Creation of Adaptive User Interfaces Through Reconfiguration of User Interface Models Using an Algorithmic Rule Generation Approach

Inefficient and error-prone interaction between human operators and technical systems was the reason for various catastrophic accidents in the past. User interfaces implement the communication between a human user and a technical system which is the reason why inaccurate design of user interfaces has been identified as one major factor for those errors. The use of adaptive user interfaces is one possible solution to reduce inefficient interaction by adapting the user interface to a specific user, task, or context. However, currently no self-contained formal approach exists that allows for the creation of adaptive user interfaces despite various advantages of formal methods: interaction becomes verifiable, formal methods close the gap between modeling and implementation by using executable formal languages, and they allow for using existing rewriting concepts making formal models adaptable. This paper introduces a new approach to a formal rule generation concept, which enables a flexible creation of adaptive user interfaces. This concept is based on a formal modeling and reconfiguration approach for the creation and adaptation of user interfaces. The applicability of this approach will be shown through an implementation of an adaptive user interface for adaptive automation. The main contribution of the presented work is a new concept for rule generation that is capable of adapting formally modeled user interfaces.