Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Transport: a Fertile Ground
for the Plasticity of User Interfaces
11.1. Introduction
Until the first decade of the 21 st Century, User Interfaces (UIs) were designed
for a predetermined context of use, i.e. for a specific class of users, using a given
platform (generally a workstation), in a fixed physical and social environment (e.g.
at a desk). The UI was rigid, created for this specific context of use (<user, platform,
environment>). This context was presumed to be fixed, known from the design
stage, and intervened at the entry point of design methods [ISO 99]; see Figure 11.1.
Ambient intelligence creates a new paradigm: henceforth, the user is thought of as
mobile, evolving in a dynamic environment consisting of heterogeneous interaction
resources and being able to opportunistically target new goals. From this point on,
the hypothesis of fixed context of use is no longer valid and the rigidity of the UI is
no longer acceptable.
This chapter deals with the plasticity of UIs in ambient intelligence. Plasticity
denotes the ability of UIs to adapt to the context of use while respecting the user-
centered properties. Two viewpoints are developed: on the one hand, the point of
the end-user; on the other hand, the point of view of the system for the engineering
of plastic UIs. Both viewpoints are illustrated in the field of transport.
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