Brad Myers, Margaret Burnett, Mary Beth Rosson, Andrew Ko, Alan Blackwell

1. End User Software EngineeringCHI’2008 Special Interest Group MeetingTue, April 8, 2008, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Brad Myers, Margaret Burnett, Mary Beth Rosson, Andrew Ko, Alan Blackwell

2. Definitions • (Note: may be controversial—defer discussion until later) • Program • ‘‘A set of statements that can be submitted as a unit to some computer system and used to direct the behavior of that system’’ – Oxford Dictionary of Computing • Programming • ‘‘The process of transforming a mental plan of desired actions for a computer into a representation that can be understood by the computer’’ – Jean-Michel Hoc and Anh Nguyen-Xuan - 2 -

3. Definitions, cont. • Professional Programmer • Someone whose primary job function is to write or maintain software • Typically have significant training in programming (e.g., BS in CS) • Novice Programmer • Someone who is learning to be a professional programmer - 3 -

4. Definitions, cont. • End-User Programmer (EUP) • People who write programs, but not as their primary job function • Instead, they must write programs in support of achieving their main goal, which is something else • Covers a wide range of programming expertise • Business executives and secretaries • Physicists - 4 -

5. Examples of EUP • Accounting (spreadsheets) • Analysts using MatLab • Creating a web page • Recording Macros in Word • Automating office tasks • Business software (SAP programming) • “Programming” VCRs, Microwaves • Scientific research • Authoring educational software • Creating email filters • Musicians configuring synthesizers • Entertainment (e.g., behaviors in The Sims) • Web 2.0: Mashups, end-user created content - 5 -

6. Other Names • Also called “End User Development” (EUD) • Some “Domain-Specific Languages” (DSL) • Often created for end-user programmers • Visual (Graphical) Programs • Sometimes created for EUP • “Scripting” languages, “Macros” • Rapid Application Development (RAD) - 6 -

7. Definitions, cont. • End-User Software Engineering (EUSE) • End-User Programming with the addition of systematic and disciplined activities that address quality issues (“attributes”) • E.g., analyzing code, understanding unfamiliar code, testing code, checking code against a model, sharing code with coworkers, maintaining code, and deploying code, to name a few - 7 -

8. End User Programmers • A very large group • In 2012: — Scaffidi, Shaw and Myers 2005 • 90 million computer users at work in US • 55 million will use spreadsheets or databases at work (and therefore may potentially program) • 13 million will describe themselves as programmers • 3 million professional programmers • We should make better tools for all of these people! - 8 -

9. Evidence of Need for EUSE • Why need Software Engineering for EUP? • Lots of errors attributed to End-User Programming of spreadsheets: • Columbia Housing Authority admitted to overpaying by $118,387 due to a spreadsheet data-entry error (February 22, 2006) • New York Times, Oct 30th, 2003 - $1.2 Billion Spreadsheet Error at Fannie Mae • TransAlta Corp. took $24 million charge to earnings due to cut-and-paste error in an Excel spreadsheet (June 3rd, 2003) • Auditor, major accounting firm: “...in 6 years work, checking literally hundreds of business-critical models, ... my team have never failed to find errors.” • …. (many more!) • See http://eusesconsortium.org/euperrors/ - 9 -

10. Consequences, 2 • Also, errors in: • Web pages • Email filtering rules • … (what else? Need more examples!) • From the WEUSE II workshop at CHI’2006: • Clinical customization package used by medical personnel reports the need for better reuse and debugging support • SysAdmins need better testability of database and other sorts of scripts • Issues with reuse of MATLAB applications - 10 -

11. So What is Happening? • Growing group of researchers in EUSE • TheEUSES Consortium • End Users Shaping Effective Software • http://eusesconsortium.org • 7 sites, 13 researchers + ~15 students • EUDNet • http://giove.isti.cnr.it/eud-net.htm • European Commission • 2002-3 • 16 partners - 11 -

