DIADEM: A Method for User Interface Development

Abstract

The paper describes the major industrial stakes related to user interface development that the providers of information systems have to face. The DIADEM method is then presented. This method provides an appropriate way for domain experts to express their needs, for software developers to express their constraints, and for human factors specialists to express their knowledge, giving them all the possibility to integrate their analysis with a common understanding, which is supported by simple formalisms and early prototyping. The method is widely used internally in the Thomson Group.

The goal of the ESPRIT project DIAMANTA is to validate the DIADEM approach in a wider range of application domains and contexts before performing a full integration of this method in the partners’ development process. Furthermore, a framework for the deployment of the method in new projects and organisations is prepared. Finally, one of the applications developed in the scope of the DIAMANTA project is described together with its expected benefits. This application was developed by ISA, and provides both graphical and telephone-based user interfaces. It will use and customise the DIADEM method in order to generally define the dialogues for both parts of the user interface.