Knowledge-Based User Interface Design

摘要

A key problem in user interface design is delivering the design model on which a program is based in terms of the running software that users actually have to deal with. This article presents a methodology for helping programmers to explicitly state a design model and link it to the actual functions and data of the programs. Terms in the model are defined according to their relationship to a set of prebuilt abstract categories. The model so defined forms an explicit conceptual framework that enforces the consistency of the programmers' design, and provides the basis of user understanding of the program. Because the model is linked to actual program software, the connection of user understanding to the running code - the real user interface - is thus defined in terms of the explicit model. The methodology is presented in terms of techniques implemented in the Consul system, a knowledge-based environment for the design of integrated office automation software.