User Interface Systems Engineering (UISE) is an important new approach to user interface design which aims to bridge the gap between the user interface and the underlying software system. Instead of regarding the design and the building of a system as two separate operations it combines them, striking a balance between the need for a system which is easy to use and one which is efficient and reliable.

This volume provides a comprehensive, critical evaluation of UISE. Based on contributions from leading researchers and practitioners: it examines issues which are relevant to a wide range of people involved in the field: software engineers who develop and implement systems, system modellers who develop representations for them, and tool builders who provide the necessary tool support.

It takes a thoroughly integrated approach to the topic, based on the principle that systems development can not be divided into "design" and "implementation". Instead the topic is assessed from a number of different viewpoints, each of which reflects a different perspective on the products, processes, behaviour and construction of user interface software.

1. Critical Issues in User Interface Systems Engineering will be appropriate for a wide range of courses on user interface development, as well as software engineering courses on user interface design, and human-computer interaction courses which emphasise the need to implement, and not just discuss, interfaces.