Context-Aware ServUI: A Conceptual Method for User Interfaces and Associated Services Generation

This paper presents a method toward supporting the design, specification, implementation and evaluation of a context-aware service -oriented system. The proposed method is based on the service implementation and the user interface generation from abstract high levels. Context awareness is an important facet of service oriented application creation dealing with the gathering, use and representation of context information. This latter should be reached by the service in which it is implemented and the user interface that displays data to the relevant consumer. In this paper, we evaluate our method managing service functionalities and user interface specifications at design and run time. We also discuss how a model driven approach for adaptive user interface and pervasive service creation eases the work of designers and developers, limits incompatibility issues and supports dynamic generation of systems adapted to different contexts of use. The proposed tool is able to support a ubiquitous application generation with service, presentation and content adaptation. We evaluate the benefits of our model via the creation of a route planner and concert reservation mobile applications for persons with physical and sensorial impairments. This system has been evaluated by twenty persons with four different profiles and the obtained results are very promising.