A context for user interface management

The design of the user interface management system (UIMS) is discussed within the context of the problems that it is intended to solve. The aim is not to review the various forms and strategies that have been proposed and used for UIMS development but rather to clarify the environment of a UIMS. The issues, which relate the services of a UIMS to the applications that it is intended to support, range along a continuum from the keystroke/transaction level, or micro level, to the macro level of integration across an entire application environment. Three examples are presented to illustrate the range of this continuum and the issues that arise at each level.