A graphical user interface (GUI), often pronounced gooey,^[1] is a type of user interface In the industrial design field of human-machine interaction, the user interface is where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the machine which aids the operator in making operational decisions that allows users to interact with programs in more ways than typing Human–computer interaction is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers. It is often regarded as the intersection of computer science, behavioral sciences, design and several other fields of study. Interaction between users and computers occurs at the user interface (or simply interface), which includes both software and such as computers A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data//information, and provides output in a useful format; hand-held devices A mobile device is a pocket-sized computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard. In the case of the personal digital assistant (PDA) the input and output are combined into a touch-screen interface. Smartphones and PDAs are popular amongst those who require the assistance and convenience of a such as MP3 MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 or MPEG-2 , more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on digital audio players players, portable media players or gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than text commands. A GUI offers graphical icons On computer displays, a computer icon is a small pictogram. Icons have been used to supplement the normal alphanumerics of the computer. Modern computers now can handle bitmapped graphics on the display terminal, so the icons are widely used to assist users, and visual indicators, as opposed to text-based Usually used in reference to a computer application, especially a computer game, a text-based application is one whose primary input and output are based on text rather than graphics. This does not mean that text-based applications do not have graphics, just that the graphics are secondary to the text interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation to fully represent the information and actions available to a user. The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation Direct manipulation is a human-computer interaction style which involves continuous representation of objects of interest, and rapid, reversible, incremental actions and feedback. The intention is to allow a user to directly manipulate objects presented to them, using actions that correspond at least loosely to the physical world. Having real- of the graphical elements.^[2]

The term GUI is historically restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens with display resolutions capable of describing generic information, in the tradition of the computer science Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems. It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe, and transform information. Computer science research at the Palo Alto Research Center PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology (PARC). The term GUI earlier might have been applicable to other high-resolution types of interfaces In the industrial design field of human-machine interaction, the user interface is where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the machine which aids the operator in making operational decisions that are non-generic, such as videogames A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device. However, with the popular use of the term "video game," it now implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to, or not restricted to flat screens, like volumetric displays.^[3]

History

Precursors

A precursor to GUIs was invented by researchers at the Stanford Research Institute SRI International, founded as Stanford Research Institute, is one of the world's largest contract research institutes. Based in the United States, the trustees of Stanford University established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later incorporated as an independent non-profit organization, led by Douglas Engelbart Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart is an American inventor and early computer pioneer. He is best known for inventing the computer mouse, as a pioneer of human-computer interaction whose team developed hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to GUIs; and as a committed and vocal proponent of the development and use of computers and networks to help. They developed the use of text-based hyperlinks In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to a document that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically[citation needed]. The reference points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks. Such text is usually viewed with a computer. A software system for viewing and manipulated with a mouse In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons. (Although traditionally a button is typically round or square, modern mice have spring-loaded regions of their top for the On-Line System NLS, or the "oN-Line System", was a revolutionary computer collaboration system designed by Douglas Engelbart and the researchers at the Augmentation Research Center at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) during the 1960s. The NLS system was the first to employ the practical use of hypertext links, the mouse (co-invented by Engelbart. The concept of hyperlinks was further refined and extended to graphics by researchers at Xerox PARC PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems, who went beyond text-based hyperlinks and used a GUI as the primary interface for the Xerox Alto The Xerox Alto was an early personal computer developed at Xerox PARC in 1973. It was the first computer to use the desktop metaphor and graphical user interface computer A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data//information, and provides output in a useful format. Most modern general-purpose GUIs are derived from this system. As a result, some people call this class of interface a PARC User Interface (PUI) (note that PUI is also an acronym for perceptual user interface).

Ivan Sutherland Ivan Edward Sutherland is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer. He received the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in 1988 for the invention of Sketchpad, an early predecessor to the sort of graphical user interface that has become ubiquitous in personal computers developed a pointer-based system called the Sketchpad Sketchpad was a revolutionary computer program written by Ivan Sutherland in 1963 in the course of his PhD thesis, for which he received the Turing Award in 1988. It helped change the way people interact with computers. Sketchpad is considered to be the ancestor of modern computer-aided drafting (CAD) programs as well as a major breakthrough in in 1963. It used a light-pen to guide the creation and manipulation of objects in engineering drawings.

