Model-based development of distributable user interfaces

Universal Access in the Information Society - The price drop of digital displays during the last decade has promoted the use of coupled-display ecosystems. This paper proposes a model-based...     

Evolutionary design of user interfaces for workflow information systems

In this paper we argue that user interface design should evolve from iterative to evolutionary in order to support the user interface development life cycle in a more flexible way. Evolutionary design consists of taking any input that informs to the lifecycle at any level of abstraction and its propagation through inferior and superior levels (vertical engineering) as well as the same level (horizontal engineering). This lifecycle is particularly appropriate when requirements are incomplete, partially unknown or to be discovered progressively. We exemplify this lifecycle by a methodology for developing user interfaces of workflow information systems. The methodology involves several models (i.e., task, process, workflow, domain, context of use) and steps. The methodology applies model-driven engineering to derive concrete user interfaces from a workflow model imported into a workflow management system in order to run the workflow. Instead of completing each model step by step, any model element is either derived from early requirements or collected in the appropriate model before being propagated in the subsequent steps. When more requirements are elicited, any new element is added at the appropriate level, consolidated with the already existing elements, and propagated to the subsequent levels. A workflow editor has been developed to support the methodology.     

多设备环境下的界面代码生成方法

针对多设备用户界面的多平台性和交互性,提出了一种基于模型的界面设计方法。该方法强调界面数据结构的行为表达及其间的交互关系,支持不同平台上的界面自动生成,提高了界面设计的抽象层次。     

Cognitive work analysis and the design of user interfaces

When a user interface needs to be designed for a task that depends on information integration, such as navigation, very few theoretical tools are available. Cognitive task analysis (CTA) and hierarchical task analysis (HTA) are the basic analysis techniques. A choice between them depends on the type of task or objective at hand. In this article, it is argued that for interface design a combination of CTA and HTA forms the basis of the interface definition. When this expanded to a full cognitive work analysis (CWA), it will form the human-factors analysis required for the user-interface design.     

High-level design for user and component interfaces

Component-based software architecture is very important for current software engineering practice because (a) it is the basis for re-use of software at the component level, and (b) in distributed systems, the physical distribution of an application over separate computers represents a decomposition of the application. Typical e-commerce applications consist of various components sometimes belonging to different organizations, and presenting different user interfaces to various categories of users. We review in this paper the current trend in standards for inter-component communication in distributed systems, including various forms of remote procedure calls (RPC) and message passing, and paradigms for describing and implementing user interfaces in the Web environment. We discuss whether the user interface can also be described, at an abstract level, by RPC primitives. In the second part of the paper, we discuss the importance of indicating which party is responsible for making certain decisions for selecting control flow alternatives and certain parameter values. This leads to some guidelines for describing system behavior scenarios at the requirements level. We also discuss how this approach can be integrated with screen-oriented behavior definitions.     

Developing adaptable user interfaces for component-based systems

Software components are becoming increasingly popular design and implementation technologies that can be plugged and played to provide user-enhanceable software. However, developing software components with user interfaces that can be adapted to diverse reuse situations is challenging. Examples of such adaptations include extending, composing and reconfiguring multiple component user interfaces, and adapting component user interfaces to particular user preferences, roles and subtasks. We describe our recent work in facilitating such adaptation via the concept of user interface aspects, which support effective component user interface design and realisation using an extended, component-based software architecture.     

End user dialogue context management of office automation systems

Office work is situated social action, a notion that includes both the social actions of computer systems in their interactions with office workers and other computer systems. This notion can be operationalized by dialogue context, which can then be used as a design parameter in office information systems. Observational data were collected by video recording a secretary's activities over an 8 hour duration. The data were analysed and discussed with the secretary to identify her action units. These action units were then related using an action graph. An interpretation of the action graph and observational data suggest certain features that a dialogue context management mechanism should have. They are: (1) a good match between applications and activities, (2) automated tools to support routine activities, and (3) informative and manageable metaphor to model the real world.     

High-level user interfaces for transfer function design with semantics

Many sophisticated techniques for the visualization of volumetric data such as medical data have been published. While existing techniques are mature from a technical point of view, managing the complexity of visual parameters is still difficult for non-expert users. To this end, this paper presents new ideas to facilitate the specification of optical properties for direct volume rendering. We introduce an additional level of abstraction for parametric models of transfer functions. The proposed framework allows visualization experts to design high-level transfer function models which can intuitively be used by non-expert users. The results are user interfaces which provide semantic information for specialized visualization problems. The proposed method is based on principal component analysis as well as on concepts borrowed from computer animation.     

Model-based testing of software for automation systems using heuristics and coverage criterion

Software and Systems Modeling - The aim of this work is to increase the confidence on software for automation systems defining a coverage criterion to measure the quality level of generated tests...     

From user interface design to the support of intelligent and adaptive interfaces: an overhaul of user interface software infrastracture

Research on adaptive interfaces in the past has lacked support from user interface tools which allow interfaces to be easily created and modified. Also, current user interface tools provide no support for user models which can collect task-oriented information about users. Developing an adaptive interface requires a user model and an adaptation strategy. It also, however, requires a user interface which can be adapted. The latter task is often time-consuming, especially in relation to more sophisticated user interfaces.

The paper presents a user interface design environment, UIDE, which has a different software infrastracture. Designers use high-level specifications to create a model of an application and links from the application to various interface components. The model is the heart of all the design and run-time support in UIDE, including automatic dialog sequencing and help generation. UIDE provides automatic support for collecting task-oriented information about users, by the use of its high-level specifications in its application model as a basic construct for a user model. Some examples of adaptive interfaces and adaptive help are presented that use the information that is collectable in UIDE.     

