A methodology for task-oriented user interfaces

For the design of CIM applications and areas with spacial and graphic interaction requirements user interface design methods and tools suffer from a lack of flexibility to tailor man-machine interfaces to the tasks and the mental model of end users. The reason for that is found in the general purpose approach of man-machine interface design tools. The tools and resulting user interfaces are usually influenced by the techniques of well-known desktop metapher in office automation applications and provide only common interaction techniques like menus, command lines, buttons etc. Therefore, the first step in designing task-oriented user interfaces is to develop a user model which describes the knowledge and the expectations of the specific user community of CIM applications and a task model which describes the specific problems to be solved with the system. The second step is to develop the man-machine interface tailored to the specific user and task models. For this purpose dialogue desig ners need specification techniques and design architectures that allow to describe all the individual aspects of task-oriented interactions.