Structural Interaction: Shifting the Focus of User Interface Design

DIS Companion '26, Singapore (June 13 to 17, 2026)

Structure is not merely something interfaces have; it is something interfaces do.

Explore the framework

TL;DR

User interfaces run on rules that decide how you create, organize, and transform content. We call those rules structure. Structural Interaction makes structure a first-class design object and describes how any rule behaves along two independent axes: rigidity (how much a rule can be shaped) and enforcement (how much it yields when you push against it). Four values per axis give a 16-cell design space for diagnosing and designing interfaces.

Defining Structure

We model an interface as a directed graph of elements (the content) and the rules that govern them. Rules come in two kinds. Declarative rules describe constraints that hold continuously (a grid that keeps cells aligned, a minimum panel width). Imperative rules are actions the user triggers (a command, a macro, a shortcut). Together, elements and rules form the structure of the interface.

The user interface modeled as a directed graph of users, rules and elements.

The Structural Interaction Framework

Every rule sits at a couple of values, one per axis. Rigidity runs from system control to user control; enforcement runs from unyielding to yielding. The two are orthogonal. Hover, focus, or use the arrow keys to inspect each cell. Press Enter to pin a cell open.

Why it matters

  1. Precise diagnosis. Once rigidity and enforcement are separated, you can tell apart problems that look identical. "This tool is too rigid" often conflates two independent properties that need different fixes.
  2. Complements existing models. Where DIRA decomposes interfaces into parts and interaction substrates define adjustable environments, the state couple specifies how each individual rule should respond during interaction.
  3. A vocabulary for generative UIs. When an LLM produces and evolves structure at runtime, rigidity and enforcement give users and systems a shared language for how much structure should yield, when, and under whose control. A candidate future dimension is agentivity (how control over imperative rules is distributed across the user, the system, and generative agents).

Abstract

Cite

@inproceedings{cavez2026structural,
  author    = {Cavez, Vincent and Imteyaz, Kashif and Cabouat, Anne-Flore},
  title     = {Structural Interaction: Shifting the Focus of User Interface Design},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  address   = {New York, NY, USA},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3802974.3809476},
  doi       = {10.1145/3802974.3809476},
  booktitle = {Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS Companion '26)},
  series    = {DIS Companion '26},
  location  = {Singapore, Singapore},
  numpages  = {5}
}