Model-Driven Development ofUserInterfaces: Promises and Challenges

In thispaperwe discuss promises and challenges ofmodel-driven development ofuserinterfaces. MDD'sdefining characteristic isthatdevelopment's primary focusand products aremodelsratherthancomputer programs. Theseaspects areveryimportant forHCI,asuser interface development iscomplex, multidisciplinary activity, whiletheimplementation platforms donotdirectly support manyofimportant high-level HCI concepts. Joining MDD andHCIcanbringmanyadvantages tobothfields. Inthe caseofHCI,itwouldenable moreefficient development of userinterfaces, usageofexisting standards, tools, andwider acceptance oftheseresults. On theotherhand,integrating human-computer interaction accomplishments intotheMDD approach canleadtowardcreation ofmorecomplete and betteraccessible solutions. Still, therearemany open problems. Oneofthemainchallenges istheabsence ofthe formal description ofrelevant HCIconcepts, whichinMDD should serve asthemetamodel.