Galileo: Experimenting with graphical user interfaces

Abstract

Graphic User Interfaces (GUls) are the key ingredient in the development of a new era of computer software. Pioneered at Xerox, launched at Apple, pursued by Microsoft, and challenged by a host of others, the age of the GUI has dawned. GUls emphasise the logical relationship of things and let intuition play a larger role in decision making - intuition as opposed to bulky documentation. Efficiency, uniformity and ease of use are the driving factors that make GUls worthwhile. GUis are concerned with interfacing between a user and a computer and interface consistency is a premier design goal. Yet constructing a GUI is no trivial exercise, and user psychology plays a large role in the development of this new wave of human-computer interfaces. This paper discusses a series of experiments in GUis under the Galileo Project. Galileo began in 1989 with the aim of exploring the natural talent of students to incorporate GUls in ordinary programs. From the results gathered, we can classify GUis according to the support software and implementation effort they require. The paper concludes with some observations on the place of GUls in the new South Africa.