A case study on a systematic approach for developing a user interface software for programming intensive software tools

We present an approach that could be used systematically to model, design, and consequently construct, user interface software systems for software tools that are highly dependent on programming. We use BNF grammar like language to describe the cognitive model of the proposed system. In order to do that, user requirements are analyzed as hierarchical tasks. To appreciate the improvements in usability and other aspects of the proposed layer, the cognitive model of the conventional interface method is also presented and compared to the proposed interface scheme. The design of the proposed interface at the lexical, syntactic, and semantic levels are then given. Evaluations of the suitability of the approach as well as of the product interface were conducted.