The Evolution of the Graphical User Interface: From Skeuomorphism to Material Design

Abstract

Graphical user interfaces are an evolution of the command line user interfaces of the past. Graphical user interfaces allow users to interact with devices while using the metaphor of a desktop surface. As technology evolved, user interfaces became more elaborate, going through various design phases such as skeuomorphism and modern, flat design. User interfaces have become more simplified and use fewer non-essential design elements. This also allows for easier cross-platform development. Due to the widespread adoption of technology, clear user interfaces that put usability first, have and will become very important in the years to come. We present the very beginnings of the GUI, its evolution through the years and finally focus on modern graphical user interfaces while also going over various problems

Back to cyberspace: digital territories, cyberscape and posthuman dwelling.

“…Users could thus rely on the knowledge already acquired regarding their work context to perform tasks in a virtual environment. The subsequent evolutions in the design of graphic interfaces, from the skeuomorphism of graphic elements widespread in the first decade of the 2000s, to the flat design and minimal UI of smartphone apps, have not substantially changed the centrality of metaphors and icons in graphic interfaces (Gatsou, Farrington, 2022). Given the centrality of the production of metaphors in the creation of GUIs, it is therefore appropriate to note that the metaphor was identified by Peirce as a type of icon (Winfried, 1990, p. 122) and that according to Farinelli (2003, pp.…”