Shrinking window operations for expanding display space

Abstract

Recent research and technology advances indicate that multiple monitor systems are likely to become commonplace in the near future. An important property of such systems is that the physical separation of the display prompts users to place windows entirely within monitors, and thus does not fully alleviate the problem of managing windows on smaller monitors. Another finding about multiple monitor systems is that an additional monitor often holds windows that help the user maintain awareness rather than support interaction with information, but that multiple monitor users tend not to have many more windows visible than their single-monitor counterparts. We therefore present a window shrinking operation that specifically intends to help users display a window's relevant information. The operation should help to create smaller windows to manage, helping the "small monitor management" problem and targeting use of awareness windows on multiple monitor systems.