It was 1973 and Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) had just completed the Alto computer, the first commercial example of a computer GUI. While the screen orientation and lack of colors make it a little peculiar to the modern eye, it's clearly recognizable as a graphical interface, with a mouse and keyboard for interaction. While it took another seven years to be generally available to the public, in 1981, as the Xerox Star, it was clear that this was the beginning of something big:

This was a huge leap forward for the usability of computers—a welcome change from the standard interaction of text-mode computer screens. Not only does a graphical...

One of the main reasons that businesses often opt for a website-based approach is to avoid having to build many products for the platforms they wish to support. We're seeing a similar approach to mobile application development: as more platforms enter the market, developing native apps becomes an overhead that many businesses can't afford. They opt for the web-based approach or hybrid app, where the user believes they're installing a native app that's really just a website packaged into a download. While this can be good enough for simple applications with basic data processing, it is often not going to meet user expectations. Additionally, the interaction paradigms for a web browser are usually different to that of the system applications around it. If the user...

A consistent user experience is of paramount importance if users are expected to pick up software and be able to use it quickly. When programmed to match system design and layout, as well as use standard components, it is easier for a new user to understand how the application will likely work without the need for one of those weighty user manuals. The graphical user interfaces for most popular operating systems have been very carefully designed so that applications written for them will feel natural. The user should inherently recognize the design language and know how to accomplish most of the main tasks right away. Carefully designed platforms such as macOS or Windows 10 provide a toolkit that ensures applications built using it will be immediately familiar to users. This includes peripheral items such as how you choose a file to open...

One benefit of great applications is their ability to work online and offline, even to deal with an internet connection that's unreliable. For example, blog applications that allow authoring but don't need the internet until you publish, or document editors that download all of your work and share any changes you make with a central location any time you're online, have significant benefits over any web app with an always-online approach. Desktop computers and even newer smart phones have significant processing power and storage, and as application developers, we should make the most of the resources available. User experience is not limited to design and system integration, but also the responsiveness and workflow of an application. If we can hide the complexities of a process or technology from end users, we may find them...

To support the fast pace of software development, evolution in technology, and user demand for more features, it is imperative that our software be well-organized and highly maintainable. Any one on your team, or yourself at some point in the future, should be able to easily understand how the code works and quickly make the required change or addition. Supporting this sort of future development requires a well-organized project and an investment of time to maintain standards.

Native applications are typically written using a single language: that of the platform they are built for. This constraint means that an entire application can follow standard layout, naming, and semantic conventions, making it easier to work on any portion of the software. Modularity and code reuse are far...

With the first graphical user interfaces in the early 1970s, computers became more accessible, and ever since developers and designers have been finding ways to improve user experience. As technologies evolved, the focus moved from desktop applications to web-based software and mobile apps. Through each change in development, we see the need to make applications responsive, reliable, and engaging. In this chapter, we explored the history of the GUI and how native applications continue to provide the best user experience.

By creating quality graphical applications using native technologies, developers are able to provide better reliability and a more responsive user interface. Ensuring that applications integrate seamlessly with the operating system, as well as working well online and offline, will provide a consistent workflow that will keep your users happy. We also saw...