The more complex technology becomes, so do our needs. Two of the essential needs that we seek, especially when it comes to business processes, are speed and efficiency. While we cover the need of speed and efficiency, we realised that there is also another need: entertainment. We want to be entertained, and have interactions during our engagements. User interface fills the gap created as our lives became swamped with digitalisation.

We may not realise how common and crucial their functions are. However, one thing is for sure, user interfaces make our lives much easier. In this blog, we will talk about the topic of user interfaces with a very basic approach since this topic can easily get very detailed and technical.

WHAT IS USER INTERFACE?

The term is rather self-explanatory: user interface (UI) is a tool/gadget that helps people to interact and operate more efficiently and easily. In other words, allowing human interactions with computers, software, applications and, websites to occur. There are two aspects that happen when humans start to interact with user interface. First, the ability to efficiently and easily command and second, receiving instant feedback that helps in the decision-making process for the human that operates. User interfaces are created with multiple layers, having the goal of appealing to the users’ senses, such as touch, sight and auditory. These layers help humans to spend as little effort as possible to reach the expected results when interacting with it. The layers are supported with various devices to increase and ease the level of interaction, such as keyboard, mouse, microphone, touch screen, camera and many more.

WHAT IS USER INTERFACE?

There are various types of user interfaces, depending on the respective need as each UI serves for a different goal. Below, we have pointed out the most common ones for you:

Formularbasierte Benutzeroberfläche: Sie wird zur Eingabe von Daten in eine Software oder Anwendung über begrenzte Optionen wie ein Menü verwendet.

Grafische Benutzeroberfläche: Eine visuelle Benutzerschnittstellenausgabe mit einer greifbaren Benutzerschnittstelleneingabe (Monitor und Tastatur).

Touch-Benutzeroberfläche: It is a form of tangible user interfaces. Today, smartphones, tablets, even watches in some cases and, any other devices that have a touch screen contain this specific interface.

Menügesteuerte Schnittstelle: Eine Form der Benutzeroberfläche, die aus mehreren Auswahlmöglichkeiten besteht (in der Regel in Form einer Liste) und als Navigationshilfe dient.

Sprachgesteuerte Benutzeroberfläche: Es handelt sich um den Prozess der Interaktion zwischen Menschen und Maschinen durch Sprachbefehle. Virtuelle Assistenten und Global Positioning System (GPS) sind gängige Beispiele.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE USER INTERFACES?

Besides easing and increasing efficiency of human interaction, user interfaces play a key role when it comes to the functionality of computers, software, applications or websites. Functionality is usually measured by how fast and well the responsiveness level of the user interface is. It is also important to take user experience into account when designing and focusing on the functionality of user interfaces. Im Folgenden werden wichtige Komponenten von Benutzeroberflächen hervorgehoben. Diese Komponenten geben wertvolle Einblicke in die Ziele von Benutzeroberflächen. In den meisten Fällen enthalten Benutzeroberflächen heute jedoch mehrere Komponenten.

Informationsarchitektur: It has the objective to provide an easy process, bringing out the most important information with the minimal effort for the user. Information architectures can be built up in hierarchical, sequential or matrix-based form. They also include tooltips, icons, progress bar, notifications, message boxes, modal windows.

Visuelle Gestaltung: Images, colour, contrast, font, and, video play a crucial role in attracting the user. While the goal is creating the attraction, it is also considered as a mission-critical to make the user continue the interaction as much as possible.

Eingabe-Design: These controls allow users to interact with computers, software, applications, websites to complete their desired action. They include checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdown lists, list boxes, buttons, toggles, text fields, date field etc.

Navigationskomponenten:
Wie Sie verstehen können, werden sie so platziert, dass sie dem Benutzer eine einfache und effiziente Navigation bei der Interaktion ermöglichen. Brotkrümel, Schieberegler, Suchfeld, Paginierung, Schieberegler, Tags, Icons sind gängige Beispiele.

USER INTERFACE VS. USER EXPERIENCE

Although, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) are highly related and are, both benefiting from each other, they do differ. Delivering functionality and experience both have fundamental differences as they have different aims. User interfaces are designed to optimize the ‘look and feel’ of software, applications and, websites; while user experience focuses on the whole process as a conceptualisation and delivery.

THE ANNEA PLATFORM: A USER INTERFACE

The ANNEA platform is built on cutting-edge technology and the latest IT security implementations. The ultimate goal of the platform is to bring efficiency, security and ease to your production.

The ANNEA Platform is the very place to view, control, compare, and, analyse everything related to your energy production. We provide all the necessary information with an in-depth view. In addition, the in-depth view is applied to each component level. It is even possible to analyse and visualise a combination of historical and real-time data.

Die ANNEA-Plattform ist eine sich ständig entwickelnde und weiterentwickelnde Plattform. Je nach den unternehmensspezifischen Anforderungen kann die Plattform auf die Konfiguration des Betriebs zugeschnitten werden. Kontaktieren Sie uns , um aktuelle Informationen vom ANNEA-Expertenteam zu erhalten!

WHAT NOW?

In our blog posts we take you on a journey demonstrating the expertise of ANNEA. Check out our other ANNEA-Blogbeiträgen finden Sie weitere Themen zu den Bereichen Datenerfassung, Internet der Dinge, Digital Twin, Edge Computing, and, und automatische prädiktive Engine..