A graphical system possesses a set of defining concepts. Included are sophisticated visual presentation, pick-and-click interaction, a restricted set of interface options, visualization, object orientation, extensive use of a person’s recognition memory, and concurrent performance of functions.
Sophisticated Visual Presentation
Visual presentation is the visual aspect of the interface. It is what people see on the screen. The sophistication of a graphical system permits displaying lines, including drawings and icons. It also permits the displaying of a variety of character fonts, including different sizes and styles. The display of 16 million or more colors is possible on some screens. Graphics also permit animation and the presentation of photographs and motion video.
The meaningful interface elements visually presented to the user in a graphical system include windows (primary, secondary, or dialog boxes), menus (menu bar, pulldown, pop-up, cascading), icons to represent objects such as programs or files, assorted screen-based controls (text boxes, list boxes, combination boxes, settings, scroll bars, and buttons), and a mouse pointer and cursor. The objective is to reflect visually on the screen the real world of the user as realistically, meaningfully, simply, and clearly as possible.
Taken from : The Essential Guide to User Interface Design