The UI pilot: a model-based tool to guide early interface design

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we introduce the User Interface Pilot, a model-based software tool that enables designers and engineers to create the initial specifications for the pages of a website, or for the screens of a desktop or mobile application. The tool guides the design of these specifications, commonly known as wireframes, in a user-centered fashion by framing the context of the design within the concepts of user tasks, user types, and data objects. Unlike previous model-based tools, the User Interface Pilot does not impose a rigid model-driven methodology and functions well within common software engineering development processes. The tool has been used in over twenty real-world user interface design projects.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Prototyping

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: User interfaces; Computer-aided software engineering (CASE); Evolutionary prototyping

  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: User-centered design; Theory and methods; User interface management systems (UIMS)

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Human Factors, Languages

Keywords:
XIML, knowledge-based user interface design, model-based user interface development, user interface models, user interface tools, wireframes