Organic User Interfaces: Framework, Interaction Model and Design Guidelines

Under the umbrella of Ubiquitous Computing, lies the fields of natural, organic and tangible user interfaces. Although some work have been made in organic user interface (OUI) design principles, no formalized framework have been set for OUIs and their interaction model, or design-specific guidelines, as far as we know. In this paper we propose an OUI framework by which we deduced the developed interaction model for organic systems design. Moreover we recommended three main design principles for OUI design, in addition to a set of design-specific guidelines for each type of our interaction model. Our proposed framework is deduced based on previous work of other related researches for Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Tangible User Interface (TUI) frameworks. By categorizing the input techniques of OUI systems, we were able to propose the ‘/ Manipulation/ air-Gesture’ (SMaG) interaction model. Each category of SMaG model is explored thoroughly and criticized accordingly. Based on the SMaG interaction model we introduced some design guidelines for OUIs. The proposed OUI design principles are based on three usability aspects: look, feel and design. We conclude by pointing out our proposed OUI usability guidelines and considerations regarding design-specific organic interfaces that uses each of the input interaction techniques of SMaG model, their best use, worst use and how to use.