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55-399: Dialog boxes are classified as " modal " or "modeless", depending on whether they block interaction with the software that initiated the dialog. The type of dialog box displayed is dependent upon the desired user interaction . The simplest type of dialog box is the alert , which displays a message and may require an acknowledgment that the message has been read, usually by clicking "OK", or

110-412: A document modal dialog has recently been used, most notably in macOS and Opera Browser . These dialogs block only that window until the user dismisses the dialog, permitting work in other windows to continue, even within the same application. In macOS , prior to macOS Big Sur , dialogs appear to emanate from a slot in their parent window, and are shown with a reinforcing animation. This helps to let

165-411: A human–machine interface ( HMI ) that typically interfaces machines with physical input hardware (such as keyboards, mice, or game pads) and output hardware (such as computer monitors , speakers, and printers ). A device that implements an HMI is called a human interface device (HID). User interfaces that dispense with the physical movement of body parts as an intermediary step between the brain and

220-632: A mode that disables user interaction with the main window but keeps it visible, with the modal window as a child window in front of it. Users must interact with the modal window before they can return to the parent window. This avoids interrupting the workflow on the main window. Modal windows are sometimes called heavy windows or modal dialogs because they often display a dialog box . User interfaces typically use modal windows to command user awareness and to display emergency states, though interaction designers argue they are ineffective for that use. Modal windows are prone to mode errors . On

275-423: A decision as to whether or not an action should proceed, by clicking "OK" or "Cancel". Alerts are also used to display a "termination notice"—sometimes requesting confirmation that the notice has been read—in the event of either an intentional closing or unintentional closing (" crash ") of an application or the operating system . ( E.g. , " Gedit has encountered an error and must close.") Although this

330-420: A history going back to 1902 and had already become well-established in newsrooms and elsewhere by 1920. In reusing them, economy was certainly a consideration, but psychology and the rule of least surprise mattered as well; teleprinters provided a point of interface with the system that was familiar to many engineers and users. The widespread adoption of video-display terminals (VDTs) in the mid-1970s ushered in

385-408: A job to a batch machine involved first preparing a deck of punched cards that described a program and its dataset. The program cards were not punched on the computer itself but on keypunches , specialized, typewriter-like machines that were notoriously bulky, unforgiving, and prone to mechanical failure. The software interface was similarly unforgiving, with very strict syntaxes designed to be parsed by

440-432: A modal alert dialog that appears unexpectedly or which is dismissed automatically (because the user has developed a habit ) will not protect from the dangerous action. A modal dialog interrupts the main workflow . This effect has either been sought by the developer because it focuses on the completion of the task at hand or rejected because it prevents the user from changing to a different task when needed. The concept of

495-413: A mouse click intended for a different application that has suddenly been covered. Such interception, called focus stealing (or stealing focus) can compromise privacy and security practices, as well as capture inappropriate, out-of-context input that can cause undefined, arbitrary results in the program that generated the modal window. Depending on the specifics of implementation, modal windows can violate

550-438: A relatively heavy mnemonic load on the user, requiring a serious investment of effort and learning time to master. The earliest command-line systems combined teleprinters with computers, adapting a mature technology that had proven effective for mediating the transfer of information over wires between human beings. Teleprinters had originally been invented as devices for automatic telegraph transmission and reception; they had

605-573: A result on magnetic tape or generate some data cards to be used in a later computation. The turnaround time for a single job often spanned entire days. If one was very lucky, it might be hours; there was no real-time response. But there were worse fates than the card queue; some computers required an even more tedious and error-prone process of toggling in programs in binary code using console switches. The very earliest machines had to be partly rewired to incorporate program logic into themselves, using devices known as plugboards . Early batch systems gave

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660-447: Is a graphical user interface (GUI), which is composed of a tactile UI and a visual UI capable of displaying graphics . When sound is added to a GUI, it becomes a multimedia user interface (MUI). There are three broad categories of CUI: standard , virtual and augmented . Standard CUI use standard human interface devices like keyboards, mice, and computer monitors. When the CUI blocks out

715-501: Is a frequent interaction pattern for modal dialogs, it is also criticized by usability experts as being ineffective for its intended use, which is to protect against errors caused by destructive actions, and for which better alternatives exist. An example of a dialog box is the about box found in many software programs, which usually displays the name of the program, its version number, and may also include copyright information. Non-modal or modeless dialog boxes are used when

