A Glass Box Approach to Adaptive Hypermedia

Utilising intelligent interface techniques in the design of systems introduces certain risks. An intelligent interface is not static, but will actively adapt to the perceived needs of the user. Unless carefully designed, these changes may lead to an unpredictable, obscure and uncontrollable interface. Therefore the design of intelligent interfaces must ensure that users can inspect the intelligent mechanisms, and control their results. One way to do this is to rely on the user's understanding of the application and the domain, and relate the adaptivity mechanisms to domain-specific concepts. We present an example of an adaptive hypertext help system POP, which is being built according to these principles, and discuss the design considerations and empirical findings that lead to this design. 1 Introduction Utilising intelligent interface techniques in interactive systems introduces certain risks. An intelligent interface is not static, but will actively adapt to the perceive..