This research involves developing a graphical modeling
language which is specific to mobile applications, and coming
up with a generic algorithm for the conversion of this
graphical model into code. The main focus of the research
however, will be on the design of the graphical model, and
the interaction techniques which will allow non-expert people1
to create specialized mobile applications with ease.
Key research questions that need to be answered are: Which
level of abstraction and modeling constructs are adequate
for non-expert people to create specialized mobile applications?
How can technical details such as device limitations,
transmission of information to other devices or to the network,
etc., be abstracted from the non-expert user as they
model the application so that they can focus more on the design
and logic of their application, but at the same time take
advantage of advance capabilities of mobile devices (GPS,
Bluetooth, Wifi, etc.)? How can the design of interaction
with other devices that connects to mobile applications become
simpler? Do non-experts want the modeler interface
to look like the actual application or do some high level
form just like in UML would be enough (example: property
editors, flow arrows)?
More details on the proposed methodology of this research
are discussed in section 3.