What do Researchers Need when Implementing Novel Interaction Techniques?

Abstract

Interaction frameworks are the tools of choice for researchers and UI designers when prototyping new and original interaction techniques. But with little knowledge about actual needs, these frameworks provide incomplete support that restricts, slows down or even prevents the exploration of new ideas. In this context, researchers resort to hacking methods, creating code that lacks robustness beyond experiments, combining libraries of different levels and paradigms, and eventually limiting the dissemination and reproducibility of their work. To better understand this problem, we interviewed 9 HCI researchers and conducted an online survey. From the results we give an overview of the criteria for choosing frameworks, the problems often met with them, and the "tricks" used as solutions. Then we propose three design principles to better support prototyping for research in UI frameworks: (i) duplicate singular elements (e.g. mouse, caret) to foster opportunities for extensions, (ii) accumulate rather than replace to keep a history of changes, and (iii) defer the execution of predefined behaviors to enable their monitoring and replacement.