Name: ALEXANDRE ADLER CUNHA DE FREITAS
Publication date: 08/12/2025
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| FABIANO BORGES RUY | Examinador Externo |
| JOAO PAULO ANDRADE ALMEIDA | Examinador Interno |
| MONALESSA PERINI BARCELLOS | Presidente |
| RODRIGO PEREIRA DOS SANTOS | Examinador Externo |
| VITOR ESTEVAO SILVA SOUZA | Examinador Interno |
Summary: Advances in interactions with computers, smartphones, and other devices have
introduced new challenges, particularly in ensuring optimal usability for diverse
types of users. Adaptive User Interface (AUI) systems offer a potential solution by
dynamically adjusting the user interface to meet individual user needs. However, de-
veloping such systems is a complex task, requiring capturing user characteristics and
preferences and constantly adapting the system interface accordingly. In this work,
we argue that ontologies, by providing structured knowledge about AUI systems,
play a crucial role in understanding their functioning and helping to develop them.
This doctoral research aims to explore the use of networked ontologies to support
the development of AUI systems. Following the Design Science Research paradigm
and organizing experimental studies in learning iterations, we developed OADAPT
(Ontology-based Approach to Develop AdaPtive user inTerface systems), which has
two components: a knowledge framework about AUI systems, represented through
networked ontologies; and a process to guide the development of AUI systems using
the ontologies. The ontologies are integrated into the Human-Computer Interaction
Ontology Network (HCI-ON) and aim to establish a structured knowledge for
understanding and designing AUI systems, defining relevant conceptualization for
interfaces that can automatically adjust to the needs and contexts of different users.
The process uses networked ontologies to support the development of AUI systems,
both to structure the system at the conceptual level and to identify the necessary
interface adaptations at runtime. The first version of OADAPT was the result of
an exploratory case study in which networked ontologies were used in the develop-
ment of an AUI system. Subsequently, the approach was applied to two other case
studies and evolved based on the results obtained. The studies demonstrated that
the ontologies (i.e., the knowledge component of OADAPT) helped to provide a
structured and reusable representation of the knowledge required for UI adaptation,
while the process guided the development stages of AUI systems. These results are
promising and indicate that OADAPT is a useful and viable approach to support
the development of AUI systems, supporting researchers in structuring knowledge
about AUI systems and practitioners in understanding the domain and guiding
development steps.
