A Case Study in Hypermedia Design: CD-ROM Encyclopedias

Abstract

The function of a design model in a hypermedia project is to provide a formal method for specifying the multimedia data objects that are to be stored and the screens and navigational paths that are to be provided to users. This formal expression provides a way to communicate design decisions and to automatically generate and maintain hypermedia applications. The RMM approach to hypermedia and WWW design [Isakowitz et al 95] has been successfully applied in a number of real world applications over the last few years. In this paper, we extend the RMM model in two ways. First, we develop an approach to handle the "unstructured" components of the hypermedia applications such as those on the World Wide Web (WWW). Second, we show how dynamic (program) elements can be represented in the model thus facilitating its application to a wider range of multimedia and especially, to Java applications. These extensions were developed as a result of an attempt to simulate the design of a commercial multimedia encyclopedia. The resulting design is used to illustrate the new HM design concepts.