Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

WIMP Interfaces

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Definition

There exist many types of interaction styles. They include but are not limited to: command line interface, natural language, question/answer and query dialog, form-fills and spreadsheets, WIMP, and three-dimensional interfaces. The most common of the foregoing interaction styles is the WIMP. WIMP is an acronym for Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointers. Alternatively, it is an acronym for Windows, Icons, Mice and Pull-down menus. Examples of user interfaces that are based on the WIMP interaction style include: Microsoft Windows for PCs, MacOs for Apple Macintosh, various X Windows-based systems for UNIX, etc.

Historical Background

WIMP interfaces were invented at the SRI laboratory in California. The development of WIMP interfaces continued at Xerox PARC. The 1981 Xerox Star workstation is considered to be the first production computer to use the desktop metaphor, productivity applications and a three-button mouse. WIMP was popularized by the Apple Macintosh in the early 1980s....

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 2,500.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Recommended Reading

  1. Alistair E. The design of auditory interfaces for visually disabled users. In Proc. SIGCHI Conf. on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1988, pp. 83–88.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Balakrishnan R. and Kurtenbach G. Exploring bimanual camera control and object manipulation in 3D graphics interfaces. In Proc. SIGCHI Conf. on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1999, pp. 56–62.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Beaudouin-Lafon M. Designing interaction, not interfaces. In Proc. Working Conf. on Advanced Visual Interfaces, 2004, pp. 15–22.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Beaudouin-Lafon M. and Lassen H.M. The architecture and implementation of CPN2000, a post-WIMP graphical application. In Proc. 13th Annual ACM Symp. on User Interface Software and Technology, 2000, pp. 181–190.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cesar P. Tools for adaptive and post-WIMP user interfaces. New Directions on Human Computer Interaction, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dix A., Finlay J., Abowd G., and Beale R. Human-Computer Interaction. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Green M. and Jacob R. SIGGRAPH: ’90 Workshop report: software architectures and metaphors for non-WIMP user interfaces. Comput. Graph., 25(3): 229–235, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Paap K.R. and Roske-Hofstrand R.J. Design of menus. In Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction, M. Helander (ed.). Amsterdam, North-Holland, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Preece J., Rogers Y., Sharp H., Benyon D., Holland S., and Carey T. Human-Computer Interaction. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Odell D.L., Davis R.C., Smith A., and Wright P.K. Toolglasses, marking menus, and hotkeys: a comparison of one and two-handed command selection techniques. In Proc. 2004 Conf. on Graphics Interface, 2004, pp. 17–24.

    Google Scholar 

  11. van Dam A. Post-WIMP user interfaces. Commun. ACM, 40(2):63–67, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Tasmanian ICT Centre, Hobart, TAS,  , Australia

    Stephen Kimani

Authors
  1. Stephen Kimani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Kimani, S. (2009). WIMP Interfaces. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_467

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation