1. User Interface Design By The User

A framework for describing user interface semantics of programs

• RuiMatos: I'd like to mention an essay by Tuomo Valkonen which some of you may already know. I think it has some fundamentally good ideas which should at least be present when discussing how to advance the GNOME development platform. It contains ideas of how to solve various issues raised elsewhere on this page like various levels of configuration (which as MurrayCumming says the current practice seems to point that they souldn't exist at all, yet IMO the VIS approach is much more abstract and elegant) and, more importantly, accessibility (including blind users) and porting apps to embedded devices which don't usually have high definition displays. I'll only copy here the abstract:

"We propose a thin framework for describing user interface semantics of programs. A user interface matching a user's preferences can then with the help of stylesheets be generated automatically based on this description while also ensuring system-wide consistency of user interfaces and taking the burden of designing user interfaces away from the application programmer."

• I'll only leave one more note: Mr. Valkonen isn't exactly a gnome or GTK fan and sometimes makes some harsh comments about them. Yet I urge anyone reading the essay to look at the content and the fundamental ideas therein which I find trully enlightening.

  • AndersFeder: I think this is a brilliant idea which deserves way more attention. Imagine how your desktop and applications might adapt seamlessly to work with new interface technologies as they emerge. And how you may be able to access any widget on your computer from any internet device with buttons (or other input) in the world. Also, if we use RDF for the semantics, it would put the UI in touch with the vast Semantic Web and its technologies such as ontology mapping (jotted down some thoughts on this at AndersFeder/SemanticUI).