Automated User Interface Requirements Discovery for Scientific Computing
Andrew Strelzoff, Linda Ruth Petzold · 2003
In this paper we introduce a method for determining user interface requirements for scientific computing codes that use the most flexible method of user input; compiled-in input. Compiled-in input means that the user writes subroutines and drivers which describe the problem to be solved. These routines are compiled together with the application to form a working program to solve the problem the user has described. This method of input gives the user the maximum flexibility of an entire programming language to describe the problem and allows unlimited nesting and combination of codes to form larger, more complex applications. Our methodology uses a graph representation to find potential user decision points implied by the control structure of the code. This graph is then iteratively refined to form a Decision Point Diagram, a state machine representation of all possible user traversals through a user interface for the underlying code.