Supporting reusable Web design with HDM-Edit

As online and off-line electronic publishing is increasingly becoming a massive industrial activity, the design of Web applications, and of hypermedia applications in general, needs to become a well-organized and efficient process. If a good design model is the first item on the agenda, then immediately afterwards, design tools become necessary. This paper describes HDM-Edit (Hypermedia Design Model Editor), a schema editor that supports the conceptual design of Web (and, more generally, hypermedia) applications. HDM-Edit is a component of the JWeb system which supports all the phases of Web prototyping development. HDM-Edit can be used on its own, to support the design activity and the production of high-quality design documentation, or in conjunction with other JWeb modules. HDM-Edit promotes design reuse by supporting several navigation patterns as built-in modelling primitives and by allowing designers to derive the schema of a specific application as a set of hyperviews on the design of a family of applications (an application framework). This paper analyses the requirements for a design tool, outlines JWeb, describes HDM-Edit, discusses experiences of use, and finally compares the requirements with the current version of the tool.