Showing User Interface Adaptivity by Animated Transitions

In order to reduce the inevitable end user disruption and cognitive perturbation induced by adapting a graphical user interface,
the results of the adaptation could be conveyed to the end user by animating a transition scenario showing the evolution from the user interface before adaptation to the user interface after adaptation. A transition scenario consists of a sequence of adaptation operations (e.g., set/change a property of a widget, replace a widget by another, resize a widget) belonging to a catalogue of operations defined as an Extended Backus-Naur Form grammar. Each transition operation has a range from a single widget (e.g., this “Ok” button) to a selection
of widgets based on a selector mechanism (e.g., all validation widgets of this family of interfaces). A transition scenario is built either automatically by any adaptation algorithm or interactively by a specific editor for designers. An animator then executes the animation scenario by parsing each adaptation operation one by one or in a grouped mode and by rendering them by an animated transition on a user interface model. The type (e.g., wipe, box in, box out) and parameters (e.g., animation speed, pace, direction) of each animated transition have been selected based on usability guidelines for animation. A user study suggests that a transition scenario reinforces understandability and trust, while still suffering from lag.