Editing Graphical user interface (section)

== GUI and interaction design ==
[[File:Linux kernel INPUT OUPUT evdev gem USB framebuffer.svg|thumb|350px|The GUI is presented (displayed) on the computer screen. It is the result of processed user input and usually the main interface for human-machine interaction. The [[touch user interface|touch UI]]s popular on small mobile devices are an overlay of the visual output to the visual input.]]

Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of a GUI is an important part of [[software application]] programming in the area of [[human–computer interaction]]. Its goal is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored [[computer program|program]], a design discipline named ''[[usability]]''. Methods of user-centered design are used to ensure that the visual language introduced in the design is well-tailored to the tasks.

The visible graphical interface features of an application are sometimes referred to as ''chrome'' or ''GUI''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/C/chrome.html|title=chrome|website=www.catb.org|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ui-chrome.html|title=Browser and GUI Chrome|author=Nielsen, Jakob |date=January 29, 2012|website=Nngroup|access-date=May 20, 2012|archive-date=August 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825022734/http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ui-chrome.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Martinez|first=Wendy L.|date=2011-02-23|title=Graphical user interfaces: Graphical user interfaces|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wics.150|journal=Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Computational Statistics|language=en|volume=3|issue=2|pages=119–133|doi=10.1002/wics.150|s2cid=60467930 }}</ref> Typically, users interact with information by manipulating visual [[Widget (GUI)|widgets]] that allow for interactions appropriate to the kind of data they hold. The widgets of a well-designed interface are selected to support the actions necessary to achieve the goals of users. A [[model–view–controller]] allows flexible structures in which the interface is independent of and indirectly linked to application functions, so the GUI can be customized easily. This allows users to select or design a different ''skin'' or ''[[theme (computing)|theme]]'' at will, and eases the designer's work to change the interface as user needs evolve. Good GUI design relates to users more, and to system architecture less.
Large widgets, such as [[Window (computing)|windows]], usually provide a frame or container for the main presentation content such as a web page, email message, or drawing. Smaller ones usually act as a user-input tool.

A GUI may be designed for the requirements of a [[vertical market]] as application-specific GUIs. Examples include [[automated teller machine]]s (ATM), [[point of sale]] (POS) touchscreens at restaurants,<ref>Bisson, Giselle. [http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv2n6/gettingdowntobusiness.html "The ViewTouch restaurant system".]</ref> [[self-checkout|self-service checkouts]] used in a retail store, airline self-ticket and check-in, information kiosks in a public space, like a train station or a museum, and monitors or control screens in an embedded industrial application which employ a [[real-time operating system]] (RTOS).

[[Mobile phone|Cell phones]] and handheld game systems also employ application specific touchscreen GUIs. Newer automobiles use GUIs in their navigation systems and multimedia centers, or navigation multimedia center combinations.