Sophisticated Visual Presentation, Pick-and-Click Interaction ,Restricted Set of Interface Options
Characteristicsof the Graphical User Interface Sophisticated Visual Presentation Visual presentation is the visual aspect of theinterface. It is what people see on the screen. The sophistication of agraphical system permits displaying lines, including drawings and icons. Italso permits the displaying of a variety of character fonts, includingdifferent sizes and styles. Themeaningful interface elements visually presented to the user in a graphicalsystem include windows (primary, secondary, or dialog boxes), menus (menu bar,pulldown, pop-up, cascading), icons to represent objects such as programs orfiles, assorted screen-based controls (text boxes, list boxes, combinationboxes, settings, scroll bars, and buttons), and a mouse pointer and cursor. Theobjective is to reflect visually on the screen the real world of the user asrealistically, meaningfully, simply, and clearly as possible. Pick-and-Click Interaction To identify a proposed action is commonly referred to as pick, thesignal to perform an action as click. The primary mechanism for performing this pick-and-click is most oftenthe mouse and its buttons and the secondary mechanism for performing theseselection actions is the keyboard.
Restricted Set of InterfaceOptions
The array of alternatives available to the user is what is presented onthe screen or what may be retrieved through what is presented on the screen,nothing less, and nothing more. This concept fostered the acronym WYSIWYG.
Visualization
Visualization is a cognitive process that allows people to understandinformation that is difficult to perceive, because it is either too voluminousor too abstract.
The goal is not necessarily to reproduce a realistic graphical image,but to produce one that conveys the most relevant information. Effectivevisualizations can facilitate mental insights, increase productivity, andfoster faster and more accurate use of data.
Object Orientation
A graphical system consists of objects and actions. Objects are whatpeople see on the screen as a single unit.
Objects can be composed of subobjects .For example, an object may be adocument and its subobjects may be a paragraph, sentence, word, and letter.
Objects are divided into three meaningful classes as Data objects, whichpresent information, container objects to hold other objects and Deviceobjects, represent physical objects in the real world.
Objects can exist within the context of other objects, and one objectmay affect the way another object appears or behaves. These relationships arecalled collections, constraints, composites, and containers.
Propertiesor Attributes of Objects : Properties are the unique characteristics of an object. Properties help to describean object and can be changed by users.
Actions :Peopletake actions on objects. They manipulate objects in specific ways (commands) or modify theproperties of objects (property or attribute specification).
The following is a typical property/attribute specification sequence: o The user selects an object—for example, severalwords of text.
The userthen selects an action to apply to that object, such as the action BOLD.
Theselected words are made bold and will remain bold until selected and changed again.
Applicationversus Object or Data Orientation An application-oriented approach takes an action: objectapproach, like this:
Action>1. An application is opened (for example, word processing). Object> 2. Afile or other object selected (for example, a memo).
Anobject-oriented object:action approach does this: Object> 1. An object is chosen(a memo).
Action>2. An application is selected (word processing).
Views : Views areways of looking at an object’s information. IBM’s SAA CUA describes four kinds of views: composed, contents, settings, andhelp.
Use of Recognition Memory
Continuous visibility of objects and actionsencourages to eliminate “out of sight, out of mind” problem
Concurrent Performance ofFunctions
Graphic systems may do two or more things at onetime. Multiple programs may run simultaneously.
It may process background tasks (cooperativemultitasking) or preemptive multitasking.
Data may also be transferred between programs. Itmay be temporarily stored on a“clipboard”for later transfer or be automatically swapped between programs.
Study Material, Lecturing Notes, Assignment, Reference, Wiki description explanation, brief detail
User Interface Design : Characteristics of the Graphical User Interface |
