A Multi-Criteria Perceptual Visual Complexity Metrics-Based Optimization Approach to User Interface Design Layouts

Generating and evaluating alternative UI design layouts with minimum perceptual visual complexity is highly desirable but is a complex and time-consuming process. Various constraints affecting visual complexity such as screen size, number and size of components and semantic relations of components to each other are to be considered. To this aim, we developed a method that relies on perceptual visual complexity metrics specifically, alignment, balance, density and an introduced measure called distance to focal area. Differential evolution algorithm is adapted to the problem to generate a set of pareto optimal alternative layout designs. A series of experiments to evaluate the performance and the validity of our approach showed that, pareto optimum UI design layout alternatives could be produced in a reasonable time where better visual complexity values could be achieved for the set of UI components in layouts.