A simulation-driven approach to user interface specification based on a muliscale visual workspace for supporting collabrative creativity

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Harald Reiterer
• Subject Area: Software Engineering and Programming Languages
• Term: from 2009 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 134144091

User Interfaces (UIs) are a success-critical factor in corporate software development. Due to rising demands on corporate design and user experience, industrial practice seeks to increase the application of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) methods and techniques. Additionally, a shift from objectcentered to experience-centered UIs and a revolution in paradigms require increased focus on innovation in design. However, current UI specification practice lacks adequate integration of HCI methods and design techniques within interdisciplinary teams. Due to the tight coupling of HCI with Software Engineering (SE) in industrial practice, formal approaches are well established. While these are still of crucial interest in HCI research, they do not scale well to the demands on “experiencecentered” UIs. As innovative UI design is an inherently interdisciplinary process it is harmed by a lack of common understanding due to discipline-specific notations and languages. Based on our findings from observing industrial practice, we discovered a critical gap in communication between actors, which is based on fundamental differences in design thinking and engineering philosophies. A lack of support for explorative UI design approaches that are characterized by informal expressions and openended processes prevent non-technical stakeholders from participating in the design process. Within preliminary research, we were able to establish an agile method for interdisciplinary UI specification as an alternative to formal approaches. It combines interactive UI specification techniques with a spatial workspace that actively supports interdisciplinary actors within informal to formal UI specification tasks. Based on our findings from empirical studies we propose further research towards a combination of methods for explorative simulation of interactive systems and explicit creativity support as well as assistance for interdisciplinary collaboration. We are confident that a visual multiscale workspace for the simulation of UI concepts in interdisciplinary settings contributes to more innovation in UI design practice. With a common language in design and an accessible medium for collaborative requirements modeling combined with innovative visualization concepts, we will narrow the gaps between disciplines and will bridge work transitions to make the overall process of UI specification more fluid and tangible. In order to pursue our research goals, we will investigate theoretical methods and techniques within the domains of simulation, creativity support, interdisciplinary collaboration and information visualization to develop solutions that incorporate elaborated principles. Eventually, we will evaluate our measures based on case studies within lecture projects and in cooperation with our industrial partners.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants