Toward More Understandable User Interface Specifications

Many different methods have been used to specify user interfaces: algebraic specification, grammars, task description languages, transition diagrams with and without extensions, rule-based systems, and by demonstration. However, none of these methods has been widely adopted. Current user interfaces are still built by writing a program, perhaps with the aid of a UIMS. There are two principal reasons for this. First, specification languages are difficult to use. Reading a specification and understanding its exact meaning is very difficult. Writing a correct specification is even more difficult. Second, most specification languages are not executable. This means that after the user interface programmer makes the effort to write a specification, the user interface must still be coded. As a consequence, most programmers have little incentive to do a specification. A pilot study into the comprehensibility of specifications is described. The results of this study suggest that user interface s..