Week-15

Week-15 Human-computer Interface

Graphical User Interface • A graphical user interface (GUI) is a type of user interface which allows people to interact with a computer or other media formats which employs graphical icons, visual indicators or special graphical elements called "widgets" (an interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box), along with text labels or text navigation to represent the information and actions available to a user. • The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.

Evolution of graphic user interfaces • The GUIs familiar to most people today are the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, or the X Window System interfaces. • Their applications originated at the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) in the late 1970s and was copied by Apple who used it in their first Macintosh computers. • Later IBM and Microsoft borrowed many of Apple's ideas to develop the Common User Access specifications (contains standards for the operation of elements such as dialog boxes, menus and keyboard shortcuts), that formed the basis of the user interface found in Microsoft Windows and the Unix.

GUI vs CLI • • • • • •

Quantifiable benefits to users and organizations than CLI. Users make fewer mistakes than using CLI. Users feel less frustrated than using CLI. Users suffer less fatigue than using CLI. Users find things easier to learn for themselves Speed: New user finds easy to learn, how to operate GUI application than CLI application. • Control: Users have much more control of their file system and operating system in a CLI than GUI. For example, users can easily copy a specific type of file from one location to another with a one-line command.

• Multitasking:GUI users have windows that enable a user to easily view, control, and manipulate multiple things at once and is commonly much faster to do when compared to a command line. • Speed: A GUI may be easier to use because of the mouse, however using a mouse and/or keyboard to navigate and control your operating system for many things is going to be much slower then someone who is working in a command line environment. • Low resources: A computer that is only using the command line takes a lot less of the computers resources than GUI (due to icons, fonts, video drivers etc).

• Scripting: A command line interface enables a user to easily script a sequence of commands to perform a task or execute a program. GUI allows to create shortcuts, but not scripts. • Remote Access: Although remote graphical access is becoming popular and is possible. Not all computers and especially not all network equipment will have this ability. Most computers use or support CLI remote access mechanism.

Need for GUI environment in IS • GUI applications are rapid developing nowadays for following various reasons. • To encourage and facilitate novice users. • To attack and appeal novice users coming to computer field. • To feel novice users and non-professional people comfort to use different applications. • To guide them through various application program wizards. • GUI applications develop for bind and disable people.

• Ease of accessing and finding out the desire option through menus, buttons and mouse clicking. • Demonstrate different options and alert them through graphical message boxes and graphical images. • Help to get the work done quickly through menus, buttons and mouse clicking, rather than typing commands. • To run multiple task or facilitate multitasking. • To encourage creativity art work, graphical images and animations for films, advert etc.

Problems with old conventions • The benefits or need of developing GUI application over old conventions (i.e CLI environment) address previously are the problems, which exists in old conventions.