Generative pattern-based design of user interfaces

Abstract

This paper suggests a method for developing graphical user interfaces based on generative patterns. A generative pattern contains portions of previously designed user interfaces are expressed through models that are either partially or totally instantiated. These portions could be identified and re-applied to a new design case study by generating code by instantiating the specifications contained in the models. The method involves typical models found in user interface development life cycle such as task, domain, abstract user interface, concrete user interface, final user interface, context model, and mappings between them. Any model could virtually be the source of a pattern and could be described, searched, matched, retrieved, and assembled together so as to create a new graphical user interface. For this purpose, a software has been developed that manages generative patterns by combining an existing user interface description language (UsiXML -- user interface extensible markup language) with concepts addressing problems raised by pattern description and matching in a pattern-based language (PLML -- Pattern Language Markup Language, a language was introduced to uniformly represent user interface patterns). Once instantiated from the generative patterns, the models give rise to a model-driven engineering based on model-to-model transformation and model-to-code compilation.