Permissive user interfaces

User interfaces often only support one way to do a task when the physical interface or the requirements of the task would permit other ways. In contrast, a user interface that supports multiple approaches is permissive. This paper argues that permissive user interfaces are easier to use—and even when they are not applicable for particular applications, considering permissiveness is a productive design heuristic.Many user interfaces are difficult to use yet very easily demonstrated or explained by experts—with the results that users become frustrated because hindsight makes usability problems look like the user's own fault. The lack of permissiveness in such user interfaces explains this paradox.     

Defining user experience goals to guide the design of industrial systems

The key prerequisite for experience-driven design is to define what experience to design for. User experience (UX) goals concretise the intended experience. Based on our own case studies from industrial environments and a literature study, we propose five different approaches to acquiring insight and inspiration for UX goal setting: Brand, Theory, Empathy, Technology, and Vision. Each approach brings in a different viewpoint, thus supporting the multidisciplinary character of UX. The Brand approach ensures that the UX goals are in line with the company's brand promise. The Theory approach utilises the available scientific knowledge of human behaviour. The Empathy approach focuses on knowing the actual users and stepping into their shoes. The Technology approach considers the new technologies that are being introduced and their positive or negative influence on UX. Finally, the Vision approach focuses on renewal, introducing new kinds of UXs. In the design of industrial systems, several stakeholders are involved and they should share common design goals. Using the different UX goal-setting approaches together brings in the viewpoints of different stakeholders, thus committing them to UX goal setting and emphasising UX as a strategic design decision.     

Model-based human-centered task automation: a case study in ACC system design

Engineers, business managers, and governments are increasingly aware of the importance and difficulty of integrating technology and humans. The presence of technology can enhance human comfort, efficiency, and safety, but the absence of human-factors analysis can lead to uncomfortable, inefficient, and unsafe systems. Systematic human-centered design requires a basic understanding of how humans generate and manage tasks. A very useful model of human behavior generation can be obtained by recognizing the task-specific role of mental models in not only guiding execution of skills but also managing initiation and termination of these skills. By identifying the human operator's mental models and using them as templates for automating different tasks, we experimentally support the hypothesis that natural and safe interaction between human operator and automation is facilitated by this model-based human-centered approach. The design of adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems is used as a case study in the design of model-based task automation systems. Such designs include identifying ecologically appropriate perceptual states, identifying perceptual triggering events for managing transitions between skilled behaviors, and coordinating the actions of automation and operator.     

Multipurpose prototypes for assessing user interfaces in pervasive computing systems

In pervasive computing systems, prototypes serve several uses and have different requirements related to those uses. We've developed CogTool to enable low-cost, rapid construction of interactive prototypes that serve all three UI purposes. CogTools core prototyping technique is storyboarding -specifically, interactive storyboarding using HTML. Rather than covering all possible pervasive systems, CogTool focuses on systems involving deliberate commands that the user invokes by some motor action. Such systems include PDAs, cell phones, handheld terminals (such as those used by rental car return personnel), in-vehicle driver information systems, and certain wearable computers that run desktop- or PDA-like applications.     

The most important design guideline? [user interfaces]

The activity of "design" includes many things, but certainly one of the most important aspects is interface specification. Interfaces determine which aspects of a component are accessible and to whom; they thus determine encapsulation. Interfaces specify what functionality (data, properties, methods, and so forth) is available to clients. Interfaces reflect how a system is broken down into its constituent components. Regardless of our role in the development of a software system, it almost certainly involves some interface design, so it's helpful to have some heuristics that indicate when we're doing it well-or poorly. We've come to the conclusion that the most important general design guideline is interface should be easy to use correctly and hard to use incorrectly. This guideline leads to a conclusion that some developers find unsettling.     

EDA技术在现代电路与系统设计中的应用

本文介绍了ISP硬件电路设计技术，借助模拟信号检测仪的研制过程，说明用ISP技术设计现代电路与系统的方法及具有的优点。     

Customization of user interfaces to reduce errors and enhance user acceptance

Customization is assumed to reduce error and increase user acceptance in the human–machine relation. Reconfiguration gives the operator the option to customize a user interface according to his or her own preferences. An experimental study with 72 computer science students using a simulated process control task was conducted. The reconfiguration group (RG) interactively reconfigured their user interfaces and used the reconfigured user interface in the subsequent test whereas the control group (CG) used a default user interface. Results showed significantly lower error rates and higher acceptance of the RG compared to the CG while there were no significant differences between the groups regarding situation awareness and mental workload. Reconfiguration seems to be promising and therefore warrants further exploration.     

User preferences for adaptive user interfaces in health information systems

An adaptive user interface requires identification of user requirements. Interface designers and engineers must understand end-user interaction with the system to improve user interface design. A combination of interviews and observations is applied for user requirement analysis in health information systems (HIS). Then, user preferences are categorized in this paper as either data entry, language and vocabulary, information presentation, or help, warning and feedback. The user preferences in these categories were evaluated using the focus group method. Focus group sessions with different types of HIS users comprising medical staff (with and without computer skills) and system administrators identified each user group’s preference for the initial adaptation of the HIS user interface. User needs and requirements must be identified to adapt the interface to users during data entry into the system. System designers must understand user interactions with the system to identify their needs and preferences. Without this, interface design cannot be adapted to users and users will not be comfortable using the system and eventually abandon its use.     

The Light-Wall: tangible user interfaces for learning systems thinking

This paper presents the design of the Light-Wall, a tangible user interface aimed at teaching children the core principles of systems thinking. This document presents the design problem, process and solution.