoff}}</ref><ref name="microsoft ">{{cite web | url=http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=68165 | title=Haptic Issues for Virtual Manipulation | publisher=[[Microsoft]] | date=December 1996 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Hinckley, Ken | quote=The Windows-Icons-Menus-Pointer (WIMP) interface paradigm dominates modern computing systems.}}</ref><ref name="microsoft input technologies">{{cite web | url=http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kenh/papers/InputChapter.pdf | title=Input Technologies and Techniques | publisher=[[Microsoft]] | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Hinckley, Ken | quote=Researchers are looking to move beyond the current "WIMP" (Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointer) interface [...] | format=PDF}}</ref> denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lottiebooth.com/pdf/essay.pdf|title=Alan Kay and the Graphical User Interface|author=Charlotte Booth}}</ref> Other expansions are sometimes used, substituting "mouse" and "mice" or "pull-down menu" and "pointing", for menu and pointing, respectively.<ref name="nytimes computers behave like people">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/01/business/the-executive-computer-when-oh-when-will-computers-behave-like-people.html?scp=1&sq=computer wimp window icon point&st=nyt&pagewanted=2 | title=The Executive Computer; When, Oh When, Will Computers Behave Like People? | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=January 01, 1995 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Flynn, Laurie | location=New York | quote="We've taken the WIMP interface as far as it can go," he added, referring to the Windows-icon-mouse-pull-down menu.}}</ref><ref name="siggraph90 ">{{cite conference | url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.121.7982&rep=rep1&type=pdf | title=SIGGRAPH '90 Workshop Report: Software Architectures and Metaphors for Non-WIMP User Interfaces | publisher=[[ACM SIGGRAPH]] | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Green, Mark | booktitle=SIGGRAPH '90 | year=1991 | month=July | conference=[[SIGGRAPH]] | location=Dallas | author2=Jacob, Robert | format=PDF | quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="nytimes facing the future">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/14/magazine/facing-the-future.html | title=Facing the Future | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=April 14, 1996 | accessdate=December 14, 2011 | author=Patton, Phil | location=New York | quote=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.}}</ref>


Although its usage has fallen out of favor, it is often incorrectly used as an approximate synonym of "[[graphical user interface]]" (GUI). Any interface that utilizes graphics can be termed a GUI, and WIMP systems are a derivative of such systems. However, while all WIMP systems utilize graphics as a key element (namely the Icon and Pointer element) and therefore all WIMPs are GUIs, the reverse is not true - some GUIs are not based in windows, icons, menus and pointers and thus are not WIMPs. For example, most mobile phones utilize icons (graphics represent and result in an action being performed) and some may have menus but very few include a pointer or run their utilities/programs in a window.
Although its usage has fallen out of favor, it is often incorrectly used as an approximate synonym of "[[graphical user interface]]" (GUI). Any interface that utilizes graphics can be termed a GUI, and WIMP systems are a derivative of such systems. However, while all WIMP systems utilize graphics as a key element (namely the Icon and Pointer element) and therefore all WIMPs are GUIs, the reverse is not true - some GUIs are not based in windows, icons, menus and pointers and thus are not WIMPs. For example, most mobile phones utilize icons (graphics represent and result in an action being performed) and some may have menus but very few include a pointer or run their utilities/programs in a window.

Revision as of 00:45, 13 February 2012

This article is about the human computer interface. For other uses of the term, see wimp (disambiguation).

In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus, pointer",[1][2][3] denoting a style of interaction using these elements. 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 menu and pointing, respectively.[5][6][7]

Although its usage has fallen out of favor, it is often incorrectly used as an approximate synonym of "graphical user interface" (GUI). Any interface that utilizes graphics can be termed a GUI, and WIMP systems are a derivative of such systems. However, while all WIMP systems utilize graphics as a key element (namely the Icon and Pointer element) and therefore all WIMPs are GUIs, the reverse is not true - some GUIs are not based in windows, icons, menus and pointers and thus are not WIMPs. For example, most mobile phones utilize icons (graphics represent and result in an action being performed) and some may have menus but very few include a pointer or run their utilities/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, where the concepts of the "menu bar" and extended window management were added.[8]

WIMPS are systems where a WINDOW will run a self-contained program, isolated within that window from other programs running at the same time (used to create multi-program operating systems), ICONS act as shortcuts to actions to be performed by the computer (such as execute a program), Menus are text-based or icon-based selection systems to again select and execute programs or sub-programs. Finally, the Pointer is an onscreen symbol that represents the movement of a physical device to allow the user to select elements on an output device such as a monitor.

The primary benefit of this style of system is to improve the HCI by enabling better ease of use for non-technical people, both novice and power users. Know-how can be ported from one application to the next, given the high consistency between interfaces.

Due to the nature of the WIMP system, simple commands can be chained together to undertake a group of commands that would have taken several lines of command line instructions. Due to this nature many technically proficient computer users deride WIMP systems since these act as a barrier between the user and the computer system. However, for the average computer user the introduction of the WIMP system has allowed for an expansion of users beyond the potential possible under the previous command line systems.

Alternative Acronyms

Different sources expand the acronym WIMP differently. The terms may be plural or singular, and the term corresponding to P varies the most. All of the following can be found on the web (as of 2004):

  • W: Window(s)
  • I: Icon(s)
  • M: Menu(s); sometimes incorrectly given as mouse or mice: incorrect since a mouse is a hardware device and WIMP refers to an entirely software-base HCI system.
  • P: Pointing device(s); Pointing; Pointer(s) (note that the term "pointer" can be incorrectly assumed to be a mouse. Though the mouse is the primary controller for the onscreen pointer there are a multitude of options available to the user. Equally, the mouse is a hardware device and WIMP is only concerned about the software HCI.)

Criticism

User interfaces based on the WIMP style are very good at abstracting workspaces, documents, and their actions. Their analogous paradigm to documents as paper sheets or folders, makes WIMP interfaces easy to introduce to novice users. Furthermore their basic representations as rectangular regions on a 2D flat screen make them a good fit for system programmers. Generality makes them very suitable for multitasking work environments. This explains why the paradigm has been prevalent for more than 20 years, both giving rise to and benefiting from commercial widget toolkits that support this style. However, several HCI researchers[9] consider this to be a sign of stagnation in user interface design as the path of least resistance forces developers to follow a particular way of interaction. There are applications for which WIMP is not well suited, they argue, and the lack of technical support increases difficulty for the development of interfaces not based on the WIMP style. This includes any application requiring devices that provide continuous input signals, showing 3D models, or simply portraying an interaction for which there is no defined standard widget. Andries van Dam calls these interfaces post-WIMP GUIs.

The term is also used in some circles as a pejorative, to indicate someone cannot perform useful work unless a graphical environment is present, and therefore relies too heavily on GUIs.[10] This assumes of course that CLI tools of equal or greater functionality are available for the tasks at hand.

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. ^ Charlotte Booth. "Alan Kay and the Graphical User Interface" (PDF).
  5. ^ Flynn, Laurie (January 01, 1995). wimp window icon point&st=nyt&pagewanted=2 "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. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Green, Mark; Jacob, Robert (1991). "SIGGRAPH '90 Workshop Report: Software Architectures and Metaphors for Non-WIMP User Interfaces" (PDF). SIGGRAPH '90. SIGGRAPH. Dallas: ACM SIGGRAPH. Retrieved December 14, 2011. 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. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  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. [1]
  10. ^ The New Hacker's Dictionary
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