The User View of File Management: Recommendations for a User Interface Based on Analysis of UNIX* File System Use Patricia American Somers Bell ABSTRACT The structures in which users store their files facilitate retrieval by enabling users to dedute a file's contents from its place in the organization. This study examined structures created by UNIX* users to organize their files within a hierarchical directory scheme, and examined the relation between structure and command usage. Users" difficulties in managing the complexity of a hierarchical structure limited the amount of information about files that these structures contained. Tree complexity increased in a negatively accelerating function with the number of files. Users who grouped their files into few directories arranged in shallow trees could navigate through the tree easily, but they sacrificed information: directory names were less specific, and users made more command errors. More sophisticated users created deeper trees. They were able to manage more files but also made extensive use of navigation aids. ~: UNIX i s a trademark of Bell Laboratories.
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The user view of file management: recommendations for a user interface based on analysis of UNIX file system use
Somers, Patricia
Follow ACM SIGIR Forum
, Volume 17 (4)
Association for Computing Machinery – Jun 1, 1983
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