Skip to main content

Including Design Guidelines in the Formal Specification of Interfaces in Z

  • Conference paper
ZB 2005: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B (ZB 2005)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 3455))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

For any sort of computer system, the problems of being sure you have asked for the right thing and then being sure you are implementing the right thing are important and hard problems. For systems with a graphical user interface there are the analogous additional problems of making sure that the interface allows any interaction that is required, and works in a usable way. Design guidelines are used in both the design and evaluation of user interfaces to try and ensure that the systems we build are both usable and conform to specific requirements. This paper discusses practical ways in which we can use formal methods to model guidelines for interface design and then use these as a basis for the formal proof that a specified system has the desired properties described in the guidelines.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Apple Human Interface Guidelines (2004), available at, http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/index.html

  2. GNOME Human Interface Guidelines (1.0) (2002), available at, http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/1.0/

  3. Isys Information Architects Inc., Interface Hall of Shame, http://digilander.libero.it/chiediloapippo/Engineering/iarchitect/target.htm

  4. Bodard, F., Hennebert, A., Leheureux, J., Vanderdonckt, J.: Towards a Dynamic Strategy for Computer-Aided Visual Placement. In: Catarci, T., Costabile, M., Levialdi, S., Santucci, G. (eds.) Proceedings of Advanced Visual Interfaces, pp. 78–87 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bowen, J.: Formal Specification and Documentation Using Z. A Case Study Approach. International Thomson Computer Press (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dix, A., Runciman, C.: Abstract models of interactive systems. In: Jonhson, P., Cook, S. (eds.) People and Computers: Designing the Interface, pp. 13–22. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G., Beale, R.: Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall Europe, Englewood Cliffs (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Duke, D., Harrison, M.: Abstract Interaction Objects. Computer Graphics Forum 12(3), C-25–C-26 (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Duke, D., Harrison, M.: Interaction and task requirements. In: Palanque, P., Bastide, R. (eds.) DSV-IS 1995: Eurographics Workshop on Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems, pp. 54–75. Springer, Heidelberg (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Harrison, M., Dix, A.: A state model of direct manipulation in interactive systems. In: Harrison, M., Thimbleby, H. (eds.) Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Horrocks, I.: Constructing the User Interface with Statecharts. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Jacky, J.: The Way of Z: Practical programming with formal methods. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jacquot, J.-P., Quesnot, D.: Early Specification of User-Interfaces: Toward a Formal Approach. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 150–160. ACM Press, New York (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Knight, J., Brilliant, S.: Premliminary Evaluation of a Formal Approach to User Interface Specification. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of Z Users on the Z Formal Specification Notation, pp. 329–346 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Lok, S., Feiner, S., Nga, G.: Evaluation of Visual Balance for Automated Layout. In: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Intelligent User Interface. ACM Press, New York (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Took, R.: Putting Design into Practice: Formal Specification and the User Interface. In: Harrison, M., Thimbleby, H. (eds.) Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Saaltink, M.: The Z/EVES System. In: Bowen, J., Hinchey, M., Till, D. (eds.) ZUM 1997. LNCS, vol. 1212, pp. 72–88. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Smith, S., Mosier, J.: Guidelines for designing user interface software. Report EDS-TR86 -278. The MITRE Corporation, Bedford (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Stepney, S., Polack, F., Toyn, I.: An outline pattern language for Z. In: Bert, D., Bowen, J.P., King, S. (eds.) ZB 2003. LNCS, vol. 2651, pp. 2–19. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. Stepney, S., Polack, F., Toyn, I.: A Z patterns catalogue I: specification and refactoring, v0.1. Technical Report YCS-2003-349, York (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Sufrin, B., He, J.: Specification, analysis and refinement of interactive processes. In: Harrison, M., Thimbleby, H. (eds.) Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Systä, K.: Adding user interface to a behavioral specification. In: Engineering for Human-Computer Interaction, pp. 227–244. Chapman and Hall, Boca Raton (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Thimbleby, H.: User interface design with matrix algebra. ACM transactions, Computer-Human Interaction 11(2), 181–236 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Bowen, J., Reeves, S. (2005). Including Design Guidelines in the Formal Specification of Interfaces in Z. In: Treharne, H., King, S., Henson, M., Schneider, S. (eds) ZB 2005: Formal Specification and Development in Z and B. ZB 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3455. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11415787_26

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11415787_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-25559-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-32007-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics