Useware Engineering: process support for the systematic development of user interfaces

Less time is available today for the development of user interfaces as a result of the growing complexity of business processes and ever shorter product life cycles. In such an environment, the clear definition of requirements and a rapid, systematic implementation becomes even more important. This is why ZMMI developed a systematic process for the design of user interfaces, a process which is still undergoing advanced development.

We begin with a comprehensive analysis of the factors that influence user interfaces and then, in an iterative, user group oriented process, we design the structure of the future, hardware independent, user interface. Only after this is complete can we undertake the rough and detailed programming of the screen masks and interactive elements. A model-based approach is selected to insure the data obtained in the analysis is considered in the ongoing development of the appropriate structures and provided for further use.