770-418: Is a general principle in the design of all kinds of interfaces. It is based on the idea that human beings can only pay full attention to one thing at one time, leading to the conclusion that novelty should be minimized. If an interface is used persistently, the user will unavoidably develop habits for using the interface. The designer's role can thus be characterized as ensuring the user forms good habits. If

825-400: Is better described as a direct neural interface . However, this latter usage is seeing increasing application in the real-life use of (medical) prostheses —the artificial extension that replaces a missing body part (e.g., cochlear implants ). In some circumstances, computers might observe the user and react according to their actions without specific commands. A means of tracking parts of

880-417: Is completed. A modal window blocks all other workflows in the top-level program until the modal window is closed, as opposed to modeless dialogs that allow users to operate with other windows. Modal windows are intended to grab the user's full attention. Users may not recognize that a modal window requires their attention, leading to confusion about the main window being non-responsive, or causing loss of

935-432: Is dismissed by habituation doesn't protect from the dangerous action. A modeless infobar is increasingly seen as preferable to a dialog box because it does not interrupt the user's activities, but rather allows the user to read extra information in their own time. One proposed approach is to design every input element as a self-contained, task-oriented interaction, guided by its own specific requirements rather than by

990-449: Is the number of senses interfaced with. For example, a Smell-O-Vision is a 3-sense (3S) Standard CUI with visual display, sound and smells; when virtual reality interfaces interface with smells and touch it is said to be a 4-sense (4S) virtual reality interface; and when augmented reality interfaces interface with smells and touch it is said to be a 4-sense (4S) augmented reality interface. The user interface or human–machine interface

1045-492: Is the part of the machine that handles the human–machine interaction. Membrane switches, rubber keypads and touchscreens are examples of the physical part of the Human Machine Interface which we can see and touch. In complex systems, the human–machine interface is typically computerized. The term human–computer interface refers to this kind of system. In the context of computing, the term typically extends as well to

1100-553: Is the shutdown screen of current Windows versions. Modal dialog boxes temporarily halt the program: the user cannot continue without closing the dialog; the program may require some additional information before it can continue, or may simply wish to confirm that the user wants to proceed with a potentially dangerous course of action ( confirmation dialog box ). Usability practitioners generally regard modal dialogs as bad design-solutions, since they are prone to produce mode errors . Dangerous actions should be undoable wherever possible;

1155-482: The principle of least surprise . Modal dialogs are part of a task flow, and recommendations are given to place them where the focus is in that flow. For example, the window could be placed near the graphical control element that triggers its activation. Using a semi-transparent dark background can obscure information in the main window, so it is best used only when that information would be distracting. A semi-transparent background can be made less intrusive by having

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1210-622: The Web, they often show images in detail, such as those implemented by Lightbox library, or are used for hover ads . The opposite of modal is modeless . Modeless windows don't block the main window, so the user can switch their focus between them, treating them as palette windows . Frequent uses of modal windows include: Many features that would typically be represented by modal windows are implemented as modal transient panels called "Sheets" on Mac OS X. Transient windows behave similarly to modal windows – they are always on top of

1265-417: The application's main window.) System modal dialog boxes prevent interaction with any other window onscreen and prevent users from switching to another application or performing any other action until the issue presented in the dialog box is addressed. System modal dialogs were more commonly used in the past on single tasking systems where only one application could be running at any time. One current example

1320-573: The application. Modal windows are common in GUI toolkits for guiding user workflow. Alan Cooper contends that the importance of requiring the user to attend to important issues justifies restricting the user's freedom and that the alternative would increase user frustration. Unexpected alert dialogs are particular culprits of mode errors with potentially severe consequences. Usability practitioners prescribe that dangerous actions should be undoable wherever possible; an alert box that appears unexpectedly or

1375-464: 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 . The history of user interfaces can be divided into the following phases according to the dominant type of user interface: In the batch era, computing power was extremely scarce and expensive. User interfaces were rudimentary. Users had to accommodate computers rather than

1430-402: The computer pioneers of the 1940s. Just as importantly, the existence of an accessible screen—a two-dimensional display of text that could be rapidly and reversibly modified—made it economical for software designers to deploy interfaces that could be described as visual rather than textual. The pioneering applications of this kind were computer games and text editors; close descendants of some of

1485-423: The currently running job the entire computer; program decks and tapes had to include what we would now think of as operating system code to talk to I/O devices and do whatever other housekeeping was needed. Midway through the batch period, after 1957, various groups began to experiment with so-called " load-and-go " systems. These used a monitor program which was always resident on the computer. Programs could call

