Editing User interface (section)

== Types ==

[[File:Hp150 touchscreen 20081129.jpg|thumb|alt=Touchscreen of the HP Series 100 HP-150|HP Series 100 HP-150 touchscreen]]

# ''[[Attentive user interface]]s'' manage the user [[attention]] deciding when to interrupt the user, the kind of warnings, and the level of detail of the messages presented to the user.
# ''Batch interfaces'' are non-interactive user interfaces, where the user specifies all the details of the ''batch job'' in advance to [[batch processing]], and receives the output when all the processing is done. The computer does not prompt for further input after the processing has started.
# ''[[Command line interface]]s'' (CLIs) prompt the user to provide input by typing a [[command (computing)|command string]] with the computer keyboard and respond by outputting text to the computer monitor. Used by programmers and system administrators, in engineering and scientific environments, and by technically advanced personal computer users.
# ''[[Conversational interfaces]]'' enable users to command the computer with plain text English (e.g., via text messages, or chatbots) or voice commands, instead of graphic elements. These interfaces often emulate human-to-human conversations.<ref name="cbc">{{cite web|last1=Errett|first1=Joshua|title=As app fatigue sets in, Toronto engineers move on to chatbots|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-chatbots-1.3581791|website=CBC|publisher=CBC/Radio-Canada|access-date=July 4, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622075925/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-chatbots-1.3581791|archive-date=June 22, 2016}}</ref>
# ''Conversational interface agents'' attempt to personify the computer interface in the form of an animated person, robot, or other character (such as Microsoft's Clippy the paperclip), and present interactions in a conversational form.
# ''[[Crossing-based interface]]s'' are graphical user interfaces in which the primary task consists in crossing boundaries instead of pointing.
# ''[[Direct manipulation interface]]'' is a general class of user interfaces that allow users to manipulate objects presented to them, using actions that correspond to the physical world, at least loosely.
# ''[[Gesture recognition|Gesture interface]]s'' are graphical user interfaces which accept input in a form of hand [[gesture]]s, or [[mouse gesture]]s sketched with a computer mouse or a [[Stylus (computing)|stylus]].
# ''[[Graphical user interface]]s'' (GUI) accept input via devices such as a computer keyboard and mouse and provide articulated [[graphical]] output on the [[computer monitor]].<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 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> There are at least two different principles widely used in GUI design: [[Object-oriented user interface]]s (OOUIs) and [[Application software|application]]-oriented interfaces.<ref>{{cite web |first=Gordana |last=Lamb |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa227601(v=vs.60).aspx |title=Improve Your UI Design Process with Object-Oriented Techniques |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814153652/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa227601(v=vs.60).aspx |archive-date=2013-08-14 |website=Visual Basic Developer magazine |date=2001 |quote=Table 1. Differences between the traditional application-oriented and object-oriented approaches to UI design.}}</ref>
# ''Hardware interfaces'' are the physical, spatial interfaces found on products in the real world from toasters, to car dashboards, to airplane cockpits. They are generally a mixture of knobs, buttons, sliders, switches, and touchscreens.
# ''{{visible anchor|Holographic user interfaces}}'' provide input to electronic or electro-mechanical devices by passing a finger through reproduced holographic images of what would otherwise be tactile controls of those devices, floating freely in the air, detected by a wave source and without tactile interaction.
# ''[[Intelligent user interfaces]]'' are human–machine interfaces that aim to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and naturalness of human–machine interaction by representing, reasoning, and acting on models of the user, domain, task, discourse, and media (e.g., graphics, natural language, gesture).
# ''[[Motion capture|Motion tracking]] interfaces'' monitor the user's body motions and translate them into commands, some techniques of which were at one point patented by Apple.<ref>[http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/06/18/apple_exploring_motion_tracking_mac_os_x_user_interface.html appleinsider.