User Interface Knowledge Reuse and Multi-device User Interface Development

Abstract

Patterns play a more role on the knowledge use of the HCI domain. Many user interface (UI) patterns are well suited to identifying UI knowledge to strengthen reuse. Some UI pattern tools provide simulation capabilities and/or aid in the construction of concrete user interfaces. When it is desirable for the simulated or constructed interface to be realistic, different implementation architectures need to be built for every pattern because of lack of the uniform implementation mechanism, which has effect on the capability of UI knowledge reuse thoroughly. After the granularity of above patterns are shortened, a uniform UI pattern architecture (UUIPA) is proposed towards the engineering UI development. The architecture is based on MVC architecture which contains the interior data, the behavior control and presentation control. The three aspects come from Interaction Object (IO) extended from General Object in the conceptual model to Presentation Style (PS) used frequently by designers in the implementation model, which embodies the map relation from IO to PS. Through the visible customization, UI patterns are instantiate as various UI units meet needs of users. Additionally, the approach is also used to multi-device user interface development through extending PSs fitted to different devices gradually while keeping fixed IOs. A case study is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the UI pattern.