1540-512: The designer is experienced with other interfaces, they will similarly develop habits, and often make unconscious assumptions regarding how the user will interact with the interface. Peter Morville of Google designed the User Experience Honeycomb framework in 2004 when leading operations in user interface design. The framework was created to guide user interface design. It would act as a guideline for many web development students for

1595-447: The dialog over the rest of the visuals. The Lightbox technique is now a common tool in website design. Modal windows are commonly implemented in ways that block the possibility to move, minimize, iconify, or push that window back, and they grab input focus, which often prevents use of a system's cut, copy, and paste facilities. This can interfere with the use of their parent applications by blocking access to other windows and data within

1650-417: The display from what the user was working on to an entirely different section. Modal windows tend to create an abrupt diversion of text input, especially typed input intended for other programs, into themselves. Further, modals usually interpret actuation of the enter key (or in rare cases the presence of a newline in pasted input) as a cue to accept the input and process it—or, in rare cases, may intercept

1705-589: The earliest specimens, such as rogue (6), and vi (1), are still a live part of Unix tradition. In 1985, with the beginning of Microsoft Windows and other graphical user interfaces , IBM created what is called the Systems Application Architecture (SAA) standard which include the Common User Access (CUA) derivative. CUA successfully created what we know and use today in Windows, and most of

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1760-401: The expression graphical user interface for human–machine interface on computers, as nearly all of them are now using graphics. Multimodal interfaces allow users to interact using more than one modality of user input. There is a difference between a user interface and an operator interface or a human–machine interface (HMI). In science fiction , HMI is sometimes used to refer to what

1815-416: The global state of the entire application. For example, required elements might be preceded with an asterisk , elements with invalid data might acquire a red border, and so on. With this approach, users actually benefit from seeing many input elements at once — they can enter data in a way that makes sense to them, instead of having all the other unrelated elements blocked until a predefined data-entry sequence

1870-453: The goal of user interface design is to produce a user interface that makes it easy, efficient, and enjoyable (user-friendly) to operate a machine in the way which produces the desired result (i.e. maximum usability ). This generally means that the operator needs to provide minimal input to achieve the desired output, and also that the machine minimizes undesired outputs to the user. User interfaces are composed of one or more layers, including

1925-482: The interface design include prototyping and simulation. Typical human–machine interface design consists of the following stages: interaction specification, interface software specification and prototyping: In broad terms, interfaces generally regarded as user friendly, efficient, intuitive, etc. are typified by one or more particular qualities. For the purpose of example, a non-exhaustive list of such characteristics follows: The principle of least astonishment (POLA)

1980-449: The machine simultaneously feeds back information that aids the operators' decision-making process. Examples of this broad concept of user interfaces include the interactive aspects of computer operating systems , hand tools , heavy machinery operator controls and process controls. The design considerations applicable when creating user interfaces are related to, or involve such disciplines as, ergonomics and psychology . Generally,

2035-639: The machine use no input or output devices except electrodes alone; they are called brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) or brain–machine interfaces (BMIs). Other terms for human–machine interfaces are man–machine interface ( MMI ) and, when the machine in question is a computer, human–computer interface . Additional UI layers may interact with one or more human senses, including: tactile UI ( touch ), visual UI ( sight ), auditory UI ( sound ), olfactory UI ( smell ), equilibria UI ( balance ), and gustatory UI ( taste ). Composite user interfaces ( CUIs ) are UIs that interact with two or more senses. The most common CUI

2090-441: The monitor for services. Another function of the monitor was to do better error checking on submitted jobs, catching errors earlier and more intelligently and generating more useful feedback to the users. Thus, monitors represented the first step towards both operating systems and explicitly designed user interfaces. Command-line interfaces ( CLIs ) evolved from batch monitors connected to the system console. Their interaction model

2145-542: The more recent DOS or Windows Console Applications will use that standard as well. This defined that a pulldown menu system should be at the top of the screen, status bar at the bottom, shortcut keys should stay the same for all common functionality (F2 to Open for example would work in all applications that followed the SAA standard). This greatly helped the speed at which users could learn an application so it caught on quick and became an industry standard. Primary methods used in

2200-497: The other way around; user interfaces were considered overhead, and software was designed to keep the processor at maximum utilization with as little overhead as possible. The input side of the user interfaces for batch machines was mainly punched cards or equivalent media like paper tape . The output side added line printers to these media. With the limited exception of the system operator's console , human beings did not interact with batch machines in real time at all. Submitting

2255-406: The panel. Mac OS X uses modal sheets with affirmative action buttons being the right-most command. User interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction , a user interface ( UI ) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine from the human end, while