12. Addressing the EUSE Problem • A multi-(sub)disciplinary problem needing: • Software engineering research • Programming language research • Education research • End-user programming research • HCI research of all types • This is a big job, needs a whole community! • Hence, this SIG, to encourage interested people to work together with us and with each other • Also, connect researchers and EUP vendors - 12 -

13. Many Sessions at CHI’08 • This kind of work is represented in many sessions • Tues, 9:00-10:30am (Now ): “Aesthetics, Awareness, and Sketching” paper session • Tues, 11:30-1pm: “Beyond End-User Programming” paper session • Tues, 4:30-6pm: “Invited Session: The Next Challenge: from Easy-to-Use to Easy-to-Develop. Are You Ready?” • Wed, 4:30-6pm: “Activity-Based Prototyping and Software” paper session • Thurs, 2:30-4pm: “End-Users Sharing and Tailoring Software” papers session - 13 -

14. Previous Meetings on This Topic • Dagstuhl Conference on End-User Software Engineering (WEUSE-III) on Feb, 2007 • 2nd Workshop on End-User Software Engineering (WEUSE-II) at CHI 2006 • 1st Workshop on End-User Software Engineering (WEUSE-I) at ICSE 2005 • CHI 2007, 2005, 2004 SIGs on End Users Creating Effective Software • Many proceedings and notes available off of EUSES web page: http://eusesconsortium.org - 14 -

15. Future Meetings • Fourth Workshop on End-User Software Engineering (WEUSE IV) at ICSE'08 on May 12, 2008 in Leipzig, Germany • http://eusesconsortium.org/weuse/ • Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE) at ICSE’2008 on May 13, 2008 in Leipzig, Germany • http://softwareresearch.ca/seg/CHASE/ • ICSE’2008, May 10-18, 2008 in Leipzig, Germany • PPIG’2008, Sept 10-12, 2008, Lancaster, UK • http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/ppig08 • 2008 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC 2008), Sept. 16-20, 2008, Herrsching am Ammersee, Germany • Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI’2009), January ??, 2009 • Second Symposium on EUD, March 2-4, 2009, Siegen, Germany • http://www.eud2009.org • CHI’2009 - 15 -

16. Ways to Get Involved • Attend upcoming events. • Get newsletter on end-user programming/software engineering: • (Low-volume). Sign-up sheet going around. • Tell us today what you’re working on. • Help shape future events (starting with today’s discussion). - 16 -

17. Rest of This SIG • Alan Blackwell: short introduction to EUDNet • Andy Ko: overview of dimensions of organizing EUP and EUSE systems and concerns • What companies are working on that is relevant to EUP and EUSE • Break up into groups by Software Engineering Issue • Reconvene and report (15 min – 3 min each) - 17 -

18. EUDNet • Research contrasts between (EU)EUD and (US)EUP/EUSE • European projects are more likely to: • target users in specific technical domains • study organisational issues • address adults, not children / students. - 18 -

19. Breakout Groups • Groups: • Design & Requirements(Alan Blackwell) • "Create" (Brad Myers) • Reuse (Mary Beth Rosson) • Testing & Verification (Margaret Burnett) • Debugging (Andy Ko) • Focus on the S/W Eng issue and how it applies to each of the different domains • Domain-driven compare/contrast • What has been done relevant to that domain for this S/W Eng issue • Which domains are most challenging and easiest? • How similar and different • Take notes in PowerPoint for 3 minute summary - 19 -

20. Industry Attendees at CHI’2008 SIG • Paula Dimaio – from media, consultant: integrated methodology S/W+UE for practitioners. Ontology engineering • Marcus Stolze – IBM TJ Watson research lab. Business analysts, enterprise applications, dynamic access, business • Jack Zaintz – SOAR Technology, modeling and simulation for military, let end users do their own modeling, training operators – adaptive scripting of models • John Richards – IBM TJ Watson – support business analysts and architects when doing sense-making. Also, petaflop with 13-fold increase in programmer-productivity • Claude Knaus – indep. developer: interaction design to create s/w dev. Tools • Laura Beckwith – Microsoft Visual Studio team: middle between professional and EUP, e.g., consultants who want to make money off of programming • Steve Clarke – also with MS VS • Tessa Lau & Allen Cypher – IBM Almaden – Co-Scripter: EUP for web • Steve Pemberton – Designer of XForms - 20 -