PARC user interface

The PARC user interface consisted of graphical elements such as windows In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape. It displays the output of and may allow input to one or more processes, menus In computing and telecommunications, a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer or communications system. A menu is used in contrast to a command-line interface, where instructions to the computer are given in the form of commands, radio buttons A radio button or option button is a type of graphical user interface element that allows the user to choose only one of a predefined set of options. They were named after the physical buttons used on older car radios to select preset stations - when one of the buttons was pressed, other buttons would pop out, leaving the pressed button the only, check boxes In computing, a check box is a graphical user interface element (widget) that permits the user to make multiple selections from a number of options. Normally, check boxes are shown on the screen as a square box that can contain white space (for false) or a tick mark or X (for true), as pictured. A caption describing the meaning of the check box is and icons On computer displays, a computer icon is a small pictogram. Icons have been used to supplement the normal alphanumerics of the computer. Modern computers now can handle bitmapped graphics on the display terminal, so the icons are widely used to assist users. The PARC user interface employs a pointing device A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial (ie, continuous and multi-dimensional) data to a computer. CAD systems and graphical user interfaces (GUI) allow the user to control and provide data to the computer using physical gestures — point, click, and drag — for example, by moving a hand-held mouse across the in addition to a keyboard. These aspects can be emphasized by using the alternative acronym WIMP In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "window, icon, menu, pointing device", denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980. Although its usage has fallen out of favor, it is often used as an approximate synonym of "GUI". WIMP interaction was developed at Xerox PARC, which stands for windows, icons, menus and pointing device A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial (ie, continuous and multi-dimensional) data to a computer. CAD systems and graphical user interfaces (GUI) allow the user to control and provide data to the computer using physical gestures — point, click, and drag — for example, by moving a hand-held mouse across the.

Evolution

Following PARC the first GUI-centric computer operating model was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System The Star workstation, officially known as the Xerox 8010 Information System, was introduced by Xerox Corporation in 1981. It was the first commercial system to incorporate various technologies that today have become commonplace in personal computers, including a bitmapped display, a window-based graphical user interface, icons, folders, mouse, in 1981,^[4] followed by the Apple Lisa The Apple Lisa was a personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s (which presented the concept of menu bar as well as window controls) in 1983, the Apple Macintosh 128K The Macintosh is the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contains a 9-inch monitor and comes with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case allows the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling price of US$2,495, though it had a price of around $2,000 when originally announced. The Macintosh was in 1984, and the Atari ST The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals and Commodore Amiga The Amiga is a family of personal computers sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its impressive graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities. The Amiga provided a significant upgrade from 8-bit computers, such as the Commodore 64, and the platform quickly in 1985.

The GUIs familiar to most people today are Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, Mac OS X has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems. It is the successor to Mac OS 9, the final release of the "classic" Mac OS, which had been Apple's primary operating system since 198, Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal, and X Window System The X Window System is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for networked computers. It provides windowing on computer displays and manages keyboard and pointing device control functions. In its standard distribution, it is a complete, albeit simple, display and human interface solution, interfaces. Apple Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Apple software includes the Mac OS X operating system; the iTunes media browser; the iLife suite, IBM International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) is a multinational computer, technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM is the world's fourth largest technology company and the second most valuable global brand (after Coca-Cola). IBM is one of the few information technology companies with a and Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is a public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions. Established on April 4, 1975 to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8 used many of Xerox's ideas to develop products, and IBM's Common User Access Common User Access is a standard for user interfaces to operating systems and computer programs. It was developed by IBM and first published in 1987 as part of their Systems Application Architecture. Used originally in the OS/MVS, VM/CMS, OS/400, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems, parts of the CUA standard are now implemented in specifications formed the basis of the user interface found in Microsoft Windows, IBM OS/2 OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal computers. OS/2 is no longer Presentation Manager Presentation Manager is the graphical user interface (GUI) that IBM and Microsoft introduced in version 1.1 of their operating system OS/2 in 1988, and the Unix Unix is a computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna. Today's Unix systems are split into various branches, developed over time by AT&T as well as various commercial vendors and non-profit Motif In computing, Motif refers to both a graphical user interface specification and the widget toolkit for building applications that follow that specification under the X Window System on Unix and other POSIX-compliant systems. It emerged in the 1980s as Unix workstations were on the rise, as a competitor to the OPEN LOOK GUI. It is now the basic toolkit and window manager A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment. They work in conjunction with the underlying graphical system which provides required functionality such as support for graphics. These ideas evolved to create the interface found in current versions of Microsoft Windows, as well as in Mac OS X and various desktop environments In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface (GUI) that is based on the desktop metaphor which can be seen on most modern personal computers today. These graphical interfaces are designed to assist the user in easily accessing and configuring (or modifying) the most important (or frequently for Unix-like A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification operating systems, such as Linux. Thus most current GUIs have largely common idioms.

