Elastic Windows: Evaluation of Multi-Window Operations
Abstract
Most windowing systems follow the independent overlapping windows
approach, which emerged as an answer to the needs of the 1980s'
technology. Due to advances in computers and display technology, and
increased information needs, modern users demand more functionality
from window management systems. We proposed Elastic Windows with
improved spatial layout and rapid multi-window operations as an
alternative to current window management strategies for efficient
personal role management [kandogan]. In this approach,
multi-window operations are achieved by issuing operations on window
groups hierarchically organized in a space-filling tiled layout. This
paper describes the Elastic Windows interface briefly and then
presents a study comparing user performance with Elastic Windows and
traditional window management techniques for 2, 6, and 12 window
situations. Elastic Windows users had statistically significantly
faster performance for all 6 and 12 window situations, for task
environment setup, task environment switching, and task execution.
These results suggest promising possibilities for multiple window
operations and hierarchical nesting, which can be applied to the next
generation of tiled as well as overlapped window managers.