21. Domains • Web Applications • Education, pen-based application: primary school (6-10years old) • Coaches of sports teams • Enterprise users (all employees) • Ambient user interfaces – in home, consumer electronics • Visualization for air traffic controllers (ATC), operators monitoring computer systems, UAV path has to be designed – has a language w/conditionals but want a UI • Modeling & simulation for military exercises for military operations, NASA telemetry engineers • Professional programmers who act like EUP • Analysts who design and build enterprise applications, how can they provide more of the implementation – let them design their own UIs. As part of WebSphere & Rational • Personal Information Management - 21 -

22. “Create” group results • Jack: Lots of different tools that have to be used together • Large Simulation System (JSAP) – config. files, UIs for scripting movement, intelligent entity control IDE (SoarTAC) but not for EU. • Simplified state machines – IDEs but not very good, FSM editor but pretends to not be a graph • Better tools for Intelligent Entity Control – textual IDEs w/some graphics for FSM, graphic forms • Flash, Frontpage, • Make the web sites conform to accessibility guidelines • Educators • How to learn Chinese, Geometry, Mathematics • Low-level platform “UI Widgets”: Text, Ink, Math formulas, Geometry, Chemistry • Pen-based design tool for designing functions they like • Interactive, drag-and-drop tool, set properties • Sport fields • Different coaches have similar needs, but different formats • Different kinds of spreadsheets - 22 -

23. “Create” group results • Olivier Liechti – simple for interactive remote control for consumer electronics using Visual Programming, on handheld display • CoScripter – IDE for scripting on the web, mostly by PBE • Enterprise Applications, start in an unorganized fashion – how turn spreadsheet into a real enterprise applications? • Describe their process with an XML language • Structured applications around the data objects • State machines, specifying operations to change states, describe choices, process and focusing on data and states of the data. Data flow. • State of data objects, focus on access control questions • Additional aspect: input validation – separate framework needed - 23 -

24. “Create” group results • Max: PIM: scripting language (in JavaScript) • Specifying conditions under which things are triggered by example – go into past and select a moment when would want something to happen • Select things that are relevant in the real user interface of Web-based PIM • Triggered on what documents are open, what music listening to, Twitter status (location) • Actions: call any web-based service, desktop services (turn on music, etc.) • Entry-level JavaScript programmer

25. Categories of Creating • Drag-and-drop • Visual programming • PBE • Textual model that can read but not edit • Hidden Markov Models • Creates conventional script • Textual • Copy-and-paste: different style of programming • IDE: • Code completion, automatic error finding and fix suggestions makes them much better for EUP • Exploration tool: PIG tool from Berkeley simulates as you go • Form-filling – mail filters, Jack’s IFOR (intelligent forces) - 25 -

26. Testing and Verification Group • Haven’t seen different work styles. • Steven studied concept of a tester. How can I break? Study of people whose job responsibitilities were testing. • Some were “testers”. Some were “business analysts”, “programmers”. All did the same, namely black-box. • Piero: 1. Medical, 2. Mech engr, 3. Software people. They have different views on testing, have different procedures for testing. • Eg, people from physics and medicine -- they have experience testing physical machines but not software. They do very “black box” approaches. (Often, their software is part of the machines they buy.) • Steven has seen a lot of black-box. • Sometimes end users don’t think about testing at all, at least in spreadsheets. • Maybe because of the immediate visual feedback -- they may in some sensre regard it as “already tested”. • Oracle problem -- making errors in judgments of failed/successful tests. • Overconfidence is a problem with end-user programmers. • With images it can be harder to evaluate the answer. • Under the hood: software engr. talks about the underlying logic. • Code inspection. • Gender differences (see 11:30 session). • Assertions. • Scenario-based approach: “When a user does this, then that, the following happens”. A storyboard. • A semi-quote: “Developers take the happy path. I take all the other paths.” • We wonder: is this true mostly in imperative paradigms, or would it also apply to more declarative ones? • Interactive systems have important testing issues in their own right, • because end-user “HCI” work to customize these could lead to terrible errors. - 26 -

