User Interface (UI) Design for AM/FM Systems
Daniel Probert
Mercury Energy Limited Private Bag 92008 Auckland 1 New Zealand
Abstract
Enabling users to easily access information stored in AM/FM systems involves designing an
interface that is powerfid, easy to use, and capable of providing the functionality needed by its
users. By examining the history of today’s common UI designs, it is possible to see their
limitations in the AM/FM arena, and to therefore design custom user interfaces that provide the
required fimctionality. Through exploration of current and future trends in commercial UIS,
suggestions can be made on how best to accommodate these trends in existing AM/FM
applications.
Introduction
User Interface design is the process of creating an interface that allows a user to access and
manipulate information stored on a computer. Geographical user interfaces pose a more
challenging design problem, as most modern UI designs are limited in their ability to handle
geographical data, due to the spatial (geographical) relationships contained in the data. For
example, a standard UI would not be designed to handle the spatial relationship “Switch located
2ft from a Pole, and 5ft from a curb.” In these cases, extra functionality must be added to the UI,
or the processes involved in manipulating the geographical data must be altered such that
manipulating the geographical data fits within the abilities of today’s user interfaces.
User Interface Definition
As stated above, a user interface is a mechanism that allows a user to access and manipulate
information stored on a computer. Because many different types of information can exist, the
majority of commercial user interfaces are designed to cope with a wide variety of common
information types.
Traditionally, user interfaces have been split into two types: Textual user interfaces; and
Graphical user interfaces (GUIS).
A textual UI traditionally comprises of a command-line-interface (CLI). Here, the user types in
textual commands, which are usually abbreviated to reduce the number of keystrokes required.
CLIS are considered difficult to use, mainly because users have to memorize the most used
commands, and look up less used commands. CLIS also provide no visual feedback. The user is
given no clue what to do next, save for maybe a blinking cursor. There is also a lack of
consistency, as the commands expected by one application are not necessarily the same as the
commands expected by another application. This results in an increased amount of user training,
as users must be trained for each application individually. Examples of textual UIS are
traditional UNIX systems and Microsoft’s MS-DOS.
A Graphical UI (GUI), in contrast, provides users with the ability to manipulate data using
graphical objects, using a graphical metaphor as a backdrop. For example, most modern GUIS
use the desktop metaphor, which means that all graphical objects that can be manipulated are
106.represented as items that would appear on a normal physical desktop (such as paper, drawings,
etc.). Typically, these graphical objects are icons, small pictures which represent the object that
the user is manipulating. For example, to manipulate a printing device, the user would
manipulate a small picture of a printer. Users can select and manipulate these graphical objects
by using a control device, typically a mouse or trackball. GUIS also typically use Windows to
display information. A Window is a defined area on the screen, normally with a border. The
window can be manipulated in the same way as any other object. A hallmark of a GUI is that
they provide consistent behavior and imagery.
Most modem AM/FM software owes its origins to early mapping products, the forerunner of
today’s GIS software packages. The earliest mapping software used a Textual UI to control the
software, allowing the user to type in commands, the results of which were usually displayed on
a separate physical screen.
However, the advent of GUIS, and more specifically, the ability to directly manipulate the
information that can be seen, has led to the adoption of the GUI as the standard interface used by
all modem AM/FM/GIS software applications.
The History of the GUI
In order to design UIS that add and extend the fimctionality of the GUI’s supplied by today’s
modem operating systems, it is necessary to understand a little of the history that led to today’s
GUIS.
In the 1970s, computer hardware advanced enough to make the concept of a GUI feasible, and a
number of research labs around the world developed the forerunners of today’s GUIS. Major
advances in GUI design were made at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC), where
the Smallworld OS and Xerox Alto computer displayed GUIS which introduced the Desktop
metaphor to the computing community at large. The desktop metaphor introduced the idea of
working on virtual paper - that is, when typing a document, for example, the screen made it look
as though you were typing on paper; as well as the concept of using a mouse as well as keyboard
to interact with the graphical environment.
In 1979, a group of developers from Apple Computers, led by Steve Jobs, went to Xerox PARC
to view their GUI. They left with the seeds of an idea which grew into the MacOS, first seen in
the ill-fated Apple Lisa, but which had phenomenal success when released as the Apple
Macintosh in 1984. Even today, the MacOS is regarded by many as the first (commercial), and
most successfid GUI available.
At about the same time that the Macintosh was released, Microsoft announced Windows, a GUI
for the Intel/DOS platform. In 1986, Windows 1.0 was released. Although very primitive by
today’s standards (and even by the then current Macintosh standards) the product matured into a
reasonably stable GUI for desktop systems, with the release of Windows 3. lx. Windows has
since grown to become the most commonly used GUI on desktop systems.
Unfortunately, for many years Geographical applications could only be used on high-end
workstations, due to the graphically-intensive nature of these applications. Up until a few years
ago, the only major operating system available to use on these high-end workstations was UNIX.
UNIX has been available in many versions from many vendors since the early 1970’s. Some
vendors created their own proprietary GUI for their version of UNIX - for example, Intergraph’s
CLIX OS, based on System V UNIX, supported Intergraph’s own graphical environment.
Attempts to standardize a UNIX GUI advanced significantly with the release of~ Windows, a set
of graphical standards for UNIX; and OSF7340[Z~and OpenLook, two competing UNIX GUIS
which are based on the X Windows standard. What has resulted from these standardization
efforts has been a number of AM/FM/GIS applications that run on many versions of UNIX with
only a little modification.
The above developments have led to a number of operating systems that provide GUIS based on
the desktop metaphor, and which provide the ability to manipulate information using graphical
objects. A large number of vendor-supplied AM/FM/GIS packages have been released for these
OS’s, which all have a fairly similar UI design due to the similarities between the GUIS provided
by the respective operating systems.
