

History of the Graphical User Interface: The Rise (and Fall?) of WIMP Design
Summary: The GUI’s success wasn’t about any single invention, but a synergy of 4 elements: Window, Icon, Menu, and Pointer, through a 60-year history of usability improvements. But the era of WIMP is drawing to an end with a radical shift toward Generative UI and World Models, in which static menus are replaced by fluid, intent-driven AI interactions. (I made all the comics in this article with Nano Banana Pro.) The evolution of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) represents

Jakob Nielsen
Feb 2339 min read


UX Roundup: Hamburger Menus | AI Agents | App Overload | Web Images | Modal Overuse
Reserve hamburger menus for small-screen designs | AI agents must remain under user control | One app per thing in your life = app overload | Images stand out on web pages | Overusing modal dialog boxes

Jakob Nielsen
Jun 9, 20256 min read
