SQUIRE: Authoring Interactive UIs via Slot Query Intermediate Representation

Squire is a guided prototype exploration system designed to reduce the ambiguity and unpredictability that arise when frontend developers build UI prototypes using natural language alone. Instead of freely typing requests into a chat window, developers select among alternatives suggested by the system through pointing and clicking, progressively expanding the UI component tree.

The key is that every interaction is explicitly scoped. Developers can request changes to only part of the target UI, and the system operates in a way that guarantees what will be modified and what will be preserved, reducing repetitive re-querying and trial and error.

This system runs on a new intermediate representation called SquireIR. This representation is designed to support controlled exploration and refinement through language, making generation results more predictable and fine-grained to work with.

In a user study where 11 frontend developers used Squire to implement mobile web prototypes, the following results were observed.

• They were able to effectively explore diverse UI alternatives and iteratively refine them.
• They experienced a high sense of control.
• They also rated usability and overall satisfaction positively.

Ultimately, this research shows the possibility that, in order to leverage the strengths of code generation for rapid UI prototyping without losing control, systems should provide explicitly scoped interfaces alongside chat rather than chat alone.