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.