Supporting Adaptivity in Intelligent User Interfaces: The case of Media and Modalities Allocation

Adaptivity is widely recognised as a major characteristic of Intelligent User Interfaces for improving the usability of interactive systems, in order to meet the requirements of heterogeneous user categories. The process through which adaptivity takes place is characterised by several attributes. In this paper, we are concerned with adaptivity constituents, determinants, goals and rules, and identify the requirements that the adaptivity process has to meet, with respect to these attributes. We propose a methodology which addresses the adaptivity at the media and modalities level, and complies with these requirements. We also present the implications of the methodology for users and user interface developers. It is argued that the provision of methodologies and tools that comply with the identified requirements may significantly assist the design and development of intelligent user interfaces, and substantially promote the ‘design for all’ principle. Keyword: Intelligent Multimedia User Interfaces