Graphical User Interface

"Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of 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 program, a design discipline known as 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" (Goo-ee). Typically, the user interacts with information by manipulating visual 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 the user. A model-view-controller allows for a flexible structure in which the interface is independent from and indirectly linked to application functionality, so the GUI can be easily customized. This allows the user to select or design a different skin at will, and eases the designer's work to change the interface as the user needs evolve. Good user interface design relates to the user, not the system architecture.
Large widgets, such as 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." [Graphical user interface. Wikipedia]
The example "ConceptDraw graphic user interface (Mac)" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Graphic User Interface solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

"The iPhone ... is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It runs Apple's iOS mobile operating system. ...
The interface is based around the home screen, a graphical list of available applications. iPhone applications normally run one at a time. Starting with the iPhone 4, a primitive version of multitasking came into play. Users could double click the home button to select recently opened. However, the apps never ran in the background. Starting with iOS 7, though, apps can truly multitask, and each open application runs in the background when not in use, although most functionality is still available when making a call or listening to music. The home screen can be accessed at any time by a hardware button below the screen, closing the open application in the process.
By default, the Home screen contains the following icons: Messages (SMS and MMS messaging), Calendar, Photos, Camera, YouTube, Stocks, Maps (Google Maps), Weather, Voice Memos, Notes, Clock, Calculator, Settings, iTunes (store), App Store, (on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4) Compass, FaceTime and GameCenter were added in iOS 4.0 and 4.1 respectively. In iOS 5, Reminders and Newsstand were added, as well as the iPod application split into separate Music and Videos applications. iOS 6 added Passbook as well as an updated version of Maps that relies on data provided by TomTom as well as other sources. iOS 6 also added a Clock application onto the iPad's homescreen. However, it also no longer support YouTube. Docked at the base of the screen, four icons for Phone, Mail, Safari (Internet), and Music delineate the iPhone's main purposes." [iPhone. Wikipedia]
The example "iPhone OS (iOS) graphic user interface (GUI) - SMS application" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Graphic User Interface solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

"Smaller mobile devices such as PDAs and smartphones typically use the WIMP elements with different unifying metaphors, due to constraints in space and available input devices. Applications for which WIMP is not well suited may use newer interaction techniques, collectively named as post-WIMP user interfaces.
As of 2011, some touch-screen-based operating systems such as Apple's iOS (iPhone) and Android use the class of GUIs named post-WIMP. These support styles of interaction using more than one finger in contact with a display, which allows actions such as pinching and rotating, which are unsupported by one pointer and mouse." [Graphical user interface. Wikipedia]
"In computing post-WIMP comprises work on user interfaces, mostly graphical user interfaces, which attempt to go beyond the paradigm of windows, icons, menus and a pointing device, i.e. WIMP interfaces. ...
However WIMP interfaces are not optimal for working with complex tasks such as computer-aided design, working on large amounts of data simultaneously, or interactive games. WIMPs are usually pixel-hungry, so given limited screen real estate they can distract attention from the task at hand. Thus, custom interfaces can better encapsulate workspaces, actions, and objects for specific complex tasks. Applications for which WIMP is not well suited include those requiring continuous input signals, showing 3D models, or simply portraying an interaction for which there is no defined standard widget.
Interfaces based on these considerations, now called "post-WIMP", have made their way to the general public. Examples include the interface of the classic MP3 player iPod and a bank's automated teller machine screen." [Post-WIMP. Wikipedia]
The example "iPhone OS (iOS) graphic user interface (GUI) - Activity indicator view" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Graphic User Interface solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

Use this template to prototype and design the Windows graphic user interface.
"In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus, pointer", denoting a style of interaction using these elements of the user interface. ... Other expansions are sometimes used, substituting "mouse" and "mice" or "pull-down menu" and "pointing", for menus and pointer, respectively. ...
In a WIMP system:
(1) A window runs a self-contained program, isolated from other programs that (if in a multi-program operating system) run at the same time in other windows.
(2) An icon acts as a shortcut to an action the computer performs (e.g., execute a program or task).
(3) A menu is a text or icon-based selection system that selects and executes programs or tasks.
(4) The pointer is an onscreen symbol that represents movement of a physical device that the user controls to select icons, data elements, etc.
(5) cut, copy, and paste.
This style of system improves human–computer interaction (HCI) by emulating real-world interactions and providing better ease of use for non-technical people - both novice and power users. Users can carry skill at a standardized interface from one application to another.
Due to the nature of the WIMP system, simple commands can be chained together to undertake a group of commands that would have taken several lines of command line instructions." [WIMP (computing). Wikipedia]
The Windows Vista graphic user interface template for the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software is included in the Graphic User Interface solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

"iOS (previously iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system developed and distributed by Apple Inc. ...
The user interface of iOS is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch, all of which have specific definitions within the context of the iOS operating system and its multi-touch interface. Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it in three dimensions (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode)." [iOS. Wikipedia]
The example "iPhone OS (iOS) graphic user interface (GUI) - More function view" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Graphic User Interface solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.