27. Testing and Verification Group Results • Haven’t seen different work styles. • Steven studied concept of a tester. How can I break? Study of people whose job responsibitilities were testing. • Some were “testers”. Some were “business analysts”, “programmers”. All did the same, namely black-box. • Piero: 1. Medical, 2. Mech engr, 3. Software people. They have different views on testing, have different procedures for testing. • Eg, people from physics and medicine -- they have experience testing physical machines but not software. They do very “black box” approaches. (Often, their software is part of the machines they buy.) • Steven has seen a lot of black-box. • Sometimes end users don’t think about testing at all, at least in spreadsheets. • Maybe because of the immediate visual feedback -- they may in some sense regard it as “already tested”.

28. Testing and Verification Group Results • Oracle problem -- making errors in judgments of failed/successful tests. • Overconfidence is a problem with end-user programmers. • With images it can be harder to evaluate the answer. • Under the hood: software engr. talks about the underlying logic. • Code inspection. • Gender differences (see 11:30 session). • Assertions. • Scenario-based approach: “When a user does this, then that, the following happens”. A storyboard. • A semi-quote: “Developers take the happy path. I take all the other paths.” • We wonder: is this true mostly in imperative paradigms, or would it also apply to more declarative ones? • Interactive systems have important testing issues in their own right, • because end-user “HCI” work to customize these could lead to terrible errors.

29. Design & Requirements Group Results • Who “interprets” the requirement? • Normally a professional translates from messy/concrete to the computer abstraction. • Supply side: But without professional? Can a tool provide the trust • Demand side: Two kinds of attitude to abstraction: • Some expert communities have good domain abstractions • Some communities share concrete examples, don’t explicitly discuss abstraction • Alternative: Focus on community (content, analogy, sharing)

30. Reuse Group Results • Gerhard Fischer (U Colorado), Dane Bertram (U Calgary), Allen Cypher (IBM Research), Craig Anslow (Victoria Univ. Wellington), Laura Beckwith (Microsoft), Tom LaTosa (CMU), Chris Scaffidi (CMU), Volkmar Pipek (U Ziegen) • Domain-based comparisons • Content domains versus paradigm domains • E.g. web, scripting, DB versus business, science, etc. • May also be something about where in lifecycle • Find & adapt • Create and organize • Inherit and learn • Collaborative/mutual discovery

31. Domain contrasts • Business processes (scripting) • Oriented toward large enterprises that have shared practices and thus built-in motivation for sharing • Information providers, e.g. admin who has content to post • Example might be using Lotus Notes / Dominoes; • Observed lots of example/edit based reuse • This could include engineers • Consultants, integration including some programming • Just want a solution demonstrated ASAP, find and connect code together • Java professional programmers • Reuse within maintenance paradigm, finding model in others’ code • Meta level, building tools that are situated within a domain • Human problem domain interaction --> domain-oriented design environments • Professional programmer builds the blocks to enable domain specialist • Assumes goal of “reflective communities” that include collaborations

32. Debugging Group • Debugging across domains • Examples of end-user programming debugging: • large scale defense systems • multi-sensor data fusion • mashups of web resources • programming by example • natural language programming • debugging intelligent user interfaces - 32 -

33. Debugging Group • One problem with debugging mashups is that the tools haven't caught up with the state of the art commercial tools for more popular debugging platforms. • Debugging multi-sensor systems is difficult because they often involve complex AI and machine learning algorithms. • Perhaps the debate between static and dynamic testing would be moot if we had better tools for understanding the dynamic behavior of program behavior. • Almost always trust the sensors, but almost never trust data sources in web mashups. • Henry's waterlanguage.com is trying to create a unified platform for web development. - 33 -