Object-oriented user interface: Difference between revisions

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{{for|Object-oriented user interface as used on Wikipedia|mw:OOUI}}{{Further|Object–action interface}}{{short description|Type of user interface}}

In [[computing]], an '''object-oriented user interface''' ('''OOUI''') is a type of [[user interface]] based on an [[object-oriented programming]] [[Interface metaphor|metaphor]]., Thisand isdescribes themost technologymodern thatoperating basessystems most("[[Object-oriented modernoperating system|object-oriented operating systems]]") such as [[MacOS]] and [[Microsoft Windows|WindowsUnix]]. In an OOUI, the user interacts explicitly with objects that represent entities in the ___domain that the application is concerned with. Many vector drawing applications, for example, have an OOUI – the objects being lines, circles and canvases. The user may explicitly select an object, alter its properties (such as size or colour), or invoke other actions upon it (such as to move, copy, or re-align it). If a business application has any OOUI, the user may be selecting and/or invoking actions on objects representing entities in the business ___domain such as customers, products or orders.

[[Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant)|Jakob Nielsen]] defines the OOUI in contrast to function-oriented interfaces: "Object-oriented interfaces are sometimes described as turning the application inside-out as compared to function-oriented interfaces. The main focus of the interaction changes to become the users' data and other information objects that are typically represented graphically on the screen as icons or in windows."<ref name="Nielsen">Nielsen, J., Usability Engineering. 1993, San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann / Academic Press</ref>

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* Users perceive and act on objects

* Users can classify objects based on how they behave

* In the context of what users are trying to do, all the user interface objects fit together into a coherent overall representation.<ref name="Collins">Collins, D., Designing Object-oriented User interfaces. 1995, Redwood City, CA: Benjamin/Cummings</ref>

[[Jef Raskin]] suggests that the most important characteristic of an OOUI is that it adopts a 'noun-verb', rather than a 'verb-noun' style of interaction, and that this has several advantages in terms of usability.<ref name="Raskin">Raskin, J., The Humane Interface. 2000, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley / ACM Press</ref>

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==Relationship to other user interface ideas==

There is a great deal of potential synergy between the OOUI concept and other important ideas in user interface design including:

* [[graphical user interface]] (GUI).

* [[direct manipulation interface]]

* [[interface metaphor]]