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2310-403: The parent window and are not shown in the window list, but they do not disable the use of other windows in the application. Sheets slide out of the window's title bar, and usually must be dismissed before the user can continue to work in the window, but the rest of the application stays usable. Thus they create a mode inside the window that contains them, but are modeless with respect to the rest of

2365-521: The real world to create a virtual reality , the CUI is virtual and uses a virtual reality interface . When the CUI does not block out the real world and creates augmented reality , the CUI is augmented and uses an augmented reality interface . When a UI interacts with all human senses, it is called a qualia interface, named after the theory of qualia . CUI may also be classified by how many senses they interact with as either an X-sense virtual reality interface or X-sense augmented reality interface, where X

2420-475: The requested information is not essential to continue, and so the window can be left open while work continues elsewhere. A type of modeless dialog box is a toolbar which is either separate from the main application, or may be detached from the main application, and items in the toolbar can be used to select certain features or functions of the application. In general, good software design calls for dialogs to be of this type where possible, since they do not force

2475-402: The same application, particularly in cases where the modal window is requiring the user to input information only available in one of the windows it's covering. For users using virtual work areas larger than their actual screens, modal windows can cause further undesirable behavior, including creating the modal on a portion of the virtual screen not currently on the display, or abruptly switching

2530-447: The second phase of command-line systems. These cut latency further, because characters could be thrown on the phosphor dots of a screen more quickly than a printer head or carriage can move. They helped quell conservative resistance to interactive programming by cutting ink and paper consumables out of the cost picture, and were to the first TV generation of the late 1950s and 60s even more iconic and comfortable than teleprinters had been to

2585-404: The smallest possible compilers and interpreters. Once the cards were punched, one would drop them in a job queue and wait. Eventually, operators would feed the deck to the computer, perhaps mounting magnetic tapes to supply another dataset or helper software. The job would generate a printout, containing final results or an abort notice with an attached error log. Successful runs might also write

2640-557: The software dedicated to control the physical elements used for human–computer interaction . The engineering of human–machine interfaces is enhanced by considering ergonomics ( human factors ). The corresponding disciplines are human factors engineering (HFE) and usability engineering (UE) which is part of systems engineering . Tools used for incorporating human factors in the interface design are developed based on knowledge of computer science , such as computer graphics , operating systems , programming languages . Nowadays, we use

2695-421: The user can work with them: The same type of dialog box can be compared with the "standard" modal dialog boxes used in Windows and other operating systems. Similarities include: The differences are that Both mechanisms have shortcomings: Modal window In user interface design, a modal window is a graphical control element subordinate to an application's main window . A modal window creates

2750-421: The user into a particular mode of operation. An example might be a dialog of settings for the current document, e.g. the background and text colors. The user can continue adding text to the main window whatever color it is, but can change it at any time using the dialog. (This isn't meant to be an example of the best possible interface for this; often the same functionality may be accomplished by toolbar buttons on

2805-418: The user understand that the dialog is attached to the parent window, not just shown in front of it. In Big Sur and later, the parent window is greyed out, and the dialog appears on top of the middle of the parent window. No work can be done in the underlying document itself while the dialog is displayed, but the parent window can still be moved, re-sized, and minimized, and other windows can be brought in front so

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2860-400: The user's data input intended for the main window (see Mode error ). In severe cases, the modal window appears behind another window controlled by the same program, potentially rendering the entire program unresponsive until the modal window can be located manually. However, many interface designers have recently taken steps to make modal windows more obvious by darkening the background behind

2915-407: The whole background area function as a close button: this is standard on most mobile operating systems, avoids making the user feel trapped, and makes modal windows feel less like malicious pop-ups. Design should follow common practices in the platform the program is running on. Microsoft Windows uses standard controls for modal window dialogs , with affirmative action buttons at the lower right of

2970-466: The window or allowing any mouse click outside of the modal window to force the modal window to close – a design called a Lightbox – thus alleviating those problems. Jakob Nielsen states as an advantage of modal dialogs that it improves user awareness: "When something does need fixing, it's better to make sure that the user knows about it." For this goal, the Lightbox design provides strong visual contrast of

3025-496: Was a series of request-response transactions, with requests expressed as textual commands in a specialized vocabulary. Latency was far lower than for batch systems, dropping from days or hours to seconds. Accordingly, command-line systems allowed the user to change their mind about later stages of the transaction in response to real-time or near-real-time feedback on earlier results. Software could be exploratory and interactive in ways not possible before. But these interfaces still placed

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