Report on Dialogue Specification Tools

Abstract

In this report we have presented some of the issues pertaining to the notations used in UIMSs. At the present time there are a small number of implemented UIMSs, so there is some experience to draw upon. This is the first workshop of this nature where there has been a significant number of participants with implementation experience. This experience seemed to raise more issues than it resolved. The conclusion that can be drawn from this is there is still a considerable amount of work to be done in notations for UIMSs.One of the major problems encountered by this working group was the inability to compare different UIMSs. The systems discussed in this group have been used to produce user interfaces for different application areas, with different interaction styles and requirements. This makes it very difficult to compare the ease of use (for the user interface designer), and the quality of the resulting user interface. This problem would be partially solved by constructing a standard set of user interface problems. Each of the UIMSs could be used to solve these problems, and the results used as a means of comparison. This set of problems could be viewed as a benchmark test for user interface management systems. Along with developing the problems, techniques for measuring ease of use and the quality of the user interface must also be developed.