ABSTRACT
Ecological Interface Design (EID) is a theoretical framework for interface design that attempts to extend the benefits of traditional direct manipulation interfaces (DMI) to complex human-machine systems. While traditional approaches to the design of DMI may work well within some domains, they cannot address the unique challenges posed by complex work domains. EID has been developed specifically for complex domains and it uses the unique challenges of these domains as its starting point. Once the challenges of a specific domain have been characterized, EID addresses the domain-relevant capabilities and limitations of the human operator, and develops prescriptive interface design guidelines on this basis.
