Editing Interactivity (section)

== Computing science ==
The term "[[look and feel]]" is often used to refer to the specifics of a computer system's [[user interface]]. Using this [[metaphor]], the "look" refers to its visual design, while the "feel" refers to its interactivity. Indirectly this can be regarded as an informal definition of interactivity.

For a more detailed discussion of how interactivity has been conceptualized in the human-computer interaction literature, and how the [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]] of the French philosopher [[Merleau-Ponty]] can shed light on the user experience, see (Svanaes 2000).

An IBM study in the early 1980s found that productivity on a computer is highest when the graphical screen updates in one half second or faster; between one half second to three quarters of one second, productivity greatly decreases.<ref name="robinson198902">{{Cite magazine |last=Robinson |first=Phillip |date=February 1989 |title=Art + 2 Years = Science |url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1989-02_OCR/page/n309/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=2024-10-08 |magazine=BYTE |pages=255-264}}</ref> In [[computer science]], interactive refers to software which accepts and responds to input from people—for example, data or commands. Interactive software includes most popular programs, such as [[word processor]]s or [[spreadsheet]] [[application software|applications]]. By comparison, '''noninteractive''' programs operate without human contact; examples of these include [[compiler]]s and [[batch processing]] applications. If the response is complex enough it is said that the system is conducting social interaction and some systems try to achieve this through the implementation of [[social interface]]s.