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619212919/http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/06/18/apple_exploring_motion_tracking_mac_os_x_user_interface.html |date=2009-06-19 }}</ref>
# ''Multi-screen interfaces'', employ multiple displays to provide a more flexible interaction. This is often employed in computer game interaction in both the commercial arcades and more recently the handheld markets.
# ''[[Natural language user interface|Natural-language interfaces]]'' are used for search engines and on webpages. User types in a question and waits for a response.
# ''Non-command user interfaces'', which observe the user to infer their needs and intentions, without requiring that they formulate explicit commands.<ref name="noncommand">{{cite journal |author = Jakob Nielsen |title = Noncommand User Interfaces |journal = Communications of the ACM |publisher = ACM Press |volume = 36 |issue = 4 |pages = 83–99 |date = April 1993 |url = http://www.useit.com/papers/noncommand.html |doi = 10.1145/255950.153582 |s2cid = 7684922 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061110102842/http://www.useit.com/papers/noncommand.html |archive-date = 2006-11-10 |author-link = Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant) |doi-access = free }}</ref>
# ''[[Object-oriented user interface]]s (OOUI)'' are based on [[object-oriented programming]] metaphors, allowing users to [[direct manipulation|manipulate]] simulated objects and their properties.
# ''Permission-driven user interfaces'' show or conceal menu options or functions depending on the user's level of permissions. The system is intended to improve the user experience by removing items that are unavailable to the user. A user who sees functions that are unavailable for use may become frustrated. It also provides an enhancement to security by hiding functional items from unauthorized persons.
# ''Reflexive user interfaces'' where the users control and redefine the entire system via the user interface alone, for instance to change its command verbs. Typically, this is only possible with very rich graphic user interfaces.
# ''Search interface'' is how the search box of a site is displayed, as well as the visual representation of the search results.
# ''[[Tangible user interface]]s'', which place a greater emphasis on touch and physical environment or its element.
# ''[[Task-focused interface]]s'' are user interfaces which address the [[information overload]] problem of the [[desktop metaphor]] by making tasks, not files, the primary unit of interaction.
# ''[[Text-based user interface]]s'' (TUIs) are user interfaces which interact via text. TUIs include [[command-line interface]]s and text-based [[WIMP (computing)|WIMP]] environments.
# ''[[Touchscreen]]s'' are displays that accept input by touch of fingers or a [[stylus]]. Used in a growing amount of [[mobile device]]s and many types of [[point of sale]], industrial processes and machines, self-service machines, etc.
# ''[[Touch user interface]]'' are graphical user interfaces using a [[touchpad]] or touchscreen display as a combined input and output device. They supplement or replace other forms of output with [[Haptic communication|haptic]] feedback methods. Used in computerized [[simulator#Physical and interactive simulation|simulators]], etc.
# ''[[Voice user interface]]s'', which accept input and provide output by generating voice prompts. The user input is made by pressing keys or buttons, or responding verbally to the interface.
# ''Zero-input interfaces'' get inputs from a set of sensors instead of querying the user with input dialogs.<ref>Sharon, Taly, Henry Lieberman, and Ted Selker. "[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ted_Selker/publication/221607708_A_zero-input_interface_for_leveraging_group_experience_in_Web_browsing/links/0912f50876bda91a5b000000/A-zero-input-interface-for-leveraging-group-experience-in-Web-browsing.pdf A zero-input interface for leveraging group experience in web browsing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908113001/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ted_Selker/publication/221607708_A_zero-input_interface_for_leveraging_group_experience_in_Web_browsing/links/0912f50876bda91a5b000000/A-zero-input-interface-for-leveraging-group-experience-in-Web-browsing.pdf |date=2017-09-08 }}." Proceedings of the 8th international conference on Intelligent user interfaces. ACM, 2003.</ref>
# ''[[Zooming user interface]]s'' are graphical user interfaces in which information objects are represented at different levels of scale and detail, and where the user can change the scale of the viewed area in order to show more detail.