Daily Note: Adaptive User Interfaces (AUIs)

These notes are a summary of concepts presented in “On the Importance of Spatial Perception for the Design of Adaptive User Interfaces.”

T. Deuschel and T. Scully, “On the Importance of Spatial Perception for the Design of Adaptive User Interfaces,” 2016 IEEE 10th International Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems (SASO), Augsburg, Germany, 2016, pp. 70-79, doi: 10.1109/SASO.2016.13.

  1. Adaptive User Interfaces
    • Dynamically change their appearance over time, including during runtime
    • Spatial properties such as position, orientation, and size are key considerations
  2. Techniques in Adaptive User Interfaces
    • Mixed-Initiative customization
      • Semi-automatic technique
      • Suggests “best” changes; user decides to accept or reject them
    • Eliding
      • Hides rarely used items to promote a clean interface
    • Ephemeral adaptation
      • Gradual fade-in animation for less relevant items
      • Highlights relevant items instantly
  3. Progressive enhancement & graceful degradation
    • Uses tailored sets of interaction widgets
    • Adaptations occur subtly to maintain spatial stability
    • Dynamically generated interfaces may improve performance but disrupt spatial stability, causing user dissatisfaction
  4. Scrutability
    • Provides transparency by explaining why changes occur
      • Users prioritize usability over transparency unless trust-building is essential (e.g., recommendation systems)
  5. Impact of Accuracy
    • Perception of AUIs depends on algorithmic accuracy, not just visual techniques
  6. Attention and Memory in Interface Design
    • Baddeley’s Working Memory Model
      • Describes the visuo-spatial sketchpad for processing visual stimuli
    • Attention Flow
      • Selective, focused, and divided attention
      • Endogenous (conscious) vs. Exogenous (automatic) control
      • Visual hierarchy and gestalt laws influence attention
    • Gestalt Laws:
      • Proximity: When elements are arranged together, they are perceived as a group with a semantic relationship
      • Similarity: Visual similar elements are also perceived as semantically similar
      • Closure: Incomplete shapes will be mentally completed, based on the visible fragments
      • Prägnanz: Intersecting elements are divided into basic geometric elements, rather than one complex element
      • Continuity: The Prägnanz enables to mentally identify a visual object that “interrupts” other objects and to perceive the interrupter shape as related
      • Common fate: Elements moving towards the same direction at the same time are perceived as a group of elements that relate to each other
      • Symmetry: Elements arranged in a symmetry are perceived as related
      • Familiarity: Complex visual objects are disassembled into simple geometric objects
  7. Design Guidelines for AUIs
    • Support automated actions and avoid disrupting learned processes
    • Favor spatial stability
    • Avoid destructive changes; prefer replication
    • Consistency across device classes
    • Highlight changes with minimal visual dissonance
    • Guide user attention to significant changes without interrupting interaction flow
    • Limit frequency and scope of interface changes
    • Leverage time as a design dimension; prioritize small, incremental changes over major shifts