ABSTRACT
This chapter describes what adaptive systems are and discusses why there is a need for such systems. It then describes what kinds of assistance an adaptive system may offer, illustrating this with references to existing prototypes. The chapter addresses some design principles for implementing different kinds of adaptive support services. It also discusses different kinds of modeling, along with appropriate techniques for designing adaptive system components. The chapter provides a short overview of knowledge-representation techniques. A flexible system increases the number of ways in which the system can be used; improves the correspondence among user, task, and system characteristics; and increases the user's efficiency. An adaptive system must be able to match particular system responses with knowledge the system possesses about users and their tasks. Help systems can be significantly enhanced by adapting to the individual user, because users differ in the type and amount of help that need.
