Usage-centered design of adaptable visualization services: Aplication to cooperation support services system in the AEC sector

Abstract

In the Architecture, Engineering and Construction sector (AEC) cooperation between actors is essential for project success. The analysis of the cooperation context enables the identification of the "usages" carried out by each actor of a construction project when cooperating with others. It constitutes an important issue in highly collaborative domains. This article suggests a usage-centered process to design Adaptable Visualization Services. A Model-Driven Engineering lets us to describe usages, visualization services, business services and business domain and to define the relationships between their concepts. This method, inspired from UI design methods from software engineering or HCI domains, is integrated in an innovative service design process which guides the visualization services discovery, specification, development and appropriation by the end-users. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.