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Buttons hidden in plain sight

Session details
Status: 
Accepted
Speaker(s): 
Bianca Wiesmayr (Johannes Kepler University Linz)
Alois Zoitl
Experience level: 
Beginner
Tags: 
Modeling Tools
Session Track: 
Modeling Tools & Technologies
Session Type: 
Standard

Do you want to improve the user experience of your graphical modeling tool? Are usability considerations currently "too much effort" for you and your project team?

Users are accustomed to a variety of utile features in textual editing that also benefit graphical modeling tools, such as efficient auto-completion, automated formatters, and immediate feedback on the software. As developers of graphical modeling tools, we strive to assist users in creating high-quality and scalable models.

You can’t have it all – trade-offs between usability aspects

Over the last years, we experienced that improving the user interface of our modeling tool involves difficult trade-offs that the project's community needs to discuss. The trade-offs affect either usability aspects or user groups: For instance, adding a dedicated feature may support novice users in learning the tool, while slowing down experts. We share our experiences in dealing with such trade-offs as a software developer without extensive knowledge of user interface design.

Poor visibility, hidden dependencies, or high viscosity – you name it

The “Cognitive Dimensions of Notations” framework provides a set of usability aspects. The dimensions create a common understanding among the project team and encourage us to discuss the involved usability aspects rather than focusing on features.  We show our lightweight evaluation approach that uses the framework. It includes developer walk-throughs and user studies within your community. We applied it to tool 4diac IDE – and found numerous usability flaws that affect our users every day.

Where is the problem? The many causes of usability issues.

Of course, it is not enough to find an issue – we need to fix it. But how? Usability issues come from almost anywhere: The way of presenting information in your tool, the Eclipse platform, the graphics frameworks you are using, or even the modeling language itself. Based on examples from our own experience with developing graphical modeling tools, we discuss common problems and their solution.

 

Objective of the presentation: 
As tool developers, we often need to handle complex trade-offs regarding usability. Especially in domain-specific tools and open source projects, most UI decisions come from software developers rather than usability experts. A lightweight decision process benefits especially projects with limited resources. After the talk, you will know basic usability aspects and can apply them to your project. You can analyze the effects of certain design decisions on the tool usability and efficiently gather potentially required user feedback.
Attendee pre-requisites - If none, enter "N/A": 
N/A
Schedule info
Time: 
26 Oct 2022 - 16:15 to 26 Oct 2022 - 16:50
Room: 
Seminarräume 1 - 3
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