1. Graphical User Interface - Layout and Design

Introduction

Don't you think that it is easier to click on a button to initialise a computer action than typing specific commands in a command line? Surely, if you are a computer expert you would say that the command line is more comfortable but if you are a beginner you would agree that clicking on buttons is the easier way to handle the computer's actions. That is why Graphical User Interfaces were invented. They ease the handle of computer programs.

GUI (screenshot © Ubuntu)

When designing a Graphical User Interface, it is important that the needs, wants, and limitations of the end users (who finally use the programm) are given extensive attention. There exist a few rules for the design of Graphical User Interfaces which will be listed in this lesson.

Since the topic of this module is multimedia cartography, we will concentrate on Graphical User Interfaces of interactive maps.