The construction industry's overall project performance is significantly reduced by numerous interface issues that also hinder its industrialization. Interface Management (IM) is becoming critical to the success of multidisciplinary construction projects. This research deals with three challenging problems associated with IM: 1) how to build a holistic understanding of interface issues for developing all-around IM solutions; 2) how to define and present interface information in a unified, accurate, and efficient way to improve information sharing, coordination, and implementation; and 3) how to resolve interface issues as a whole to optimize IM performance. Comprehensive cause factors of interface issues are investigated from different yet interrelated perspectives. These cause factors allow for the development of an object data model and a systematic IM strategy. The findings of this multi-perspective approach not only add a holistic view of interface issues to the existing body of knowledge but also provide a theoretical base for researchers and practitioners to seek all-around IM solutions. As a key innovation, an object view of interfaces is defined, resulting in a unified way of presenting interface information. This new technique of modeling interfaces as knowledgeable, intelligent, and active objects is far superior to the traditional use of simple relationships. The proposed Interface Object Model (IOM) framework is the first in the literature to present a comprehensive data structure and its dependencies of interface information for object modeling. This can greatly improve the quality and interoperability of modeled interface information. When integrated into a Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach, this technique can significantly enhance BIM capabilities for interface-related coordination, decision-making, operation, and management. As a first application, a systematic model-based IM strategy is conceptually developed, which provides a good foundation for creating an implementation environment for the developed interface model. This strategy aims to resolve interface issues as a whole throughout a complete project process. The multi-perspective approach, the generically structured IOM, and the conceptual, systematic IM strategy all target broad applications. Individually or jointly, they can also be applied to other domains beyond construction. / Ph. D.

User interface (UI) has become the key element of modern information systems (ISs) and is commonly viewed as one of the decisive factors for the success of an IS project. Many component-based development tools have been introduced by software vendors to meet the needs of designing a variety of UIs. Such modern design tools offer system developer vehicles to create sophisticated UIs with a few codes. However, the modeling methodology from the stages of user requirement modeling to UI modeling based on the modern design tools is virtually lacking. This study presents an integrated modeling methodology, which integrates the unified modeling language with interface drawing and interface glossary to provide a seamless and graphical approach and specifications for component-based UI modeling from user requirement modeling. A real-world case using the integrated approach is presented and a prototype system is developed to illustrate the concepts, application, and the advantages of using the proposed methodology.

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Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T14:57:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sofia Larissa da Costa.pdf: 2367903 bytes, checksum: ef9af67f05d333ef7a30026e0e9b9052 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-15 / Building user interfaces for Information Systems (IS) involves modeling and coding appearance (presentation) and behavioral (interaction) aspects. This work presents a modelbased approach to building these interfaces using tools for automatic transformation of models and for interface code generation. The proposed approach applies the concept of Interface Stereotype, introduced in this work, which identifies, in a high level of abstraction, features of user interface (UI) appearance and behavior, independently of the underlying IS application. A taxonomy of interface elements is proposed as the basis for stereotype definition, along with a interface behavior specification mechanism, which allows expressing actions and restrictions on the stereotypes by precise, objective and independently from the interface implementation platform. It is also proposed a architecture for a software component which manages model-based user interfaces building. The architecture defines how this component can be integrated in IS development process. The approach for model-based user interface development proposed in this work brings benefits in effort and cost construction terms, facilitating the maintenance and the evolution of user interface of IS. Futhermore, the use of stereotypes promotes consistency and standardization of both presentation and behavior of interfaces, improving usability of IS. / A construção de interfaces de usuário para Sistemas de Informação (SI) envolve modelagem e codificação de aspectos de aparência (apresentação) e comportamento (forma de interação). Este trabalho propõe uma abordagem baseada em modelos para construção dessas interfaces com o apoio de ferramentas de transformação automática de modelos e de geração de código de interface. A abordagem utiliza o conceito de Estereótipo de Interface, introduzido neste trabalho, que identifica, em alto nível de abstração, características de aparência e comportamento de interfaces, independentemente da aplicação do Sistema de Informação subjacente. Uma taxonomia para elementos de interface é proposta como base para a definição de estereótipos, juntamente com um mecanismo para especificação do comportamento da interface, que permite expressar ações e restrições sobre estereótipos de interface de maneira precisa, objetiva e independente da plataforma de implementação da interface. Também é proposta uma arquitetura para um componente de software que gerencia a construção de interfaces baseada em modelos. A arquitetura define como este componente pode ser integrado ao processo de desenvolvimento de SI. A abordagem para construção baseada em modelos proposta neste trabalho traz benefícios em termos de esforço e custo de construção facilitando a manutenção e a evolução de interfaces de usuário em SI. Além disso, o uso de estereótipos promove a consistência e a padronização, tanto da apresentação quanto do comportamento das interfaces, melhorando a usabilidade de SI.