The Story of User Interfaces
The terminal wasn't broken. It was perfect. One cursor blinking in the dark, waiting for exactly what you meant.
Every interface since has been an attempt to answer the same question: how do we make computers understand humans better? Forty years of experimentation, dead ends, and breakthrough moments. We're still figuring it out.
Over the next six weeks, I'm walking through each era of interface design—not as a history lesson, but as a living experiment. Each era gets its own interactive playground where you can experience the constraints and breakthroughs that defined how we interact with machines.
Week 1: The Terminal (1986) — Pure text, pure intention. No hiding behind pretty pixels. Just you and the machine, negotiating in plain language. Starting now at ewj.dev/evolution/1.
Week 2: Desktop Metaphors (1995) — Windows, icons, menus, pointers. The great abstraction that made computers accessible to everyone except power users, who suddenly felt like they were working with oven mitts on.
Week 3: Web 1.0 (2000) — Hyperlinked information architecture. The first time interfaces had to work across cultures, connection speeds, and screen sizes. Chaos, but beautiful chaos.
Week 4: Touch Interfaces (2010) — Direct manipulation finally done right. No more "click here"—just touch what you want. The interface disappears and the content takes center stage.
Week 5: Mobile-First (2015) — Constraints breed creativity. Limited screen space forced us to prioritize ruthlessly. Every pixel earned its keep.
Week 6: AI Conversations (2025) — We're back to text, but this time the computer understands context, nuance, and intent. Natural language as the ultimate interface. Or is it?
The Pattern That Emerges
Each era solved real problems while creating new ones. The terminal was efficient but exclusive. The GUI democratized computing but buried functionality under layers of abstraction. Touch interfaces felt natural but limited precision work. Mobile-first prioritized simplicity but sometimes at the expense of power.
Now we're experimenting with conversational AI interfaces that promise to combine the efficiency of the terminal with the accessibility of the GUI. Type what you want, get exactly that. No more hunting through menus or remembering keyboard shortcuts.
But here's the question: are we making progress, or just running in circles? Is the future of interfaces a combination of all the best parts from each era, or are we about to discover entirely new ways to interact with machines?
Experience It Yourself
This isn't academic theory. Each era is fully interactive—real software you can use, break, and rebuild. Experience the constraints that shaped design decisions. Feel why certain patterns emerged and others died out.
Start with the terminal era today. No graphics, no mouse, just pure text interaction. See how much you can accomplish when every command must be intentional.
Over the next six weeks, we'll explore whether "progress" in interface design is really progress, or just fashion cycles wrapped in marketing. The interfaces we build tomorrow will be shaped by understanding which patterns actually served human needs—and which were just pretty distractions.
Next week: Windows 95 and the rise of the desktop metaphor. Bring your nostalgia, but leave your mouse at the door.