"Why is the control panel information on the LCD monitor illegible in bright light, and why is it impossible to change the currently displayed setup immediately?" asked Ms. Noriko Suzuki, who was in charge of the GUI(Graphical User Interface) of the E-3. "These were questions our users asked. The clear control panel of the E-500 was developed to solve these problems."

"With the E-410 and E-510, we leveraged the advantages of the easy-to-view GUI improved for the E-500 to create an intuitive, easy-to-use design suitable for the target users for each model.
"For the E-3, we went even further, reviewing even the design of the characters to ensure maximum legibility and easy viewing to support the highly reliable adjustment operations required for a flagship model.
"I once was told by a senior person: 'The fact that it is an SLR camera means it's a tool for professionals. Since it's a professional tool, it should be capable of taking pictures quickly. And it should be able to take good pictures without any setup, and to enable desired setup quickly - the problem lies in how to implement these two points in the operation system.
Therefore, for the E-3, I decided to that the 'professional feeling' should be reflected throughout the GUI.
"For example, when we thought about the kind of graphics that would be suitable for a professional digital SLR, we decided to adopt elegant monotonic colors like those used on the E-510, while giving the cursors colors that would maximize operability. Specifically, we paid more attention than ever to color definitions and shapes, asking ourselves questions like 'what is the state represented by this color?' and 'what is the most natural graphic for this kind of transition?'
"The result is a GUI that is truly intuitive throughout, flowing naturally from one step to another and allowing users to perform even complicated switching operations quickly and reliably.
"Even now, I still ask myself what are the best ways to maximize the ease of use of actual users and how can we create a camera that embodies all of these factors.

"We still have a long way to go - for example, we need a method to indicate the grouping when there are large number of pages and a control panel that is not inconvenient for partially color blind persons..." Ms. Suzuki stared into the distance, as if looking ahead to her next goal.