# User Interfaces

A smart home's thermostat, wall panel, phone app and voice assistant show how many user interfaces can control the same software.

Novice · OOP · Updated October 29, 2026

Let's dive a little deeper into the noun version of interface by first talking about user interfaces. User interfaces are easy to visualize and to understand.

In this example we will use a smart home as a sample application. Our goal is to control the temperature of our home. One common user interface may include a wall mounted thermostat.

![Simple thermostat user interface.](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/09/0579bd90d1dc4b2dbb3ced55084308b8.jpg "Simple thermostat user interface.")

Since this is a smart home application though, we may have a more sophisticated panel which could give us more control over programming temperatures in different rooms, or at different times of the day or year.

![Smart home panel](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/09/b416997d11e6456b9cdeb58842288de2.jpg "Smart home panel")

Our smart home application may even come with a mobile device application so that we can control the temperature from anywhere, as long as we have internet connectivity.

![Mobile UI design for smart home application](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/09/ba09e50fa4b24264b3c2cc92fc7a0e68.jpg "Mobile UI design for smart home application")

Many smart homes can even be controlled through voice activated devices.

![Voice activated smart home hub](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/09/23a5d494b10b450eb132e087cd2c6614.jpg "Voice activated smart home hub")

These are all examples of different User Interfaces that could control the climate of the same home. Each interface allows a user to interact with the software in a different way.

## Key terms

- User Interface

Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/what-is-an-interface-user-interfaces