Steps to take before intelligent user interfaces become real

Intelligent user interfaces have been proposed as a means to overcome some of the problems that direct manipulation interfaces cannot handle, such as: information overflow problems; providing help on how to use complex systems; or real-time cognitive overload problems. Intelligent user interfaces are also being proposed as a means to make systems individualised or personalised, thereby increasing the system's flexibility and appeal. Unfortunately, there are a number of problems not yet solved that prevent us from creating good intelligent user interface applications. We do not have efficient methods for developing them. There are demands on better usability principles for them. We need a better understanding of the possible ways the interface can utilise intelligence to improve the interaction. Finally, we need to design better tools that will enable an intelligent system to survive the full life cycle of a system (including updates of the database, system support, etc.). We define these problems further and point out some possible solutions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.