A configurable user interface architecture to be used in high integrity safety critical avionic systems and is adaptable to multiple cockpit displays has a protocol-agnostic layer that handles entry and display update behaviors, and a protocol-specific layer that connects the entry and display behaviors to protocol-specific input/output messages using configuration tables. The configuration tables are built using a specially designed configuration tool and the configuration table built by the tool can be embedded in the target user interface software or loaded externally into a pre-compiled application.