Building Consensus in Human-Computer Interaction Design: Integrated Activity-Oriented Design Environments

Abstract

This article proposes and describes activity-oriented design environments (AODEs) as an integrated design platform for building consensus in the context of human-computer interaction (HCI) design activities. Principles and architectural properties of AODEs are illustrated by means of a reference scenario from the domain of accessibility. To this effect, a research prototype of an AODE is presented as a means to validate the proposition made. The research prototype integrates alternative design perspectives (e.g., user modeling, analytical HCI design, argumentation and critiquing) into an extensible design platform of interoperable computational modules to implement a method toward accessibility, which is best suited to specification-oriented user interface development practices. Using the reference scenario, this article describes how the prototype AODE facilitates a seamless bridge between design and development activities through articulating shared representations of design knowledge and compiling recommendations, which can be directly interpreted and applied by a user interface development environment.