UML-Based Based Development of Rich Internet Applications

Rich Internet Applications provide users with facilities in web applications that are similar to desktop applications. This class of applications imposes new challenges on software design. In this paper, we propose a new method for designing rich internet applications. The design process uses results from an objectoriented analysis and employs interaction spaces as the basic abstraction mechanism for user interface design. State diagrams are employed as refinements of interaction spaces and task models to specify synchronization events and follow up actions on the client and server side. The notation is based on UML. The use of the method is illustrated with a case study of the design of an interactive web application for furniture configuration. This application features recommendation of furniture items according to the interaction of a user and advanced customization features for furniture placement to show the main advantages.