WIKIBOOKS
DISPONIBILI
?????????

ART
- Great Painters
BUSINESS&LAW
- Accounting
- Fundamentals of Law
- Marketing
- Shorthand
CARS
- Concept Cars
GAMES&SPORT
- Videogames
- The World of Sports

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
- Blogs
- Free Software
- Google
- My Computer

- PHP Language and Applications
- Wikipedia
- Windows Vista

EDUCATION
- Education
LITERATURE
- Masterpieces of English Literature
LINGUISTICS
- American English

- English Dictionaries
- The English Language

MEDICINE
- Medical Emergencies
- The Theory of Memory
MUSIC&DANCE
- The Beatles
- Dances
- Microphones
- Musical Notation
- Music Instruments
SCIENCE
- Batteries
- Nanotechnology
LIFESTYLE
- Cosmetics
- Diets
- Vegetarianism and Veganism
TRADITIONS
- Christmas Traditions
NATURE
- Animals

- Fruits And Vegetables



ARTICLES IN THE BOOK

  1. Adobe Reader
  2. Adware
  3. Altavista
  4. AOL
  5. Apple Macintosh
  6. Application software
  7. Arrow key
  8. Artificial Intelligence
  9. ASCII
  10. Assembly language
  11. Automatic translation
  12. Avatar
  13. Babylon
  14. Bandwidth
  15. Bit
  16. BitTorrent
  17. Black hat
  18. Blog
  19. Bluetooth
  20. Bulletin board system
  21. Byte
  22. Cache memory
  23. Celeron
  24. Central processing unit
  25. Chat room
  26. Client
  27. Command line interface
  28. Compiler
  29. Computer
  30. Computer bus
  31. Computer card
  32. Computer display
  33. Computer file
  34. Computer games
  35. Computer graphics
  36. Computer hardware
  37. Computer keyboard
  38. Computer networking
  39. Computer printer
  40. Computer program
  41. Computer programmer
  42. Computer science
  43. Computer security
  44. Computer software
  45. Computer storage
  46. Computer system
  47. Computer terminal
  48. Computer virus
  49. Computing
  50. Conference call
  51. Context menu
  52. Creative commons
  53. Creative Commons License
  54. Creative Technology
  55. Cursor
  56. Data
  57. Database
  58. Data storage device
  59. Debuggers
  60. Demo
  61. Desktop computer
  62. Digital divide
  63. Discussion groups
  64. DNS server
  65. Domain name
  66. DOS
  67. Download
  68. Download manager
  69. DVD-ROM
  70. DVD-RW
  71. E-mail
  72. E-mail spam
  73. File Transfer Protocol
  74. Firewall
  75. Firmware
  76. Flash memory
  77. Floppy disk drive
  78. GNU
  79. GNU General Public License
  80. GNU Project
  81. Google
  82. Google AdWords
  83. Google bomb
  84. Graphics
  85. Graphics card
  86. Hacker
  87. Hacker culture
  88. Hard disk
  89. High-level programming language
  90. Home computer
  91. HTML
  92. Hyperlink
  93. IBM
  94. Image processing
  95. Image scanner
  96. Instant messaging
  97. Instruction
  98. Intel
  99. Intel Core 2
  100. Interface
  101. Internet
  102. Internet bot
  103. Internet Explorer
  104. Internet protocols
  105. Internet service provider
  106. Interoperability
  107. IP addresses
  108. IPod
  109. Joystick
  110. JPEG
  111. Keyword
  112. Laptop computer
  113. Linux
  114. Linux kernel
  115. Liquid crystal display
  116. List of file formats
  117. List of Google products
  118. Local area network
  119. Logitech
  120. Machine language
  121. Mac OS X
  122. Macromedia Flash
  123. Mainframe computer
  124. Malware
  125. Media center
  126. Media player
  127. Megabyte
  128. Microsoft
  129. Microsoft Windows
  130. Microsoft Word
  131. Mirror site
  132. Modem
  133. Motherboard
  134. Mouse
  135. Mouse pad
  136. Mozilla Firefox
  137. Mp3
  138. MPEG
  139. MPEG-4
  140. Multimedia
  141. Musical Instrument Digital Interface
  142. Netscape
  143. Network card
  144. News ticker
  145. Office suite
  146. Online auction
  147. Online chat
  148. Open Directory Project
  149. Open source
  150. Open source software
  151. Opera
  152. Operating system
  153. Optical character recognition
  154. Optical disc
  155. output
  156. PageRank
  157. Password
  158. Pay-per-click
  159. PC speaker
  160. Peer-to-peer
  161. Pentium
  162. Peripheral
  163. Personal computer
  164. Personal digital assistant
  165. Phishing
  166. Pirated software
  167. Podcasting
  168. Pointing device
  169. POP3
  170. Programming language
  171. QuickTime
  172. Random access memory
  173. Routers
  174. Safari
  175. Scalability
  176. Scrollbar
  177. Scrolling
  178. Scroll wheel
  179. Search engine
  180. Security cracking
  181. Server
  182. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
  183. Skype
  184. Social software
  185. Software bug
  186. Software cracker
  187. Software library
  188. Software utility
  189. Solaris Operating Environment
  190. Sound Blaster
  191. Soundcard
  192. Spam
  193. Spamdexing
  194. Spam in blogs
  195. Speech recognition
  196. Spoofing attack
  197. Spreadsheet
  198. Spyware
  199. Streaming media
  200. Supercomputer
  201. Tablet computer
  202. Telecommunications
  203. Text messaging
  204. Trackball
  205. Trojan horse
  206. TV card
  207. Unicode
  208. Uniform Resource Identifier
  209. Unix
  210. URL redirection
  211. USB flash drive
  212. USB port
  213. User interface
  214. Vlog
  215. Voice over IP
  216. Warez
  217. Wearable computer
  218. Web application
  219. Web banner
  220. Web browser
  221. Web crawler
  222. Web directories
  223. Web indexing
  224. Webmail
  225. Web page
  226. Website
  227. Wiki
  228. Wikipedia
  229. WIMP
  230. Windows CE
  231. Windows key
  232. Windows Media Player
  233. Windows Vista
  234. Word processor
  235. World Wide Web
  236. Worm
  237. XML
  238. X Window System
  239. Yahoo
  240. Zombie computer
 



