About
July 2026 HCI paper introducing Spatula, an LLM-powered system that generates context-aware controls directly on a motion-graphics canvas. Its elastic attribute control space supports progressive discovery, multiple levels of precision, semantic group editing, and new controls on demand.
Summary
Why Spatula Adds New Signal:
1. In-situ generated controls: Places contextual widgets and direct-manipulation affordances on the creative canvas instead of in a separate chat or side panel
2. Elastic control space: Organizes interface generation around discoverability, resolution, scope, and expandability
3. Fine-grained refinement: Bridges high-level prompting with predictable parameter-level editing of generated content
4. Study-backed design: Reports a comparative user study with 12 participants across four interaction conditions
5. Broader applicability: Demonstrates that the plug-and-play approach can extend from motion graphics to web design and 3D modeling
1. In-situ generated controls: Places contextual widgets and direct-manipulation affordances on the creative canvas instead of in a separate chat or side panel
2. Elastic control space: Organizes interface generation around discoverability, resolution, scope, and expandability
3. Fine-grained refinement: Bridges high-level prompting with predictable parameter-level editing of generated content
4. Study-backed design: Reports a comparative user study with 12 participants across four interaction conditions
5. Broader applicability: Demonstrates that the plug-and-play approach can extend from motion graphics to web design and 3D modeling
Tags
on-demand-uicreative-toolsdirect-manipulationuser-study