There’s a whole body of HCI R&D towards post-WIMP interfaces that map more closely to the ways in which we interact with our physical environments. Interfaces for devices like the iPhone, the Microsoft Surface, and Perceptive Pixel’s multi-touch wall are examples of tangible user interfaces(TUIs) with surface-based, gestural interfaces. There are others type of TUIs, constructed assemblies and token+constraint(i.e. Siftables, MetaDesk), that take advantage of physical interaction even moreso. Check out the relate work section of B. Ullmer’s dissertation from the MIT Media Lab on Tangible User Interfaces.

The move towards post-WIMP interaction will be necessary for computation to truly fade into the background of our environments per the vision of ubiquitous computing. This is becoming more of a reality as we develop and utilize the ability to sense and tag physical object and associate them with digital representations.

I find, especially with technical software, that there are times when it is apparent that the designer was far too close to the project and did not take the time to reflect on initial interactions with the design. While the appropriate context can be learned, it often becomes far from intuitive and makes operation of the interface less than fluid.

This can create problems when dealing with mission critical operations in high pressure situations. A user will be inclined to revert to a more natural metaphor under stress which can lead to operational failure with poorly designed interfaces.