Automating user interface design

Abstract

In assistive systems that include humans, the human-computer interface provides the substrate for all collaboration. Good user interface design is difficult for even non-assistive applications; the introduction of automated reasoning and agent capabilities only aggravates the problems of human interaction with automation. We have identified a need for a process that mediates between software agents and humans, dynamically adjusts to the situation, and presents a well designed user interface to allow the human to fully collaborate. We report on one such system, ADIEU. We are currently applying ADIEU to joint forces military search and rescue (SAR) operations. The system we are developing, called Search and Rescue Assistant (SARA), is intended to support SAR operations by providing task assistance in an environment where human and software agents act independently as well as collaborate with others to perform search and rescue operations. This effort has provided us with an opportunity to apply and evaluate promising agent architecture and communications concepts, and to develop a testbed for our approach to facilitating human collaboration via dynamic design using ADIEU. The paper presents a current status of ADIEU.