Issues in the Evaluation of User Interface Tools

. We define a framework for the evaluation of user interface construction tools in terms of six software engineering qualities. These qualities are understood in terms of who judges the quality -- developer or end user; and what artifact is judged -- the development tool itself or the systems it produces. We identify four classes of evaluation techniques: functional inspection, architectural inspection, direct developer input, and benchmarking. We then examine each of the quality factors and discuss the effectiveness of different evaluation techniques for each. 1 Introduction The evaluation and selection of user interface construction tools is a difficult problem. Such tools must be evaluated on criteria relative to the use of the tool and on criteria relative to the tool vendor and its support for the tool. The criteria relative to the use of the tool are those things called quality attributes such as functionality, support for modifiability, reusability, and cost of use to develop o..