History of Graphical User Interface (GUI)
History of Graphical User Interfaces (GUI)
GUIs or Graphical user interfaces are any computer programs that enable a human to communicate with a device using an interface. It can make use of symbols, visual metaphors, pointer devices and keyboards. It was an evolutionary development over the text-based command prompts such as DOS. DOS systems allowed interaction only through textual content. Visionaries saw the utility of taking the concept of data processors and mechanical calculators at the time such as Colossus and EPICAC. It led to follow-through of devices which are portable, user-friendly, and commercial enough to reach every household.
In December 1968, Douglas Engelbart gave what we know today as the ‘mother of all demos’. The demo was the first where they made use of something called the ‘mouse’. Next was the concept of WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get). It implies the use of embedded hyperlinks, embedded texts and graphics. This inspired Alan Key to build something what we can call today as a tablet computer. the name of this tablet was Dynabook, but it never materialized due to logistical reasons. Alan Key then moved to Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center. The iteration at Xerox inspired by Alan Key’s Dynabook was quite versatile. It had a stand-alone, single user system with bitmap, email, word processing and vector graphics editor. It also had a WIMP interface which is windows, icons, menus and pointers which is still used today. Xerox Alto was the name of this unit. The later evolution came in the form of a device called the Xerox Star. It was a good iteration but had sluggish software and expensive tag.
Apple’s Macintosh GUI
The major step in evolution of GUI’s came with Apple’s Lisa. The principles used in building Lisa’s GUI are in use even today with Apple’s Macintosh. It is one of the primary reason for the wide-scale acceptance of Apple devices. Apple’s Macintosh which was soon released after Lisa was half the size and provided for a much clearer and crisp version over Lisa. Other worthy mentions of the time which though not as important but played a role in evolution of GUIs include:
- GEM – 1985 built with Atari bringing 16/32-bit series
- VisiOn – 1983
- Amiga Workbench – 1985 which brought multitasking
- GEOS – 1986 with scalable vector fonts
The next evolution came from collaboration between Microsoft and IBM. This is when Windows came out in 1992. It was the first computer with 32 bits. The easy interface of Windows 3.1 broke the market, and it was soon followed by many updates. These include Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows XP and so on which most people are familiar with.
Future of Graphical User Interfaces
The study of skeuomorphism introduced in the techniques for constructing UIs has been helpful. It makes the screens less literal and clutter-some. It has helped in evolution of cleaner minimalistic UIs. Google’s Material Design has also brought depth to the UI interface. After the age of software evolution, the development in GUI tapered. The next evolution has come in the form of touch. The introduction of gestures in UI brings a new challenge of making interfaces intuitive. It led to introduction of some design changes that are still part of evolving devices. GUIs used to be a proprietary of desktops computers. But with a large-scale rise in the handheld devices, it has become imperative to take those devices in purview while designing a UI. Newer and newer devices are being introduced in the markets. These include smart devices such as thermostats, home management systems, digital cameras, etc. Each of these have their own interface. As time passes, the UI and UX is going to try and bridge the gap between human intuitiveness and instructional elaboration in their usage. [4]
