A computer-user interface is the software that communicates the user's
inputs to the computer and returns information from the computer back to the
user. A variety of user interfaces have been developed, including command
language interfaces, direct manipulation interfaces, and menus. This research
explored the relative benefits of command language interfaces (CLE) and direct
manipulation interfaces (DMI) for performance of simple and complex tasks by
novices. Two levels of task complexity were used, one requiring five inputs
(simple) and one requiring 24 inputs (complex). Dependent variables were (1) time
to complete each task set, (2) number of errors, and (3) number of references to online
help. Results indicate that learning to use a DMI takes longer than learning to
use a CLI. No significant difference was observed in time to complete the simple
task. However, once a novice learns to use a DMI, a complex task requires less
time, fewer errors are made, and references to help screens are required less often.
With complex tasks, direct manipulation interfaces appear to help novices to be
more productive than do command language interfaces.

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