UIDTECT - Automating User Interface Design Violation Detection for Mobile Applications

Abstract

"The importance of user interface (UI) design in software applications cannot be overstated. It plays a pivotal role in shaping the user experience and overall usability of an application. Sadly, many developers, whether experienced or novice, often overlook fundamental UI design principles, leading to subpar user interfaces. These poor UI designs frequently result in users having a negative experience, which, in turn, discourages return visits and can ultimately hinder the success of an application.

To tackle this issue, a novel research proposal presents a comprehensive system that combines the capabilities of object detection and rule-based methods to detect UI design violations. Specifically, an object detection model is employed to identify and locate UI elements within UI images. Once these elements are detected, a rule-based system comes into play, applying a set of established UI design guidelines to scrutinize the composition and layout of the user interface, seeking any violations. This combined approach aims to provide developers with actionable insights on how to enhance their UI design effectively.

The system's performance, as evaluated, demonstrates its effectiveness, surpassing the capabilities of existing object detection models. It achieves a mean average precision at a 0.5 intersection over union (mAP@0.5) score of 97.2, signifying a higher level of accuracy and precision compared to its counterparts. This system is poised to bridge the existing gap in detecting UI design violations across both Android and iOS mobile application interfaces. By helping developers identify and rectify UI design flaws, it holds the promise of significantly improving the user experience and overall usability of software applications."