Graphical user interface plays an important role in computing. Whether it is a mobile app or any electronic or mechanical device we use, we see GUI (Graphical User Interface) all over in our daily life. Like in our cars we see LCD screens, TV, AC controllers etc.
If you use operating system then you may get alert window opens up on any error or for notification which is a type of user interface. So today I will provide some advantages and disadvantages of GUI.
Advantages of graphical user interface:-
Easiness for non-technical people:-
For non-technical people or for beginners good GUI’s tends to make easiness in life. For example with few clicks on buttons user can easily make his work done. Software in shops for calculation of products sold and inventory can be better managed by an even non-technical guy. Similarly listening songs in the car is easy for everyone.
Drag and drop feature:-
In most of the software, we have drag and drop functionality by which complex tasks are managed easily. Like dragging and dropping folders. And in mobile games, it is also nice to use. In much graphical software, drag and drop are awesome.
Looks nicer than text interface:-
In text interface, we have limited options to choose from and navigation is difficult. For non-educated people, text interface is difficult to understand and use. In GUI user can use any tool by detecting symbols or buttons.
Hotkeys usage:-
Sometimes we want a couple of functionality performed by single click then we use hotkeys. Like we see some buttons or mouse clicks/movements by which a couple of actions performed. This is very handy for speeding up tasks.
User-friendly:-
A user can easily navigate to the system without knowing a lot of details. Easy setup and ready to start working are awesome. Most of the software hides the complexity of actions from the users and display only required information is key to good interface.
Disabled people:-
In modern science, we can detect eyes movement and finger movement which is helpful for disabled people. Now, most of the software use this functionality to make life easier for disabled people. They can use software and websites easily with a few actions
Disadvantages of graphical user interface:-
Difficult to develop and high cost:-
Nice looking designs are difficult to make and may also cost extra hardware support. Like high-quality games consume a lot of device space and memory and it also required very skilled people to develop.
Slower than command line tools:-
In command line tools like MS dos, we perform some commands which do the work quickly. But if we do the same task in GUI then it takes extra time to complete the task.
Extra attention required:-
If we are driving a car then controlling music/radio in the car requires attention which makes our driving disturbed.
Using flat screen:-
Some graphical things do not display accurately on flat screens. In airplanes, sticks are used to control most of the things because flat screen display is not very handy. This makes the limitation of GUI.
Time consumption:-
It takes a lot of time to develop and design a good looking interface. If some bad interface builds then it makes difficult for the user to understand and use.
Memory resources:-
I see a lot of good GUI’s consuming lot of memory resources which make system/device slow to perform.
Implementation:-
Testing and implementation take a lot of time. Like we may require extra software for running GUI’s
Examples of GUI:-
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS