Sunday, December 12, 2010

The User Interface – You’ve Come a Long Way Baby

The User Interface – You’ve Come a Long Way Baby

My final paper in PSY 769 (Psychology and Website Design) was about semiotics and the Graphical user interface (GUI). While writing this paper I started thinking about how the user interface had changed over the years and at what point did icon-laden interfaces come to light and why. I had to struggle with the DOS era - learning the language of the Command Line interface (CLI), so I have a high regard for the progress of the user interface. With that said, I thought it would be interesting to see how far the user interface has come over the years.

1960s
Early discussions involving the computer and humans was highlighted by D.C. Engelbart (1962):
"This is an initial summary report of a project taking a new and systematic approach to improving the intellectual effectiveness of the individual human being. A detailed conceptual framework explores the nature of the system composed of the individual and the tools, concepts, and methods that match his basic capabilities to his problems. One of the tools that shows the greatest immediate promise is the computer, when it can be harnessed for direct on-line assistance, integrated with new concepts and methods." (p. 1).

In 1968 Engelbart and his team demonstrated the “personal computer” that they designed and developed. It was called the oN-Line System and included a vector graphics display system, typewriter keyboard, a five key chording keyboard and a rudimentary mouse.







1970s
In 1970 Xerox developed the Alto. Its working components fit in a tower that fit under the desk. Its most striking feature was its display, which was the same size and orientation as a printed page, and featured full raster-based, bitmapped graphics at a resolution of 606 by 808. It also had a keyboard and an updated version of Engelbart’s mouse. For the first time, the mouse pointer resembled an arrow.




In 1974 Xerox developed the first “modern” GUI. It was called Smalltalk and was designed to be the interface of the Smalltalk programming language (first object-oriented) and development environment. Note the icons for the mailbox and clock.



Apple designed an early version of the Lisa interface in 1979. Note on the following mockup, the early menu area and how limited it was. The Lisa did provide hotkeys for frequent tasks and also provided an indication of completed tasks by placing a “check mark” next to the task. But from the options provided on the interface, it seemed that the design was limited by what users could actually do on the computer.




1980s
The final version of the Lisa, released in 1983. Note the recognizable icons of folders, trash can, calculator, however the Tool icon is a folder like the folders icon.


The makers of the first spreadsheet application VisiCorp released VisiOn in 1983 with a user interface that contained no icons and reverted the mouse pointer back to the pre-arrow days of Engelbart.



The Tandy Deskmate was released in 1984. It was designed to be primarily used with the keyboard using function keys as shortcuts for menus.



Windows 1.0 was released in 1985. Its interface came with scrollbars, color and tiled windows.



Commodore’s Amiga was released in 1985. Its GUI was called Workbench. The windows could be moved and there was also a fixed menu at the top of the interface that remained hidden unless activated with the right mouse button. Note the amount of icon usage. Some of the icons resemble desk drawers.



Berkeley Software released the Geos in 1986. The rudimentary icons for printer, desktop, color manager, paint and trash are interesting. A step forward compared to some of the previous interfaces. These also indicate that more tasks are available for the user at this point.



Windows 2.0 was released in 1987. Note the overlapping windows. The maximize and minimize icons are arrows and there are scrollbars.



Acorn Computers, a UK-based company released their interface called Arthur. This interface contained the first “dock” concept where icons of programs and tasks could be launched. Also note that the icons for maximize and close are closer to those of today.



In 1988 Steve Jobs released NeXTSTEP, the new GUI and operating system for his NeXT computer. Note the almost exclusive use of icons in the Workspace/File area. Also note the menus for workspace, files and tools are separate. Is that a “reload” or “redo/undo” icon at the bottom of the dock area located on the right side of the screen? By the way, the dock could be moved to any side of the interface. There is an icon with an image of a house but it is labeled “Me” so I’m not sure what that is for.



1990s
Windows 3 was released in 1990 and came with better looking imagery for the icons. Note that accessories and games are available.



