exploring the

Mnemonic user interface Christian Lagerkvist, MoS (mj comp science) — [email protected]

»It is immensely ingenious, immensely complicated, and

extremely effective but somehow at the same time crude,
wasteful and inelegant; and one feels that there must be
a better way of doing things»

— Christopher Strachey, 1962

The manner in which files are visually organized, all accord- Traversing Folders
ing to the popular desktop metaphor, concur with conditions Navigating a file structure incorporating tens of thousands of
applicable twenty years ago. Over time, these conditions, tech- files has become an everyday task. We do this without giving it
nical as well as user oriented ones, have radically changed. much thought, as it is by all means natural to first locate the
The desktop metaphor has not. object we wish to manipulate. Let us explore what navigating
This article is an offspring of personal reflections over too a file structure is about, and isolate some of the problems
much time being spent traversing file structures and organiz- involved:
ing windows in the user interfaces of today’s modern operat- Naturally, when locating a file, the location of the file has to
ing systems. be known. Not a geographical location, but an analogous one
expressed in terms of which way to take in a series of branch-
Prologue es – a file path. These branches are made (i e the folders are
Having no idea what I would end up with, I systematically opened) one at a time. For every branch, a decision has to
started taking notes of every element of annoyance I ran into be made as to what branch to take next. If the location of the
carrying out my everyday computer work. This was four years file is unknown, or almost known, this decision can only be
ago. The notes led into thoughts which led into reflections. made after having inspected the new available branches, after
Some of them boiled down to this article, in which I aim to which the most likely one is chosen. Thus the key to navigat-
explain and publicize my idea of the mnemonic user interface. ing a specific desktop file system fast lies in knowing the exact
physical, on-screen location and looks of every folder - as well
Background as their relative positioning (recognition and predictability)
The 1980’s is usually denoted the personal computer’s very along the path to the destination. The image formed by the
childhood. This is the time when we realized that anyone has letters in a file or folder name becomes the cue as a means
use for a computer, and computers targeting ordinary folks of navigation. The actual meaning of the word formed by the
seriously hit the production lines. This is also the time when letters eventually becomes superfluous.
Apple Inc. refined the desktop metaphor into roughly what Unix devotees often claim typing the file path is faster than
still is in use today. using the mouse. Mastering effective navigation in the com-
mand line case lies in memorizing file paths by reconceptual-
In those days, hard drives were a luxury, and in effect we
izing them into a personal mental model of the file system.
stored our files on floppy disks. Given the moderate storage Contrary to navigating a file system via a desktop metaphor
capacity of floppy disks and hard drives at the time, the evolv- (recognition and predictability), navigation is entirely based
ing desktop metaphor really was adequate for the job. on recall.
Managing fifty files divided among five folders is an easy task. Regardless, it all boils up to this: even if a user knows the file path
This however is not the case of a modern file system, host- by heart, she or he has to associate with, and access, a specific folder
ing ten thousand times as many files divided into an army of for every traversal of the file path elements.
subfolders.
 It should be pointed out that there is a kind of file structure installed).
navigation often mistaken for the recognition/predictability-
So what representation does »suit the human brain’s way»?
version of the desktop metaphor, but with a subtle difference:
views of objects are not preserved, that is, the interface for-
This is a matter for discussion – I will settle for presenting a
gets the layout of the window content for a folder, and instead representation which I believe would serve the purpose very
arranges objects dynamically with respect to the size of the well.
window. Since this »feature» takes away the possibility to nav-
igate by predictability, the user is forced to browse file and
250 million people can’t be wrong
folder names until reminded what branch to take. Regardless This is the amount of people that have adopted a technique
if the user knows the file path by heart. called »mind mapping», as a method of learning and memo-
This intensive thought process doesn’t even begin with tra- rizing information. Mind mapping, originally developed by
versing file structures; it begins by the user having to deter- Tony Buzan, is a method aimed at aiding learning by repre-
mine the fastest way of localizing the file or folder: the »recent senting information in a way suitable to the human brain.
items» menu, an already opened window, a shortcut/alias, The method of mind mapping is beyond the scope of this
manual browsing or, if the user has the option, to type the article, but roughly it is about writing pieces of information,
full path to the designated object. each inside a bubble, on a blank paper, and visualizing their
Also, we have learned to associate each desktop object with an relations with arcs between the bubbles – growing outwards
icon, which reveals what kind of object it represents (file or from the key topic which is located in the center.
folder). When locating a file, every single object we double- How then does this concept fit into the problem of visual-
click on the way is a folder – and every folder has the exact izing files at operating system level? Think of the »key topic»
same icon (at least in most of our operating system gui’s). (middle bubble) as your root folder and its »pieces of infor-
So having a special icon for folders boils down to one thing: mation» as subfolders surrounding it in bubbles. The content
increasing the size of the target. of a subfolder (bubble) is, of course, the files it encloses.
The discussion above is a result of file structure visualization Recurse!
only. Moreover, there are a number of other, administrative
questions to consider when manipulation files. For instance, about.jpg
deciding whether a specific window should be closed, if
old_news_img.gif
double-clicking a folder should open up its contents in a new
window or replace the parent one, or if a source file is on new_news_img.gif
another drive than the destination meaning the file will be
copied instead of moved. Additionally we have to maximize,
