Merging task-centered UI design with complex system development: a risky business

Abstract

Creating an effective user interface (UI) for a complex software system requires that a formal UI requirements gathering and evaluation process be integrated with the overall software development methodology. Various UI evaluation techniques that can be used to optimize UI development have been proposed, but often these techniques do not adequately address the complexity of developing other system components and integrating these components with the UI. We illustrate how a task-centered UI development and evaluation methodology can be adapted to fit as an integral part of Boehm's spiral model of software development, allowing the risk associated with UI development to be balanced effectively with risks associated with other system components. We describe our approach with results from the spiral development of a distributed data repository, including an extensive evaluation and review of the UI.