Model-based intelligent user interface adaptation: challenges and future directions

Abstract

Adapting the user interface of a software system to the requirements of the context of use continues to be a major challenge, particularly when users become more demanding in terms of adaptation quality. A considerable number of methods have, over the past three decades, provided some form of modelling with which to support user interface adaptation. There is, however, a crucial issue as regards in analysing the concepts, the underlying knowledge, and the user experience afforded by these methods as regards comparing their benefits and shortcomings. These methods are so numerous that positioning a new method in the state of the art is challenging. This paper, therefore, defines a conceptual reference framework for intelligent user interface adaptation containing a set of conceptual adaptation properties that are useful for model-based user interface adaptation. The objective of this set of properties is to understand any method, to compare various methods and to generate new ideas for adaptation. We also analyse the opportunities that machine learning techniques could provide for data processing and analysis in this context, and identify some open challenges in order to guarantee an appropriate user experience for end-users. The relevant literature and our experience in research and industrial collaboration have been used as the basis on which to propose future directions in which these challenges can be addressed.

Command Selection

“…In the previous section, we highlighted design properties. However, some interfaces offer flexibility and modify these properties over time: the users can modify the interface themselves (adaptable method); or the system can modify the interface based on users' actions (adaptive method) (Abrahão et al 2021).…”

“…), or the environment (location, mobility, etc.) (Abrahão et al 2021). In practice, factors generally include item frequency, item recency, primacy, page visit duration, the previous executed command, current time and day, etc.…”

CA-BPEL: A New Approach to Facilitate the Development and Execution of Context-Aware Service Orchestrations

“…Recently, various studies applied the MDD approach for developing complex context-aware applications, which can adapt themselves to the context of use. For instance, in the area of human-computer interaction (HCI), studies such as Yigitbas et al (2020) and Abrahão et al (2021) have used MDD to facilitate the development of context-aware self-adaptive user interfaces (SAUIs). Yigitbas et al (2020) proposed a new approach, in which context information is modelled and transformed into a context service.…”

A Contextual Framework for Adaptive User Interfaces: Modelling the Interaction Environment

“…On the other hand, Abrahão et al [Abrahão et al 2021] proposed a conceptual reference framework for intelligent user interface adaptation with a set of conceptual adaptation properties that are crucial for model-based AUIs. While the authors mention an "Environmental Model" as a part of their "Context Model" that affects system adaptation, there is no formulation provided regarding the elements that define the environment and the role of their interactions.…”