web dev//UI//GUI

A graphical user interface represents actions and system state through windows, controls, text, images, and spatial layout. It is one subtype of UI; voice, command lines, APIs, and physical controls are interfaces too.

A graphical user interface represents actions and system state through windows, controls, text, images, and spatial layout. It is one subtype of UI; voice, command lines, APIs, and physical controls are interfaces too.

A GUI is not merely decoration over functionality. Its hierarchy determines what users notice, what they believe is possible, and which mistakes are easy to recover from.

The difficult state is usually transitional: loading, partial failure, stale data, disabled actions, undo, and concurrent edits. Static mock-ups systematically hide the hardest part of interface design.

Good GUIs reduce the amount of internal system state a person must simulate in their head. Bad ones export the application's implementation details to the user.