[ecoop-info] Invitation to provide a feedback about usability evaluation modeling framework for Domain-Specific Languages

[Ankica Barisic]

SURVEY LINK: https://goo.gl/forms/Js4Nh8V6VCZvmsAB2

This experimental work is conducted within the NOVA Laboratory for Computer
Science and Informatics (NOVA LINCS) in the context of the evaluation of
USE-ME approach which was developed as a part of the Ph.D. thesis.

We hope that you may find it interesting to contribute by providing your
opinion about the provided solution. We are searching mainly for people
which have background knowledge about domain-specific languages,
model-driven development, human-computer interaction, empirical studies OR
usability testing. However, anyone interested in the topic is welcome to
participate. I would be also grateful if you could share the invitation
link also with colleagues, for which you believe that may find this work
interesting.

The experiment will be kept strictly confidential and will be made
available only to members of the research team of the study or, in case
external quality assessment takes place, to assessors under the same
confidentiality conditions. Data collected in this experiment may be part
of the final research report, but under no circumstances will your name or
any identifying characteristic be included in the report.
In particular, there is no intention of judging you as a person or the
skills and experience that you will use in this survey - the goal is the
evaluation of the proposed approach!

Sincerely,
Ankica Barisic, PhD student
a.barisic at campus.fct.unl.pt, Office P3/12
Departamento de Informática - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia /
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Quinta da Torre, P-2829-516, Caparica, Portugal

Prof. Vasco Amaral and Prof. Miguel Goulão are responsible for this
experiment and can be contacted at:

-        Prof. Vasco Amaral: vasco.amaral at fct.unl.pt; +351 212 948 300
<21%20294%208300> (ext. 10712); Office P2/3
-        Prof. Miguel Goulão: mgoul at fct.unl.pt; +351 212 948 536
<21%20294%208536> (ext. 10731); Office P2/17


USE-ME ABSTRACT:

The adoption of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) is regarded as an approach
to reduce the accidental complexity of software systems development. The
availability of sophisticated language workbenches facilitates the
development of DSLs making them increasingly more popular.  This comes at
the risk that a badly designed DSL can bring more harm and decrease
productivity when compared to an alternative General-Purpose Language
(GPL).  In particular, a poorly designed DSL can be too hard to adapt to
its domain users. As such, Usability is one of the key characteristics to
mitigate this risk as it has an important impact on the achieved
productivity of DSL users.

The current state of practice in Software Language Engineering (SLE)
neglects the Usability of DSLs. A pertinent research question in SLE is how
to systematically engineer Usability into DSLs. We argue that a timely
systematic approach based on User Interface experimental evaluation
techniques should be used to assess the impact of DSLs during their
development process, while the cost of fixing the usability problems is
relatively low when compared to fixing them at the end of the development
process. For that purpose, the focus of this dissertation is to build a
conceptual framework that supports the iterative development process of
DSLs concerning the issue of their Usability evaluation.

The Usability Software Engineering Modelling Environment (USE-ME) is a
formal approach which is proposed for the usability evaluation of DSLs. A
USE-ME prototype is constructed and evaluation process is formally defined
in a step by step manner. The resulting modeling instances are intended to
be used for decision support when determining the usability of the DSL. A
multiple-case study was conducted in order validate the proposed method.

-- 

*Ankica Barišić*, PhD student and researcher, NOVA-LINCS , DI - FCT/UNL
Departamento de Informática - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia / Universidade
Nova de Lisboa
Quinta da Torre, P-2829-516, Caparica, Portugal
+35193 5344 275
 Web page <http://nova-lincs.di.fct.unl.pt/person/112>
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<Subject:> 

Invitation to provide a feedback about usability evaluation modeling framework for Domain-Specific Languages


<Body:>

SURVEY LINK: https://goo.gl/forms/Js4Nh8V6VCZvmsAB2
 
This experimental work is conducted within the NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics (NOVA LINCS) in the context of the evaluation of USE-ME approach which was developed as a part of the Ph.D. thesis. 
 
We hope that you may find it interesting to contribute by providing your opinion about the provided solution. We are searching mainly for people which have background knowledge about domain-specific languages, model-driven development, human-computer interaction, empirical studies OR usability testing. However, anyone interested in the topic is welcome to participate. I would be also grateful if you could share the invitation link also with colleagues, for which you believe that may find this work interesting. 
 
The experiment will be kept strictly confidential and will be made available only to members of the research team of the study or, in case external quality assessment takes place, to assessors under the same confidentiality conditions. Data collected in this experiment may be part of the final research report, but under no circumstances will your name or any identifying characteristic be included in the report.
In particular, there is no intention of judging you as a person or the skills and experience that you will use in this survey - the goal is the evaluation of the proposed approach!
 
Sincerely,
Ankica Barisic, PhD student
a.barisic at campus.fct.unl.pt, Office P3/12
Departamento de Informática - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia / Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Quinta da Torre, P-2829-516, Caparica, Portugal
 
Prof. Vasco Amaral and Prof. Miguel Goulão are responsible for this experiment and can be contacted at:
 
-        Prof. Vasco Amaral: vasco.amaral at fct.unl.pt; +351 212 948 300 (ext. 10712); Office P2/3
-        Prof. Miguel Goulão: mgoul at fct.unl.pt; +351 212 948 536 (ext. 10731); Office P2/17


USE-ME ABSTRACT:
 
The adoption of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) is regarded as an approach to reduce the accidental complexity of software systems development. The availability of sophisticated language workbenches facilitates the development of DSLs making them increasingly more popular.  This comes at the risk that a badly designed DSL can bring more harm and decrease productivity when compared to an alternative General-Purpose Language (GPL).  In particular, a poorly designed DSL can be too hard to adapt to its domain users. As such, Usability is one of the key characteristics to mitigate this risk as it has an important impact on the achieved productivity of DSL users.
 
The current state of practice in Software Language Engineering (SLE) neglects the Usability of DSLs. A pertinent research question in SLE is how to systematically engineer Usability into DSLs. We argue that a timely systematic approach based on User Interface experimental evaluation techniques should be used to assess the impact of DSLs during their development process, while the cost of fixing the usability problems is relatively low when compared to fixing them at the end of the development process. For that purpose, the focus of this dissertation is to build a conceptual framework that supports the iterative development process of DSLs concerning the issue of their Usability evaluation.
 
The Usability Software Engineering Modelling Environment (USE-ME) is a formal approach which is proposed for the usability evaluation of DSLs. A USE-ME prototype is constructed and evaluation process is formally defined in a step by step manner. The resulting modeling instances are intended to be used for decision support when determining the usability of the DSL. A multiple-case study was conducted in order validate the proposed method.