An Ontology-Based Method for Universal Design of User Interfaces

During the past years, a lot of user interface descrip-tion languages, most of them based on XML, have been introduced. At the same time, the use of formal ontolo-gies for describing user interfaces has been discussed for a number of use cases. This paper discusses the differences between a formal ontologies and user inter-face description languages and and points out how both research directions can benefit from each other.

International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems, 2000

Semantic User Interfaces (SUIs), are sets of interrelated, static, domain specific documents having layout and content, whose interpretation is defined through semantic decoration. SUIs are declarative in nature. They allow program composition by the user herself at the user interface level. The operation of SUI based applications follow a service oriented approach. SUI elements referenced in user requests are automatically mapped to reusable service provider components, whose contracts are specified in domain ontologies. This assures semantic separation of user interface components from elements of the underlying application system infrastructure, which allows full separation of concerns during system development; real, application independent, reusable components; user editable applications and generic learnability. This article presents the architecture and components of a SUI framework, basic elements of SUI documents and relevant properties of domain ontologies for SUI document...

2004

In a Multiple User Interfaces (MUI) context, several models must be defined and adapted (tasks, user, domain…). Abstract models are progressively enriched in concrete models using pattern libraries and filtering processes. In this paper, we define the central role of the interaction model in MUI design and specification. This model manages the interaction between the user and the application, and ensures the link between task models, abstract interfaces and the functional core of the application. In our approach, we use AMF, a multi-agent and multi-facet architecture, to define the interaction model. We describe the structure and behavior of an AMF-based interactive system that provides multiple user interfaces.

International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems, 2000

Ontologies have been increasingly used in software systems in the past years. In many of those systems, however, the ontologies are hidden "under the hood". While a lot of useful applications of ontologies on the database and business logic layer have been proposed, the employment of ontologies in user interfaces has been gaining comparatively little attention so far. For providing a deeper understanding of that field as well as assisting developers of ontologyenhanced user interfaces, we give an overview of such applications and introduce a schema for characterizing the requirements of ontology-enhanced user interfaces. With this article, we present a state of the art survey of approaches and identify promising research directions.

2004

Abstract User interfaces to information systems can be considered systematic as they consist of two types of tasks performed on classes of a domain model: basic tasks performed on one class at a time (such as insert, delete, modify, sort, list, print) and complex tasks performed on parts or whole of one or several classes (eg, tasks involving various attributes of different classes with constraints between and establishing relationships between).

… Issues in User Interface Systems Engineering. New …, 1996

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is concerned with developing computer-based systems which help people undertake their work or other activities and which demonstrate a high degree of usability. Both the process of development and the various products which are produced during development are critical to the success of the final human-computer system. Within HCI there is an increasing awareness of the importance of developing abstract representations -or models -of the area of activity which is to be the subject of the system. Such a representation is known as a domain model. However, there are a number of competing candidates for domain models. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these? In this paper, the philosophical and practical aspects of developing domain models of HCI are discussed.

The convergence of the Internet, mobile telephony, and hand-held technologies has led to the emergence of new kinds of internet-based interactive systems. Such systems can allow a single or a group of users to interact with the server-side services using different kinds of devices. In this technological context, a Multiple User Interface (MUI) refers to an interactive system that provides both multiple views of the information and coordinates the services provided to a user. The desired views are made available on different platforms, operating systems, user interface toolkits and on a large array of devices. Each view should take into account the specific capabilities and constraints of the platform. This paper begins by describing a set of constraints and characteristics intrinsic to multiple user interfaces, and then by examining the impacts of these constraints on the specification, design and validation processes. Then, it describes the research opportunities in important topics relevant to MUI development and usability including cross-platform usability, adaptation, task model-based and pattern-oriented design.

2012

An abstract user interface is defined according the Cameleon Reference Framework as a user interface supporting an interactive task abstracted from its implementation, independently of any target computing platform and interaction modality. While an abstract user interface could be specified in isolation, it could also be produced from various models such as a task model, a domain model, or a combination of both, possibly based on information describing the context of use (i.e., the user, the platform, and the environment). This paper presents a general-purpose algorithm that systematically generates all potential abstract user interfaces from a task model as candidates that could then be refined in two ways: removing irrelevant candidates based on constraints imposed by the temporal operators and grouping or ungrouping candidates according to constraints imposed by the context of use. A model-driven engineering environment has been developed that applies this general-purpose algorithm with multiple levels of refinement ranging from no contextual consideration to fullcontext consideration. This algorithm is exemplified on a some sample interactive application to be executed in various contexts of use, such as different categories of users using different platforms for the same task.

2009

Modularization is almost the only feasible way of implementing large-scale applications. For user interfaces, interactions involving more than one module generate dependencies between modules. In this paper, we present a framework that uses ontologies for building UIs from independent, loosely coupled modules. In an example scenario, we show how that framework is used to build an application for emergency management.

2011

ABSTRACT This paper describes a model-driven engineering approach for specifying, designing, and generating consistent behaviors in graphical user interfaces in multiple contexts of use, ie different users using different computing platforms in different physical environments. This methodological approach is structured according to the levels of abstraction of the Cameleon Reference Framework: task and domain, abstract user interface, concrete user interface, and final user interface.