Object-Oriented Models in User Interface Design

© 1997 Copyright on this material is held by the authors.

INTRODUCTION

Objects have been used as the informal basis for the conceptual design of interactive systems for at least a decade. Given recent advances in the development of object-oriented modeling languages and methodologies, it is now timely to re-evaluate the role of object-modeling during the process of user interface design.

OO MODELING AND USER INTERFACE DESIGN

User interface design techniques which incorporate object-oriented modeling techniques, e.g. [1], [2], to depict the domain, core objects, and interactive capabilities of an application have significant advantages, including the following:

1. Object models act as a reference to the current state of a system design, and serve as a means of communication between user interface designers and system analysts and designers.
2. Object models act as a focus for the user interface design process, providing a framework in which to view user tasks and the interactive capabilities of a putative system.
3. Object models of interactive systems enable the specification of tasks and/or user actions. These specifications, which may be either formal or informal, are written in terms of state changes in an object model of an interactive system.
4. The rigorous approach offered by the combination of object modeling and user interface design form a solid foundation for subsequent implementation efforts.

Looking to the future, it is likely that object-oriented modeling will become a standard part of the system life-cycle. Consequently, it is of fundamental importance that the user interface design community provide methodologies that work in conjunction with object-oriented system analysis and design methodologies.

GOALS

The goals of the workshop are to bring together user interface design practitioners and methodologists in order to:

1. Survey current practice and theory in object-oriented user interface design.
2. Formulate an integrated approach to object modeling within the user interface design life-cycle.

ISSUES

Dominant issues which the workshop will address in position papers and in small group discussions are:

• The role of object-oriented modeling techniques within user interface design methodologies
• A general framework for the integration of object-oriented and user interface design methods.
• Relating user interface design artifacts to object models.
• Notations for object-oriented user interface design.
• Description of users' interaction through use cases.
• The effects of interaction style on the structure of object models.
• Abstract object-oriented architectures and patterns for interactive system specification.
• Appropriate levels of formality during the design process.
• Systematic techniques for the revelation of domain objects and states at the user interface.
• Tool support for object-oriented user interface design.

REFERENCES

1. van Harmelen, M., "Object-Oriented Modeling and Specification for User Interface Design", in Patern", F., Interactive Systems: Design, Specification and Verification, Springer, 1995, 199-231.
2. van Harmelen, M., "Melding Object Modeling and User Interface Design", Object Expert, SIGS, Nov./Dec. 1996, 30-37.