# Scout: Rapid Exploration of Interface Layout Alternatives through High-Level Design Constraints

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.05424 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.05424/

## Key facts

- Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 15 Jan 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [UICoder: Finetuning Large Language Models to Generate User Interface Code through Automated Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.07739/) (2024)
- [UIClip: A Data-driven Model for Assessing User Interface Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.12500/) (2024)
- [VRCopilot: Authoring 3D Layouts with Generative AI Models in VR](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.09382/) (2024)
- [Predicting and Explaining Mobile UI Tappability with Vision Modeling and Saliency Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.02448/) (2022)
- [Graph4GUI: Graph Neural Networks for Representing Graphical User Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.13521/) (2024)
- [DiLogics: Creating Web Automation Programs With Diverse Logics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.05828/) (2023)
- [DuetUI: A Bidirectional Context Loop for Human-Agent Co-Generation of Task-Oriented Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.13444/) (2025)
- [Semantic Snapping for Guided Multi-View Visualization Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.08384/) (2021)
- [From Metrics to Meaning: Time to Rethink Evaluation in Human-AI Collaborative Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.07911/) (2024)
- [ControlGUI: Guiding Generative GUI Exploration through Perceptual Visual Flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.03330/) (2025)
- [StructLayoutFormer:Conditional Structured Layout Generation via Structure Serialization and Disentanglement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.26141/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Although exploring alternatives is fundamental to creating better interface designs, current processes for creating alternatives are generally manual, limiting the alternatives a designer can explore. We present Scout, a system that helps designers rapidly explore alternatives through mixed-initiative interaction with high-level constraints and design feedback. Prior constraint-based layout systems use low-level spatial constraints and generally produce a single design. Tosupport designer exploration of alternatives, Scout introduces high-level constraints based on design concepts (e.g.,~semantic structure, emphasis, order) and formalizes them into low-level spatial constraints that a solver uses to generate potential layouts. In an evaluation with 18 interface designers, we found that Scout: (1) helps designers create more spatially diverse layouts with similar quality to those created with a baseline tool and (2) can help designers avoid a linear design process and quickly ideate layouts they do not believe they would have thought of on their own.