History Main / ViewerFriendlyInterface

* One of the main criticism of Windows 8 is that the "live tiles" screen is like this.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' relies heavily on this, despite being a primarily non-visual medium, for all its computer systems. The game's [[EverythingIsOnline Matrix network]] has networks set up so that text files are large pages full of text, the HollywoodHacking is done by making actual attacks on representations of the network, etc. The InUniverse explanation for this is that the corporations running the Matrix have tried to "idiot proof" it by making it simple and obvious. However, since it also needs to make the game mechanics possible without being too easy, this results in an interface that is so painfully manual that nobody would actually want to use it in real life: to interact with anything that has a small server, you have to get physically close to it in {{Cyberspace}} and "physically" interact, such as manually turning the burner icons on a glowing digital stove to remotely heat an oven.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' relies heavily on this, despite being a primarily non-visual medium, for all its computer systems. The game's [[EverythingIsOnline Matrix network]] has networks set up so that text files are large pages full of text, the HollywoodHacking is done by making actual attacks on representations of the network, etc. The InUniverse explanation for this is that the corporations running the Matrix have tried to "idiot proof" it by making it simple and obvious. However, since it also needs to make the game mechanics possible without being too easy, this results in an interface that is so painfully manual that nobody would actually want to use it in real life: to interact with anything that has a small server, you have to get physically close to it and "physically" interact, such as manually turning the burner icons on a glowing digital stove to remotely heat an oven.

* Computers can tell what type of file you have not just down to the file extension, but ''what it does'', providing such prompts as "Downloading Virus" or "Uploading Medicine." As shown in the example above computers can also calculate how long things will take and how far you have got even when it is a hit or miss event like finding the top secret plans or Cracking Into Pentagon.

Often, a Viewer Friendly Interface is a front end for an OmniscientDatabase, and often made of BeepingComputers with MagicFloppyDisk drives. For ScienceFiction, however, OurGraphicsWillSuckInTheFuture.

* ''Anime/RODTheTV'' has an interesting aversion. Nenene is shown asleep at her computer and, when the view shifts to view the monitor, we see that it is open to a simple and extremely accurate Word Processor, and whenever she types (Or falls asleep on the keyboard with her head pressing one of the keys) it types as a real computer would.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts2'' this is largely averted with the computer under Ansem's castle; most of the time, you can't tell exactly what that computer is doing, and the font is too small to read. [[spoiler:However, there is a secret scene in later versions of [=KH2=] where someone wearing an Organization [=XIII=] coat is entering passwords into a computer to access a hidden chamber, though, where the passwords are shown unhidden and in huge font, and they're the original names of members 2 through 6 of the Organization. Except that the last password entered was "Another", not "Xehanort"...]]

** L's Apple-style interfaces, particularly in the HackerCave, border on this, but they stop short of being downright impractical. Let's say he programmed in the [[=GUIs=]] to amuse himself during a slow week.

* Parodied by ''[[Webcomics/{{Chainsawsuit}} chainsawsuit]]'' [[http://chainsawsuit.com/comic/2016/07/28/advanced-computer-problems/ here]].

* Many ''[[RealRobotGenre Real Robot]]'' shows seem to have bizzarely simple cockpit configurations... how the hell can you make a [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam giant robot fence with a steering wheel]] or even fight at all in a melee combat using only two joysticks and some pedals?

Can be TruthInTelevision, as programmers like you to know that [[TheCoconutEffect "Yes, the computer is working."]] In fact, computers have been around long enough that some glaring examples are actually AluminumChristmasTrees.

[[caption-width-right:300:"How nice of my phone to tell me what button I literally ''just pressed''. Wait, since when do phones have a button for ignoring a text message?!?"]]

* Done in a subtle fashion in ''Film/{{Chappie}}''. Whenever complex computer processes are seen, they're shown in a BIOS-like interface that spells out exactly what's currently happening.
** One glaring example of this trope also shows up [[spoiler:when the Moose is taken into action by Vincent Moor. Even though he's using a helmet with a visor to control it, three monitors are there in front of him just to show us what's happening.]]