graphics
minimize, resize, dock, move and close windows. No wonder contact.gif news.html
the main task is phased out from our 7±2 memory chunks,
links.gif contact.html
and we find ourselves in loss-of-activation states.
Navigation takes concentration. A lot. my site
about.html
»Men are disturbed not by things, but help.gif
index.html
by the view which they take of them» 23.gif
links.html
— Epicteteus ~ 100 BC help
index.html
The Mnemonic User Interface
Regardless whether navigation takes place using the desk-
top metaphor or the command line, we still have to focus on Is this possible?
passing information between our own mental model and the
But of course! Though there are a number of questions criti-
computer’s representation of the file structure.
cal to the success:
What if the representation and the mental model were one
Should all the files be visualized? A negative answer implies
and the same? In other words, what we see on the computer
there must be a means of bringing an until-now non-impor-
screen would be nothing less than our own mental model of
tant file into the representation. Whether such a file then
the file structure. We would not be forced to recall, but rather
always should be visible or fall back into the hidden realm
recognize the location of an object, since the visualization on
is another tricky question. If yes, should this event be trig-
the screen would aid us just as well – a mnemonic user interface.
gered by the user or carried out automatically by the system?
So what we want to do is create a visualization of the file struc- Common sense would be to go for the automatic approach,
ture that suits the human brain’s way of representing the but then again, acting upon common sense is non-scientific.
information. Naturally, the representation would be focused And by all means, »Recent items»-alike dynamic menus (or
on visualizing »interesting» files – a highly relative choice of chocolate box menus – you never know what you’re gonna
words – excluding hidden files and system resources (refer- get) tend to be unutilized since the disappointment of not
ring to files used by the operating system or any applications finding what we’re looking for »learns» us not to look there.
Second, the interface must incorporate a means of panning desktop metaphor, they provide a natural way of comparing
and zooming into the desired location of the mind map. This to folders: open the folders and put the windows next to each
is also a tricky part, as it is hard to implement a good zoom other. In the mnemonic user interface presented here, there
function. Is it at all possible to build an interface that lets you is no natural way of accomplishing this unless the folders are
zoom in and pan to the desired view with just a click on the closely (and thus geometrically) related.
mouse button? The problem is analogous to panning from Conclusively, we must either allow the user to build virtual
New York to Wales on a world map by just using a click, a drag views of folder structures, which could encompass an arbi-
and a release. A number of methods can be thought of. trary number of folders (which according to my book is a bad
The bubbles should dynamically increase and decrease in solution), or violate one of the corner stones of mind map-
size, as the user moves files around the system. The system ping: the static relation between objects. Here’s a hybrid that
should also have some kind of label support – text signs, bor- might do the trick:
ders and colors, in order to provide the user with visual cues Since a mind map is a two-dimensional vector space, the
as a means of navigation. This is also important for memori- relation between any two points can be expressed in terms
zation! of magnitude and direction. Violating both of these would
Now, let me present three very interesting properties that a be analogous to moving a bubble next to the other, which
mnemonic user interface like this would feature: clearly would defeat the purpose of mind mapping. However,
1) No more windows – This means no scrolling or resizing, or surrendering just the magnitude scalar would mean that
moving-out-of-the-way of file/folder-windows. Windows are the direction between bubbles is always the same, but that
for applications. The bubbles should align so that they would a bubble, upon requirement, can temporarily be visualized
never cover each other. next to one another. For instance, if I were to hold down a
modifier key while clicking »other stuff» in the image above,
2) No more folders – Since we’ve translated folders to an
both the »my site folder structure and the »other stuff» folder
analogous structure based on geometry – i.e. the physical
structure would be visualized next to each other.
location of objects, we have an intuitive (in a justified sense)
way of grouping files together: Put them next to each other.
A new, »unbounded» bubble should appear enclosing these Conclusion
two files. Move a third file into the bubble and it will grow to
There will come a time in the future when people will laugh
encompass all three (as the source bubble shrinks, adjusting
at today’s user interfaces. You might say that much has been
its size to the number of files it surrounds).
done but we have a long way to go. I would say nothing has
3) A foundation for more visualization – a shortcut/alias been done and we have a long way to go, which becomes par-
could actually point out (in the direction of) the file or folder ticularly evident each time I have to change application just
it represents: to read a dialog box, or I spot an open/save-dialog for some
reason representing my file system in compact mode, or when
I conclude that the four corners of the screen still are unuti-
about.jpg lized in all of today’s »modern» operating system gui’s.
other stuff... 20 years of gui development – and I can’t even take a quick
old_news_img.gif
new_news_img.gif note of something when I’m on the phone! I just want to
click on the desktop and type. Now I’m forced to start some
graphics application, type my note, choose »Save», make up a suitable
file name and save it on the desktop. Oh sure I could have
contact.gif news.html my »quick_notes.txt» on the desktop, the file in which I take
contact.html all of my notes. Then all I have to do is remove all windows
links.gif
so that I can access the file, double-click it, locate the bottom
my site of the file, type my note, save it, close it and bring back the
window I was working in.
about.html
help.gif Today I’m just looking for a spot where I can type, and that
index.html
23.gif spot is usually the address bar of my internet browser window.
links.html Have you ever typed a phone number or a note in the address
help bar of your browser window?
index.html
I thought so.

