Putting the User in Charge
Joel Spolsky · Apress eBooks · 2001
The history of user interfaces—from the early 1970s when interactive systems first appeared, to today’s most modern GUI interfaces—has followed a pendulum. Each generation of user interface designers collectively changes its mind about whether users need to be guided through a program or whether they should be left alone to control the program as they see fit. Following trends in user control is a bit like following the hemlines at the Milan fashion shows. Plus ça change , plus c’est la même chose . Here’s a bird’s-eye view of what happened. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.