* ''[[Literature/BridgetJones Bridget Jones's Diary'', featuring messages displayed one letter at a time. This is actually real, if outdated. You can still find programs that allow for realtime chat that show exactly what is typed, when it's typed, but your average person wouldn't use one.

* This is the principle behind the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-foot_user_interface 10-foot user interface]]", used for televisions and media servers, where the user is expected to be sitting across the room with a remote, rather than at a desk with keyboard and mouse. Large fonts are used for readability, many functions are available on the remote control, and any onscreen buttons are large and sparse. Similar contraints influence the UI designed for netbooks, tablets, and smartphones, such as like [=MeeGo's=] ''Clutter'', Ubuntu's ''Unity'', and the [=UIs=] of Android and iOS. These devices tend to have small screens and somewhat limited resolution as well as less processing power compared to their larger and more powerful counterparts.

* ''Film/BridgetJonessDiary,'' featuring messages displayed one letter at a time. This is actually real, if outdated. You can still find programs that allow for realtime chat that show exactly what is typed, when it's typed, but your average person wouldn't use one.

* ''VideoGame/Code7'' is a meta-example. Not only is it possible to deactivate glitches to reduce seizures for epileptic people, it even has a ''mode for blind players'' where the game reads out everything. It also allows the player to change the text size and colours in case of reading issues or colour blindness.

** One glaring example of this trope also shows up [[spoiler: when the Moose is taken into action by Vincent Moor. Even though he's using a helmet with a visor to control it, three monitors are there in front of him just to show us what's happening.]]

* In ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'', as Stanley switches between typing and viewing code on six monitors, the main monitor displays a 3D visual representation of a cube with an octahedron in the center. A series of smaller cubes, with code scrolling rapidly across, are placed onto the corners of the cube, then, more cubes are placed on the edges of the cube, until there are twenty cubes surrounding the cube that is surrounding the octahedron. With a beep, the larger cube brings in the smaller cubes to hug the octahedron, causing it to glow bright, with the word "Complete" blinking above it in green letters. Stanley considers this a success, but he does not have access to his cube and octahedron software when hacking into the Department of Defense. Here, he must type in a bunch of code relating to IP addresses that go well above 255. "Access Denied" flashes on the screen in red letters. Typing through a menu of commands, "Access Denied" flashes upon the screen, then again, and again, until finally, he hits enter, and "Access Granted" appears on the screen in green letters.

* Averted, for the most part, in the Swedish versions of TheMillenniumTrilogy films, with both Blomkvist's and Salander's computers clearly being Apple computers that actually run UsefulNotes/MacOS. All of the software that both of them run are standard Mac applications, with the particular exception of Salander's hacking program being different, appearing to instead be more UsefulNotes/{{UNIX}} based.

* In ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', the computers are incredibly user friendly, letting the viewer know when a system is being hacked, or how to put together and display a secret map with fancy 3D graphics.

** Also the episode where something has to be done quickly, so Abby and [=McGee=] both type rapidly on the same keyboard. Think about that for a second.

* The game ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}'' is a simulation of HollywoodHacking. It has a UI set at a resolution low enough that you can, provides highly visible progress bars for ''everything'', scrolls a list of attempted passwords (complete with [[PasswordSlotMachine individual letters locking into place]]) when hacking, and has an animation of dialing IP addresses. Your computer is also fully capable of recording a person's voice and generating a voice recording convincing enough to fool a biometric system. While they ''may'' be possible in RealLife, the program somehow transforms a tiny sample of the person's voice, such as "Hello! Hello! Who's there?", into [[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish the always used password]] "[[{{Film/Sneakers}} Hello. I'm am the systems administrator. My voice is my passport. Verify me.]]" How would it even come close to that?

* Many ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games have blinking displays with cool sound effects, both in the GUI and the cinematics. This is especially common in the Tiberium series, from video conferencing to AI advisors.
* The breifings in[[VideoGames/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar Ace Combat 5]] and possibly the other Ace Combat games are filled with flashy satilite maps, random popup windows, and [[BeepingComputers computer sound effects]]

* Parodied in KKnD. The user interface shown during briefings has a section with useless or funny text on the side including showing random numbers.