Types of user interface
Differentiating common user interfaces
User interfaces (UI) are increasingly important to most businesses. Any company that uses a device to produce and/or sell its goods is likely leveraging a UI to control that device. There are many types of user interfaces that provide control of a device for one or more human operators, but they differ in how they're designed, constructed, and used-especially the type of device they're used to control. Below we explore several common UIs and how they differ.
Graphical user interface
A graphical user interface (GUI) is a digital interface that allows a user to perform commands on a connected computer or electronic device using icons and other digitally created visuals. Often, input is provided by an external device, such as a mouse, keyboard, or similar, but GUIs are also used for devices like smartphones and tablets that use touch screens as the primary source of input.
A user interacts with visuals on the screen of their device to provide commands. This is often a mouse click, a finger tap, or a series of character inputs from a keyboard. Since the interface is digitally created on the screen, it's considered a GUI. GUIs are used in both consumer and commercial applications.
GUI, HMI, or HCI?
The lines can be blurry when using the terms GUI, HMI, and HCI, especially since the general public tends to use these terms interchangeably. In addition, a GUI can be a component of a machine control (for example an HMI panels) or HCI (for example a tablet). We recently designed and manufactured an interactive kiosk for a railway system; that seems it would fall under the HCI definition. However, it also accepts payments via a credit card reader and prints physical tickets. That would seem to make it fall under HMI. What do you think?
