CIS 524 Week 2 - Interfaces Student Travis M Stokes...

Interfaces
Student: Travis M. Stokes
Professor: Dr. Emmanuel Nyeanchi
Course Title: CIS 524: Computer Interaction and Design
Date: 10/16/2016

Interfaces
Analysis of the important of a user interface is designed and how significant of an impact
interfaces have on our daily lives is important and should not be taken for granted. In
today’s robust technological environment, many basic tasks are performed using at least
one kind of an interface. The quintessential task an interface must undertake and
accomplish is to allow users a means to communicate with the device to either input
commands or retrieve information.
There are three (3) common types of interfaces. They are the Touch interface (See
Appendix A), the menu interface (See Appendix B) and the graphical user interface (See
Appendix C). Common examples of these would be the smart phone, using an ATM or
using your desktop computer.
The touch sensitive interface is probably one of the most commonly used interfaces to
date. Simply put, users can input commands by touching portions of the screen,
depending on the touch is performed and where, the application will interpret that as a set
of predetermined commands and perform the appropriate action. The action that the
touch can initiate is opening a new menu or executing a command such as Power Down.
Some ATMs also use this kind of interface.
This particular interface helps provide users with the control they need to easily handle
tasks by just using a press of their finger. The technology has become so advanced, that
now, users can change the commands depending on how long they leave their finger
pressed or even how hard they press their finger. An example of this would be how iOS
2

Interfaces
handles a touch versus a hold on the screen. From their home screen, tapping an icon
will open an application; however, pressing and holding the icon will cause the icon to
enter a state that allows the user to move the icon to a different portion of the screen for
aesthetic purposes. This functionality may change once an application has been
launched, but again, this just goes to show how Developers have begun to tackle and
handle the different ways users can interface using a touch sensitive interface.
Lastly this interface also helps in maintaining some level of consistency across platforms.