Deciding Layers: Adaptive Composition of Layers in a Multi- Layer User Interface

We discuss the composition of layers in a Multi-Layer User Interface. Specifically, we define Features Layers to be layers composed of features from a single category (e.g. photo editing features might make up one feature layer and text formatting features another). We contrast this with Mixed Layers or layers that contain a mix of features from many categories. The finergrained Feature Layers give users greater control over the exact features added to the application. We also present two new methods for automatically adding new layers to an interface based on the user’s prior experience with similar applications and based on how the application is launched. We describe a blogging application we have implemented to explore these concepts.