Hi, I am currently working on my thesis trying to design a user
interface metaphor for the web.  I would like to get some input about what
do you think the ideal user interface to the Web should be and look like.
I am convinced that a user interface different to the current web browsers
can help people perform better in whatever they do on the web.
        Also, I think the information on the web is so diverse that the
current 2 dimensional appearance of browsers and the information they
present will not be sufficient for what we will be doing in the years to
come.
        If you could please answer the following questions I will greatly
appreciate it.

        Some more background:
                User Interface metaphors have been used for long time.
        They gained popularity with the Graphical User interface.
        The most known and used interface metaphor is the Desktop metaphor,
        popularized by Macintosh and widely used in most graphical user
        interface environments.
                It is not secret that the web is playing an important role
        in today's technology and even in our everyday lives. But, Are the
        current user interfaces for the web (more specifically Web
        Browsers) the most appropriate ones? Why the dektop metaphor is
        not suitable for this new wave of web applications?
                 The main purpose of my research is to find a user
        interface metaphor that is most appropriate for the web, but first
        I need to know what users like you and me do and WILL DO on the
        web, how they would like to interact with it, and so on. These
        questions will help me go through some of the steps I need to
        complete my research.

        Questions:
        1) What do you do on the Web? or What do you use the Web for?
        2) Do you have any model or structure of the web ?
                When you work on the web, do you feel it has or suggest
                some model?
        3) Do you treat the web like anything in the real world?
                Some people say they treat it as a library, for example.
        4) What do you expect from the web?
                What would you like it to provide you with?
        5) If you were to design the way you interact with the web, what
                it would be or look like?
                What kind of physical appearance would you like this
                interface to have?
                How would you like to interact with it? Talking,
                gestures...

        Please remember that I would like to know not only about what is
done right now but what would you like to do on the web in the future. I
think we are going towards a three dimensional trend not only in the
nature of the  information (right now mostly two dimensional, in my
opinion) but three dimensional also in the way we interact with it and the
things we interact to.
        Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance,


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                                        Karem A. Fernandez
                                        [log in to unmask]
                                        Computer Science Graduate Student
                                        University of South Florida
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