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Mobile apps are an ever - changing platform. Some work well, others don’t. Still others have so many issues that they hardly function at all.
It’s a part of everyone’s world and an area that Kevin Moran, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at George Mason University, is working on to make it a better place. His research in user interfaces for apps coupled with his knowledge of AI led to his nomination and win for the 2023 MOBILESoft Rising Star Award.
Photo courtesy of Moran.
“A good user interface on an app is aesthetically pleasing and helps the user accomplish the task they’re setting out to do quickly and easily, like booking a flight or checking a bank account,” said Moran.
Through the use of AI, Moran studies how machine learning can play a role in designing a successful user interface. This method can potentially help developers and designers when it comes to the coding aspect aligning with the aesthetics part, saving time and even some confusion in the early development stage of an application, or troubleshooting improvements to an existing one.
“I created an approach using machine learning that recognizes all the different elements of an application, and it automatically writes the code to implement that interface,” said Moran. “It’s being perfected, but it does a pretty good job and saves a lot of time for the developers.”
Moran says while busy with his research, many in his position don’t expect to win awards, but of course it’s a nice recognition.
“Although this award goes to one person, this is a result of the research and contribution made from several other collaborators throughout the last seven to 10 years,” he said. “I give credit to all of them. It’s not just me, it’s a small army.”
The MOBILESoft Rising Star Award is meant to recognize a young researcher within the MOBILESoft community that has made outstanding research contributions to the field of mobile software engineering during and since their studies.
MOBILESoft provides a premier working conference-style forum for discussing and presenting innovative contributions to the research and practice of the design, development, validation, execution, and evolution of mobile applications.