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The authors present a brief survey on the evolution of user interface (UI) development technology, especially over the past two decades, shaped by the desktop, Web, and mobile eras. From the technology mainstream, the authors describe form-oriented, template-based, object-oriented, hybrid, and declarative frameworks and address model-driven and generic approaches. The focus of this article is on a framework of UI development concerns and how these have been addressed in each analyzed technology or group of technologies. At the end, the authors summarize current issues and future directions of UI development in general.

Software developers face many difficult decisions when building new applications, not the least of which is the design of the graphical user interface. The answer to one question-is it better to use a GUI development tool or build it manually?-is relatively straightforward. Today's tools offer several benefits that manual coding does not. Because these tools often provide a simple graphical interface for developing displays, nonprogrammers and human factors engineers can contribute their expertise. Also, if the schedule permits, a tool can be used to build prototypes throughout the development cycle; some tools even provide a test/prototype mode for testing displays without compiling and executing the entire application. And finally, end users can evaluate each prototype and provide feedback, increasing their satisfaction with the final product.

The author describes Mobi-D (Model-Based Interface Designer), a comprehensive environment that supports user-centered design through model-based interface development. In the Mobi-D paradigm, a series of declarative models, such as user-task, dialog, and presentation, are interrelated to provide a formal representation of an interface design. This contrasts to model-based systems, which use only one or two models in isolation and have no explicit notion as to how the various model elements are organized into an interface design.

Intermediates (those who are neither beginners nor old hands, and who make up most of the user population) are perhaps the most neglected user segment in terms of interface design, yet there are possibly more intermediate users than beginners or experts. The author urges interface designers to take note of this segment and details a transitional interface well-suited for bridging the gap between novice and expert. >

Describes tools, techniques and concepts to optimize user interfaces. Increasingly, individual tools are being replaced by programming environments, which increase productivity and usability by tight integration with and knowledge of the user's working context. An integrated environment provides several benefits, such as preventing users from making mistakes that cause rework. Recently, as integrated environments have demonstrated higher levels of usability and the ability to enhance productivity, experienced developers have overcome their resistance to them.

Describes tools, techniques, and concepts to optimize user interfaces. The best way to ensure that a software system is friendly and works is to base it on the intended users' mental models (how they view the world), knowledge structures (what they know and how they have organized it), and work processes. The author uses a team of engineers to systematically acquire and analyze user and domain knowledge and to translate that knowledge into user-interface design decisions. This front-end analysis method, combined with knowledge-acquisition techniques, lets one build user-centered systems. >

Have you ever wondered why some icons don't seem remotely related to their functions, while others are wonderfully intuitive? The reason may very well be the lack of user involvement in choosing metaphors and defining their behaviors. The author passes on his company's tools, techniques, and concepts to optimize user interfaces, and for ensuring that good metaphors are included as part of interface design. >

Tools, techniques, and concepts to optimize user interfaces are presented. Many aspects of usability can best be studied by simply asking the users. This is especially true for issues related to user satisfaction and anxiety, which are hard to measure objectively. Questionnaires and interviews are two methods you can use to determine how people use a system and what features they particularly like or dislike. Both methods are indirect: they do not study the interface itself but rather users' opinions about it.

Focus groups are a somewhat informal technique that can help you assess user needs and feeling both before interface design and long after implementation. In a focus group, you bring together six to nine users to discuss issues and concerns about the features of a user interface. The group typically lasts about two hours and is run by a moderator who maintains the group's focus. Focus groups often bring out users' spontaneous reactions and ideas and let you observe some group dynamics and organizational issues. The paper discusses the use and misuse of focus groups.

Discusses one of the most basic topics in user-interface design: how to run a user test. No matter how good we are at designing a user interface, we must always test it with real users to see whether it is as usable as we hope. The three main rules of user testing are: get real users, have them do real tasks, and shut up while they are trying. Tools, techniques and concepts to optimize user interfaces are described, and ethical issues are discussed.

Multiuser systems force interface designers to consider a web of interacting users. Our challenge is to design interfaces that help users understand not only how the application program works, but also how work within the organization itself is done. Future organizational applications thus demand that interface design goes well beyond graphical representations and interactive dialogues. We must design interfaces that make relevant organizational resources comprehensible and accessible to users. >