Form and Function: Guis and FP

1
Form and Function Guis and FP

• Noah Evans
• Nara Institute of Science and Technology
• November 24th 2006

2
What do we need for FP and GUIs?

• FP is about quantifiable data
• To do FP on GUIs we need some way of quantifying
  input and output using a GUI.
• What are the unqiue properties of GUIs? Are thos
  properties amenable to FP?

3
FP is not appropriate for GUIs

• GUIs are inherently subjective
• Their input is not linear
• The more functionality a GUI has the worse it is

4
The subjective nature of GUIs

• A GUI is guided primarily by aesthetic and
  psychological factors
• Productivity is tied to appearance
• Pretty GUIs are actually more productive
• The functionality that people want is not what
  they need
• Mouse vs Keyboard

5
Non linear input

• For FP you need measurable input and output
• A GUI workflow is event not process driven
• callbacks
• You dont know the nature of the workflow until
  you have your product and people use it.

6
Functionality is bad

• In FP functionality is added value
• The more functionality you provide the more
  successful you are.
• In GUIs the more functionality you have the more
  it hurts productivity
• If people have to many choices they become
  paralyzed

7
So what do you need to make a good GUI?

• For FP you need measurable input and output
  abilities, functionality.
• For GUIs you need human productivity.
• You can have all the functions in the world, but
  if people cant or wont use them theyre useless

8
So how do you engineer GUIs effectively?

• Dont care about functionality
• Implement the bare minimum and develop software
  iteratively with lots of tests on human subjects
• Dont care about man hours
• You need talent to make good GUIs
• Jonathan Ives vs Microsoft
• Ipod vs Zune
• Programmers dont matter, psychologists and
  artists do
• User Interface Guidelines
• Let people stick with abstractions they know
• Look at the study of typography
• Conclusion More art than science