Copy and move operations have long been supported by interactive desktops through various means. But the growing number of on-screen objects makes these means harder to use. In this note, we present new tools and techniques to enhance the existing ones: a selection, copy and drag history manager; two techniques to expose the user’s desk and leaf through stacks of overlapping windows; and a technique that integrates the previous two with conventional drag-anddrop. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]: User interfaces- Graphical user interfaces.

We present the “boomerang ” technique, which makes it possible to suspend and resume drag-and-drop operations. A throwing gesture while dragging an object suspends the operation, anytime and anywhere. A drag-and-drop interaction, enhanced with our technique, allows users to switch windows, invoke commands, and even drag other objects during a drag-and-drop operation without using the keyboard or menus. We explain how a throwing gesture can suspend drag-and-drop operations, and describe other features of our technique, including grouping, copying, and deleting dragged objects. We conclude by presenting prototype implementations and initial feedback on the proposed technique. ACM Classification: H5.2 [Information interfaces and

In this paper we present importance-driven compositing window management, which considers windows not only as basic rectangular shapes but also integrates the importance of the windows ’ content using a bottom-up visual attention model. Based on this information, importance-driven compositing optimizes the spatial window layout for maximum visibility and interactivity of occluded content in combination with see-through windows. We employ this technique for emerging window manager functions to minimize information overlap caused by popping up windows or floating toolbars and to improve the access to occluded window content. An initial user study indicates that our technique provides a more effective and satisfactory access to occluded information than the well-adopted Alt+Tab window switching technique and see-through windows without optimized spatial layout. Author Keywords compositing window management, visual saliency, space

Transferring data across applications is a common end user task, and copying and pasting via the clipboard lets users do so relatively easily. Using the clipboard, however, can also introduce inefficiencies and errors in user tasks. To help researchers and tool developers understand and address these problems, we studied how end users interact with the clipboard through cut, copy, and paste actions. This study was performed by logging clipboard interactions while end users performed everyday tasks. From the clipboard usage data, we have identified several usage patterns that describe how data is transferred within the desktop environment. Such patterns help us understand end user behavior and indicate areas in which clipboard support tools can be improved. 1.

Copy and move operations have long been supported by interactive desktops through various means. But the growing number of on-screen objects makes these means harder to use. In this note, we present new tools and techniques to enhance the existing ones: a selection, copy and drag history manager; two techniques to expose the user’s desk and leaf through stacks of overlapping windows; and a technique that integrates the previous two with conventional drag-anddrop. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]: User interfaces

c t i v it y e p o r t 2009 Table of contents

Abstract not found

c t i v it y e p o r t 2007 Table of contents

Current projectors can easily be combined to create an everywhere display, using all suitable surfaces in offices or meeting rooms for the presentation of information. However, the resulting irregular display is not well supported by traditional desktop window managers, which are optimized for rectangular screens. In this paper, we present novel displayadaptive window management techniques, which provide semi-automatic placement for desktop elements (such as windows or icons) for users of large, irregularly shaped displays. We report results from an exploratory study, which reveals interesting emerging strategies of users in the manipulation of windows on large irregular displays and shows that the new techniques increase subjective satisfaction with the window management interface. ACM Classification: H5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]:

Abstract not found