Windows 95 was released in 1995. The icon for the control panel now featured images of tools. This computer could be on a network (dial-up networking) as indicated by the icon of connected computers. Trash has been renamed “recycle bin” which is more environmentally friendly.




Mac’s OS X 10.0 shows many familiar icons. Note the heart and house. Also, the familiar maximize, minimize and close icons are present.



2010
With the advent of content management systems, a user friendly GUI was necessary to allow non-programmers/developers to develop websites and their content. The following image is the content editor in Drupal used by media psychology doctoral students in a psychology of web design class. The entire site was conceived, designed and developed by these students who for the most part are not developers. Notice the use of icons in the menu now compared to those in the previous decades. An interesting thing to note is that these icons are second nature to most users now. An image icon, a video icon and text icons are examples of readily recognizable icons by users.



What Caused the Progression from CLI to the Icon Heavy GUI?
Many things have contributed to the progress including the progress of the technology itself. But I offer that it was the human experience that caused the changes. That initially, the interfaces were designed to accommodate a very narrow group of users who had access to computers – scientists and engineers. The developers were the designers. As the computer became more accessible to the public, more uses were required and the complex language used to operate computers needed to be replaced with recognizable signs from the physical, known world of humans.

Nadin (1990) suggests that despite the diversity in structure and purpose, signs are intermediaries between two or more distinct entities brought together through a specialized human activity called design. He goes on to offer a generalized concept of design as interface:
"The product of design is the reality through which user and designer communicate. I should repeat that interface, no matter what kind, specifies the optimal set of signs for the interaction between two entities, be they animate or inanimate. In a limited sense, user interface specifies the action the user is supposed to take in order to access different parts of a system to the design of the conceptual model that is the basis of that particular system." (p. 427).
Interface design is coding and replacing complex language instructions with signs. In the case of the GUI, the design is coding with signs (icon, index, symbol and metaphor) which replace the complex language of DOS as well as the limited interaction offered by a CLI for the user.

Brosnan (1988) wrote that about one-third of the human population was afraid of technology (at the time of his writing) and it was the computer that mostly contributed to it. Part of that fear was the unfamiliarity of the language required to operate computers. To facilitate adoption and diffusion of innovations, the innovation and the user’s needs should be scrutinized.
An interesting perspective that fits this statement is offered by J. H. Carr Jr. (n.d.):
"Successful adoption/diffusion is the assumed result of an innovation's technological superiority. The innovation's developer is viewed as the primary change agent. For instrumentalists the process is evolutionary, and the causes of change are in social conditions and in human aspirations for change and improvement. Thus their focus is on the user (adopter) of a technology and its value as a tool to bring about desired change. Human control over the innovation is a key issue, and it is considered essential to understand the social context in which it will be used and the function that it will serve." (Adoption/Diffusion Theories section, para. 8).
The change from a CLI to the GUI is that human control over the innovation that contributed to reducing the initial resistance and fear of using the computer (Brosnan 1998). Humanity integrated with technology at the very basic level of our understanding of the world around us using a system of signs.

References

Brosnan, M. J. (1998). Technophobia the psychological impact of information technology. New York: Routledge. Retrieved November 11, 2010, from Questia.

Carr Jr., V. H. (n.d.). Technology Adoption and Diffusion. This site has been updated. Retrieved August 04, 2010, from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/innovation/adoptiondiffusion.htm

Engelbart, D. C. (1962). AUGMENTING HUMAN INTELLECT: A Conceptual Framework (Rep.). Menlo Park, CA: Stanford Research Institute. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from Http://www.invisiblerevolution.net/engelbart/full_62_paper_augm_hum_int.html.

Nadin, M. (1990). Design and Semiotics. Semiotics in the Individual Sciences, II, 418-436.

Images:
About Media Psychology. (2010, October 25). Media Psychology Now. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://mediapsychnow.com

Reimer, J. (2005, May 5). A History of the GUI. Ars Technica. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2005/05/gui.ars/

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