MY COMPUTER
This article is from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License 

User interface

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The user interface is the aggregate of means by which people (the users) interact with a particular machine, device, computer program or other complex tool (the system). The user interface provides means of:

  • Input, allowing the users to manipulate the system
  • Output, allowing the system to produce the effects of the users' manipulation.

Introduction

To work with a system, the users need to be able to control the system and assess the state of the system. For example, when driving an automobile, the driver uses the steering wheel to control the direction of the vehicle, and the accelerator pedal, brake pedal and gearstick to control the speed of the vehicle. The driver perceives the position of the vehicle by looking through the windscreen and exact speed of the vehicle by reading the speedometer. The user interface of the automobile is on the whole composed of the instruments the driver can use to accomplish the tasks of driving and maintaining the automobile.

The term user interface is often used in the context of computer systems and electronic devices. The user interface of a mechanical system, a vehicle or an industrial installation is sometimes referred to as the human-machine interface (HMI).

HMI is a corruption of the original term MMI (Man-Machine Interface) which has been in use for decades but was changed to conform to certain views of "political-correctness". In practice, the abbreviation "MMI" is still frequently used although some who still use the term may claim that MMI stands for something different now (e.g. "Management and Manufacturing Information" or "Mammal-Machine Interface"), in order to avoid controversy.

Whether it is called MMI or HMI, the terms refer to the 'layer' that separates a human that is operating a machine from the machine itself.

In science fiction, HMI or MMI is sometimes used to refer to what is better described as direct neural interface. However, this latter usage is seeing increasing application in the use of (medical) prostheses (e.g., cochlear implants).

The system may expose several user interfaces to serve different kinds of users. For example, a computerized library database might provide two user interfaces, one for library patrons (limited set of functions, optimized for ease of use) and the other for library personnel (wide set of functions, optimized for efficiency).

In some circumstances the computer might observe the user, and react according to their actions without specific commands. A means of tracking parts of the body is required, and sensors noting the position of the head, direction of gaze and so on have been used experimentally. This is particularly relevant to immersive interfaces.

Usability

The design of a user interface affects the amount of effort the user must expend to provide input for the system and to interpret the output of the system, and how much effort it takes to learn how to do this. Usability is the degree to which the design of a particular user interface takes into account the human psychology and physiology of the users, and makes the process of using the system effective, efficient and satisfying.

Usability is mainly a characteristic of the user interface, but is also associated with the functionalities of the product. It describes how well a product can be used for its intended purpose by its target users with efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction, also taking into account the requirements from its context of use. These functionalities or features are not always parts of the user interface (e.g. are you able to reverse with your car or not), yet they are key elements in the usability of a product.

See mental model, human action cycle, usability testing

User interfaces in computing

In computer science and human-computer interaction, the user interface (of a computer program) refers to the graphical, textual and auditory information the program presents to the user, and the control sequences (such as keystrokes with the computer keyboard, movements of the computer mouse, and selections with the touchscreen) the user employs to control the program.

