Keynotes

User Interface Plasticity: MDE to the limit!

Prof. Joëlle Coutaz
University of Grenoble
Grenoble Informatics Laboratory (LIG)
BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
joelle.coutaz@imag.fr
http://iihm.imag.fr/coutaz

Abstract
Ten years ago, I introduced the notion of UI plasticity to denote the capacity of user interfaces to adapt, or to be adapted, to the context of use while preserving usability. The Model Driven Engineering (MDE) approach, which has been used for UI generation since the early eighties in HCI, has recently been revived to address this complex problem. Although MDE has resulted in interesting and convincing results for conventional WIMP user interfaces, it has not yet fully demonstrated its theoretical promise. In this talk, I will show how to push MDE to the limits in order to reconcile high-level modeling techniques with low-level programming and thus go beyond current WIMP user interfaces.

Model Engineering for Model-Driven Engineering

Prof. Axel van Lamsweerde
University of Louvain
Department of Computing Science and Engineering
Place Sainte Barbe, 2, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
avl@info.ucl.ac.be
http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/~avl/

Abstract
The effectiveness of MDE relies on our ability to build high-quality models. This task is intrinsically difficult. We need to produce sufficiently complete, adequate, consistent, and well-structured models from incomplete, imprecise, and sparse material originating from multiple, often conflicting sources. The system we need to consider in the early stages comprises software and environment components including people and devices.

Such models should integrate the intentional, structural, functional, and behavioral facets of the system being developed. Rigorous techniques are needed for model construction, analysis, and evolution. They should support early and incremental reasoning about partial models for a variety of purposes, including satisfaction arguments, property checks, animations, the evaluation of alternative options, the analysis of risks, threats and conflicts, and traceability management. The tension between technical precision and practical applicability calls for a suitable mix of heuristic, deductive, and inductive forms of reasoning on a suitable mix of declarative and operational models. Formal techniques should be deployed only when and where needed, and kept hidden wherever possible.

The talk will provide a retrospective account of our research efforts and practical experience along this route, including recent progress in model engineering for safety-critical medical workflows. Problem-oriented abstractions, analyzable models, and constructive techniques are pervasive concerns.

Last update: October 10, 2010