Going Beyond Web Browsing to Web Tasking: Transforming Web Users from Web Operators to Web Supervisors

Abstract

The web was originated as a global information space. Over time, it has been evolved into a global service platform upon which users perform transactional tasks. While web browsing is good for information retrieval and search, web browsing might not be the most optimal user model for web tasks. Tasks have defined sequences of sub-tasks advancing towards specific goals that require user input. Web tasks involve operations on resources that produce side effects. Web browsing typically involves read-only operations on resources. This paper introduces the concept of web tasking, applying the RESTful web application model of "Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State" (HATEOAS) on web tasks. It also introduces the notion of web task automations; pre-set conditions for executions at future points in time. It also discusses machine-operate goal-directed application state transitions as a part of task automation. The ubiquitous nature of interactions and monitoring of web tasking is also covered.