Components

A GUI uses a combination of technologies and devices to provide a platform the user can interact with, for the tasks of gathering and producing information.

A series of elements conforming a visual language have evolved to represent information stored in computers. This makes it easier for people with few computer skills to work with and use computer software. The most common combination of such elements in GUIs is the WIMP ("window, icon, menu, pointing device") paradigm, especially in personal computers.

The WIMP style of interaction uses a physical input device to control the position of a cursor and presents information organized in windows and represented with icons. Available commands are compiled together in menus, and actions are performed making gestures with the pointing device. A window manager facilitates the interactions between windows, applications, and the windowing system. The windowing system handles hardware devices such as pointing devices and graphics hardware, as well as the positioning of the cursor.

In personal computers all these elements are modeled through a desktop metaphor, to produce a simulation called a desktop environment in which the display represents a desktop, upon which documents and folders of documents can be placed. Window managers and other software combine to simulate the desktop environment with varying degrees of realism.

Post-WIMP interfaces

Smaller mobile devices such as PDAs and smartphones typically use the WIMP elements with different unifying metaphors, due to constraints in space and available input devices. Applications for which WIMP is not well suited may use newer interaction techniques, collectively named as post-WIMP user interfaces.^[5]

Some touch-screen-based operating systems such as Apple's iOS and Android OS currently use post-WIMP styles of interaction. The iPhone's use of more than one finger in contact with the screen allows actions such as pinching and rotating, which are not supported by a single pointer and mouse.^[6]

A class of GUIs sometimes referred to as post-WIMP include 3D compositing window manager such as Compiz, Desktop Window Manager, and LG3D.^{[citation needed]} Some post-WIMP interfaces may be better suited for applications which model immersive 3D environments, such as Google Earth.^[7]

User interface and interaction design

Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of GUI is an important part of software application programming. Its goal is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored program, a design discipline known as usability. Techniques of user-centered design are used to ensure that the visual language introduced in the design is well tailored to the tasks it must perform.

Typically, the user interacts with information by manipulating visual widgets that allow for interactions appropriate to the kind of data they hold. The widgets of a well-designed interface are selected to support the actions necessary to achieve the goals of the user. A Model-view-controller allows for a flexible structure in which the interface is independent from and indirectly linked to application functionality, so the GUI can be easily customized. This allows the user to select or design a different skin at will, and eases the designer's work to change the interface as the user needs evolve. Nevertheless, good user interface design relates to the user, not the system architecture.

The visible graphical interface features of an application are sometimes referred to as "chrome".^[8] Larger widgets, such as windows, usually provide a frame or container for the main presentation content such as a web page, email message or drawing. Smaller ones usually act as a user-input tool.

A GUI may be designed for the rigorous requirements of a vertical market. This is known as an "application specific graphical user interface." Among early application specific GUIs was Gene Mosher's 1986 Point of Sale touchscreen GUI. Other examples of an application specific GUIs are:

• Self-service checkouts used in a retail store
• Automated teller machines (ATM)
• Airline self-ticketing and check-in
• Information kiosks in a public space, like a train station or a museum
• Monitors or control screens in an embedded industrial application which employ a real time operating system (RTOS).

The latest cell phones and handheld game systems also employ application specific touchscreen GUIs. Newer automobiles use GUIs in their navigation systems and touch screen multimedia centers.

Comparison to other interfaces

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