This paper offers a set of goals for user interface development and then scenarios of future developments. The applications include home control, hypermedia, office automation, digital photography, collaborative meeting/classrooms, public access, professional workstations, and medical record-keeping. Also, predictions are made for some of the underlying technologies such as User Interface Management Systems, remote control, flexible search, display devices, and touchscreens.
It is dangerous, but necessary, to dream about the future. Dangerous because misguided dreams mislead designers, necessary because without vision navigation is difficult. Without dreams we risk stagnation, and lose the chance to make a better world. This biased and partial portrait of the future is offered to guide designers of future interactive systems. It is organized top-down, from goals to applications to software/hardware. Planning for the future is never easy, but when innovation is the propelling force, prediction is especially difficult. This portrait is mainly an extrapolation of current trends, shaped by the high-level goals, and colored with a bit of wishful thinking.
There is excitement in the user interface research and development community. New ideas are emerging daily and the reduction to practice is rapid. Perfection is not anticipated, but there is clear progress in many areas beyond the ones described in this paper. Designers and researchers are invited to propose other directions, disagree with my assessments, or seek more ambitious visions. Beyond the technology, I strongly encourage vigorous discussion of the high-level goals and the dangers. Discussing the future is an important part of the process of creating it.