Representation-Driven Development UI

A revolutionary multi-view development environment that transforms traditional code-centric IDEs into representation-driven visual thinking platforms.

🎯 Core Concept

Based on the breakthrough insight that developers think in flows, structures, and relationships rather than files and folders, this system makes diagrams and visual representations the primary interface with code as the synchronized secondary view.

🏗️ Multi-View Architecture

The platform implements 5 Synchronized Operational Views that maintain consistency while serving different stakeholder needs:

• Scenario View: Living requirements and user stories that drive development
• Logic View: Component relationships and system structure
• Process View: Runtime behavior, sequences, and interaction flows
• Implementation View: Code organization and file structure
• Deployment View: Service architecture and system topology

Key Innovation: All views represent the same system truth from different perspectives, with automated consistency validation and cross-view traceability ensuring perfect synchronization.

🚀 Features

Cross-View Synchronization

• Click any element in one view → See it highlighted across all relevant views
• Real-time updates propagate changes across all views
• Automatic consistency validation and conflict resolution

Stakeholder-Aware Interface

• Developer: Full technical detail across all views
• Architect: Logic and Deployment views with abstracted implementation
• Product Owner: Scenario view primary with Logic view relationships
• QA Engineer: Process view with test coverage overlays
• DevOps: Deployment view primary with Process view integrations

Interactive Features

• Time-travel debugging slider in Process view
• Interactive component relationship diagrams
• Living requirements that generate code structure
• Architecture evolution timeline
• Real-time health monitoring

🛠️ Tech Stack

• UI Framework: Lit 3.3.0 with Web Components
• State Management: @lit-labs/signals for reactive state
• Component Library: Shoelace 2.x for consistent styling
• Build System: Vite 6.x with Lit compiler optimization
• Type Safety: Full TypeScript with strict typing

📦 Installation

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Run tests
npm run test

🎮 Getting Started

1. Start the development server:

   npm run dev

2. Open your browser to http://localhost:5174

3. Explore the views:

   • Try different stakeholder roles (top-right selector)
   • Click elements in any view to see cross-view highlighting
   • Switch between layout modes (Grid, Split, Focus)
   • Use the time-travel slider in Process view

🎨 Sample Data

The prototype includes a rich sample financial platform system featuring:

• Wire Transfer Feature: Multi-step process with validation and 2FA
• Component Architecture: Service dependencies and coupling visualization
• Process Flows: Step-by-step execution sequences
• Code Files: TypeScript implementation with complexity metrics
• Service Deployment: Multi-cluster architecture with health monitoring

🔧 Development

Project Structure

src/
├── components/
│   ├── core/                 # Core orchestration components
│   │   └── view-orchestrator.ts
│   ├── shared/              # Shared UI components
│   │   └── view-container.ts
│   └── views/               # Individual view implementations
│       ├── scenario-view.ts
│       ├── logic-view.ts
│       ├── process-view.ts
│       ├── implementation-view.ts
│       └── deployment-view.ts
├── state/                   # State management
│   └── multi-view-state.ts
├── data/                    # Sample data and types
│   ├── types.ts
│   └── sample-system.ts
└── app.ts                   # Main application

Key Components

• ViewOrchestrator: Central dashboard managing all 5 views
• ViewContainer: Wrapper providing consistent styling and cross-view features
• Multi-View State: Reactive state management using Lit signals
• Sample System: Rich mock data demonstrating all features

Adding New Views

1. Create new view component in src/components/views/
2. Add view type to types.ts
3. Update state management in multi-view-state.ts
4. Register in ViewContainer component

🎯 Demo Scenarios

1. Cross-View Selection

• Click a requirement in Scenario view
• See related components highlight in Logic view
• Watch process steps highlight in Process view
• View implementing files highlight in Implementation view

2. Stakeholder Perspectives

• Switch to "Product Owner" role
• Notice how technical views are hidden
• Focus on Scenario and Logic views
• Experience role-appropriate information filtering

3. Process Debugging

• Navigate to Process view
• Use time-travel slider to step through wire transfer flow
• Click process steps to see detailed information
• Watch cross-view highlights follow execution

4. Architecture Exploration

• Select "Architect" role for optimal view configuration
• Explore Logic view component relationships
• Examine Deployment view service topology
• Click services to see dependency details

🔮 Future Enhancements

• AI Integration: Context-aware suggestions overlaid on views
• Real-time Collaboration: Multi-user editing with presence indicators
• Version Control Integration: Visual diffs and change tracking
• Performance Metrics: Live system monitoring and alerting
• Custom Views: User-defined view types and layouts

📚 Documentation

For more details on the design philosophy and implementation strategy, see:

• Implementation Plan
• UI Design Insights

🤝 Contributing

This is a prototype demonstrating the multi-view representation-driven development concept. Feel free to explore, experiment, and extend the functionality to validate the approach.

Revolutionary Development Paradigm: This prototype transforms the breakthrough insight about representation-driven development into a comprehensive platform that creates a living architectural knowledge base—unifying visual thinking, code creation, architectural evolution, and collaborative development into a single coherent platform.