Interaction technique

For example, one can go back to the previously visited page on a Web browser by either clicking a button, pressing a key, performing a mouse gesture or uttering a speech command.

In particular, the term "new interaction technique" is frequently used to introduce a novel user interface design idea.

[1] A more recent variation is: An interaction technique is the fusion of input and output, consisting of all software and hardware elements, that provides a way for the user to accomplish a task.

[2] From the computer's perspective, an interaction technique involves: Consider for example the process of deleting a file using a contextual menu.

This assumes the existence of a mouse (input device), a screen (output device), and a piece of code that paints a menu and updates its selection (user feedback) and sends a command to the file system when the user clicks on the "delete" item (interpretation).

In contrast, viewed at higher levels of granularity, interaction is not tied to any specific technology or platform.

An interaction task is "the unit of an entry of information by the user",[1] such as entering a piece of text, issuing a command, or specifying a 2D position.

A current trend is to avoid complex interaction techniques by matching physical devices with the task as close as possible,[7] such as exemplified by the field of tangible computing.

[4] Interaction techniques essentially involve data entry and manipulation, and thus place greater emphasis on input than output.