Types

Currently (as of 2005) the following types of user interface are the most common:

  • Graphical user interfaces (GUI) accept input via devices such as computer keyboard and mouse and provide articulated graphical output on the computer monitor. There are at least two different principles widely used in GUI design: object-oriented interfaces (OOUI) and application oriented interfaces.
  • Web-based user interfaces accept input and provide output by generating web pages which are transported via the Internet and viewed by the user using a web browser program. Newer implementations utilize Java, AJAX, Microsoft .NET, or similar technologies to provide realtime control in a separate program, eliminating the need to refresh a traditional HTML based web browser.

User interfaces that are common in various fields outside desktop computing:

  • Command-line interfaces, where the user provides the input by typing a command string with the computer keyboard and the system provides output by printing text on the computer monitor. Used for system administration tasks etc.
  • Tactile interfaces supplement or replace other forms of output with haptic feedback methods. Used in computerized simulators etc.
  • Touch interfaces are graphical user interfaces using a touchscreen display as a combined input and output device. Used in many types of industrial processes and machines, self-service machines etc.

Other types of user interfaces:

  • Attentive user interfaces manage the user attention deciding when to interrupt the user, the kind of warnings, and the level of detail of the messages presented to the user.
  • Batch interfaces are non-interactive user interfaces, where the user specifies all the details of the batch job in advance to batch processing, and receives the output when all the processing is done. The computer does not prompt for further input after the processing has started.
  • Crossing-based interfaces are graphical user interfaces in which the primary task consists in crossing boundaries instead of pointing.
  • Gesture interfaces are graphical user interfaces which accept input in a form of hand gestures, or mouse gestures sketched with a computer mouse or a stylus.
  • Multi-screen interfaces, employ mulitple displays to provide a more flexible interaction. This is often employed in computer game interaction in both the commercial arcades and more recently the handheld markets.
  • Noncommand user interfaces, which observe the user to infer his / her needs and intentions, without requiring that he / she formulate explicit commands.
  • Reflexive user interfaces where the users control and redefine the entire system via the user interface alone, for instance to change its command verbs. Typically this is only possible with very rich graphic user interfaces.
  • Tangible user interfaces, which place a greater emphasis on touch and physical environment or its element.
  • Telephone user interfaces, which accept input and provide output by generating telephone voice which are transported via the telephone network and heard by the user using a telephone. The user input is made by pressing telephone keys.
  • Text user interfaces are user interfaces which output text, but accept other form of input in addition to or in place of typed command strings.
  • Zero-Input interfaces grab inputs from a set of sensors instead of querying the user with input dialogs.
  • Zooming user interfaces are graphical user interfaces in which information objects are represented at different levels of scale and detail, and where the user can change the scale of the viewed area in order to show more detail.

See also:

  • Archy, a keyboard-driven user interface by Jef Raskin, arguably more efficient than mouse-driven user interfaces for document editing and programming.

History

The history of user interfaces can be divided into the following phases according to the dominant type of user interface:

  • Batch interface, 1945-1968
  • Command-line user interface, 1969-1983
  • Graphical user interface, 1984 to present — see history of the GUI for a detailed look

For further information, see the following external link: Chapter 2. History: A Brief History of User Interfaces

Modalities and modes

A modality is a path of communication employed by the user interface to carry input and output. Examples of modalities:

  • Input — computer keyboard allows the user to enter typed text, digitizing tablet allows the user to create free-form drawing
  • Output — computer monitor allows the system to display text and graphics (vision modality), loudspeaker allows the system to produce sound (auditory modality)

The user interface may employ several redundant input modalities and output modalities, allowing the user to choose which ones to use for interaction.

A mode is a distinct method of operation within a computer program, in which the same input can produce different perceived results depending of the state of the computer program. Heavy use of modes often reduces the usability of a user interface, as the user must expend effort to remember current mode states, and switch between mode states as necessary.

See also

  • Accessibility and computer accessibility — user interface's suitability for people with special needs
  • Brain-computer interface
  • Ergonomics and human factors — the study of designing objects to be better adapted to the shape of the human body
  • Framebuffer
  • Human-computer interaction links
  • Information visualization — the use of sensory representations of abstract data to reinforce cognition
  • Interface (computer science)
  • Knowledge visualization — the use of visual representations to transfer knowledge
  • List of user interface literature
  • Ncurses, a semigraphical user interface.
  • Usability links
  • User experience
  • Virtual artifact
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface"