An Ontology to support Knowledge Management Solutions for Human-Computer Interaction Design

Abstract

Developing interactive systems is a challenging task. It involves concerns related to the human-computer interaction (HCI), such as usability and user experience. Therefore, HCI design must be addressed when developing such systems. HCI design often involves people with different backgrounds, technical languages, terms and knowledge, what makes communication and knowledge transfer a challenging issue. In this scenario, knowledge management can support understanding concepts from different knowledge areas and help learn from previous experiences. Knowledge management has supported HCI design mainly to improve product quality and reduce effort and time spent on design activities. However, there is a need for simpler and more practical knowledge management solutions to support HCI design. In addition, the lack of a common conceptualization about HCI design has been one of the main challenges to be addressed. This leads to semantic interoperability problems, such as ambiguity and imprecision when interpreting shared information, and hampers communication and knowledge transfer. Aiming to provide a well-founded conceptualization about HCI design domain in the context of the development of interactive systems, this work proposes HCIDO (Human-Computer Interaction Design Ontology). HCIDO is a reference ontology of the Human-Computer Interaction Ontology Network (HCI-ON) and is also connected to the Software Engineering Ontology Network (SEON), allowing for the reuse of concepts related to Software Engineering and HCI aspects, such as requirements, code, interactive systems and users, as well as making them connected to design aspects. HCIDO was evaluated through verification and validation techniques. Moreover, a computational tool was developed using HCIDO as a reference model, illustrating how the ontology can be applied to support knowledge management solutions in HCI design. The tool supports knowledge management activities (e.g., knowledge capture, representation, storage, retrieval, use and evaluation) in the HCI design of interactive systems by allowing HCI designers to annotate structured information about design choices in design artifacts shared with HCI design stakeholders.