PhD SCHOLARSHIP IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

The project "Algebra for User Interface Customization" at the Department of Computer Science of The University of Auckland is looking for a PhD candidate.

A full scholarship of 25,000 NZD per year over three years, plus tuition fees, is available for this project, to be awarded to a suitable candidate. The project is supported by the RSNZ Marsden Fund.

We are looking for a candidate that has

• very good programming skills: new user interaction techniques for the construction of GUIs have to be implemented;
• theory skills: the interaction techniques are based on mathematical specifications;
• knowledge about empirical evaluations: the interaction techniques will be evaluated for their usability.

A candidate for a PhD is preferred, but candidates for a MSc will also be considered.

Please email your application to the project supervisor, Christof Lutteroth (lutteroth@cs.auckland.ac.nz). Your application should contain a cover letter, a CV and a transcript of grades. The deadline for applications is the 1st of December 2009.

Project Summary:

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are crucial in making computers accessible to end users. However, different users often have different requirements and thus need different GUIs, e.g. because of different skill levels, different devices being used to display a GUI, or disabilities. Existing technologies for GUI customization are either so complicated that they can only be used by experienced software developers, or so limited that many user requirements are not adequately supported.

For end users, GUI customization can only rely on very simple, direct means of interaction, e.g. input gestures with the mouse such as dragging and dropping. Despite this simplicity, customization should be flexible enough to satisfy all user requirements. As a user customizes a GUI, e.g. by adjusting its layout or taking out unused parts, the consistency of the GUI must be maintained.

Our goal is to develop a GUI customization approach for end users that can rival the complex customization technologies currently only usable by software developers. Customization operations will be specified algebraically, with clear rules that define how the parts of a GUI can be changed and combined. With such a theoretical foundation, easy and comprehensive customization can become a reality for many GUI applications.