Visualizing any file dependencies in the system could be done

in an instant by simply drawing arcs between the files.

Introducing new issues as well...

Since today’s operating system interfaces are based upon the
More observations Teaching interfaces
The following ideas are not related to the mnemonic user
»Wouldn’t it be cool if a paper clip popped up and helped
interface, but stand-alone ideas that in my opinion should be
you as soon as you bumped into trouble!? Wouldn’t that
standards in any graphical user interface.
be awesome?!?»
— Unknown, Microsoft Corporation
So what has the world’s most famous paper clip learned us
GUI’s today are insulting the user over the years? If I were to answer that question thoroughly
I’d have to write a book. However, the idea behind him is
»What’s nice about GUI is that you see what you manipu- not all that bad, and the concept of »teaching interfaces» has
late. What’s bad about GUI is that you can only manipu- brought me to an application where I think it would really
late what you see.» be effective: each time a user access a menu item using the
— Hakan Tandogan mouse, as the menu item flashes and disappears, let the key-
When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling board shortcut of the action fade away. I think this little peculiar
dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into The Man behavior would create just the amount of attention a user
with the World’s Worst Simultaneous Capacity! His case was needs in order to think »ah, right, Apple–C again» without
so bad that if he wanted to move his body in some way, he creating an element of annoyance – his focus is already on
constantly had to focus his vision exactly on the body part the menu item anyway.
performing the task, and keep his eyes locked onto it until
the task was finished. After a three-hours shower (he didn’t
want to skip soaping his back), Gregor decided to skip break- Sampling files
fast and got in his car to drive to work. He had to cut through Another issue in today’s OS gui’s is about administrating files:
his trousers with a pair of scissors in order to get the keys copying, moving, creating shortcuts and getting file informa-
out of the pocket, since he couldn’t bring himself to control- tion. The main problem is that whether you will move, copy
ling his hand as soon as his index finger disappeared into or create a shortcut of a file you’re about to drag differs from
the pocket opening. Of course, Gregor past away some time system to system, from drive to drive, user rights and the
during the first bend since his eyes were constantly locked on source and destination of the drag (task bar, menus, desk-
his hand trying to turn the steering wheel. top, widget’s) – that might be why computer illiterates keep
This surreal little story (which was not written by Kafka by mailing shortcuts to each other. So this is my solution: Each
the way) should provide you with an idea what your means time a user starts to drag a file, provide him/her with areas
of interaction with a computer are limited to. To your dis- aligned along the edge/corners of the screen, labeled with
posal are a mouse and a keyboard. If you for example read the verbs applicable to this file. Drag the file on top of the
an article on the internet and decide to scroll the window copy-area (which hilights), thus »sampling» or »marking» the
down to the next page, you first have to take your eyes off the file with a copy-operation, and drag it to the destination. Or
text, move your focus to the scroll bar you wish to manipu- drag the file on top of the info area, and the file information
late, move the mouse cursor to the scroll bar (probably you’ll pops up. Should the move, copy and info area be disabled, it
overshoot so you’ll have to adjust for that as well), click and would simply mean that the file is read-protected. A number
hold the mouse button, find the bottom line you were just of other verbs associated with areas can be thought of. Of
reading, and then while dragging the mouse down (scrolling course, there should be a default behavior of either copying
the contents of the window upwards) keep that last line in or moving the file.
focus and drag the scroll bar until that line is in top of the
window’s content. Now you can keep on reading.
Yes you could use the page-down button on the keyboard,
and yes you could simply click underneath the scroll bar, use
the scroll wheel or press space bar or whatever, but that’s not
the point here – that you constantly have to focus at the loca-
tion of your mouse pointer, is!
I’m not suggesting we exchange the mouse as an input device,
although that is undoubtedly going to happen some time in
the future. I suggest that user interfaces utilize our peripheral
vision, and in this case it’s really simple: provide the user with
a visual cue as the mouse pointer travels onto the scroll bar.
Provide the user with a visual cue as the mouse pointer travels
upon any window widget. That way I won’t have to remove my
focus of attention from the task – the text I’m reading, the
object I’m creating, the chart I’m examining – just in order
to resize the window by 20 pixels.
 Feedback to the Author
Any comments, thoughts or questions you might have after reading this article would be
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