User Experience for Model-Driven Engineering: Challenges and Future Directions

Since its infancy, Model Driven Engineering (MDE) research has primarily focused on technical issues. Although it is becoming increasingly common for MDE research papers to evaluate their theoretical and practical solutions, extensive usability studies are still uncommon. We observe a scarcity of User eXperience (UX)-related research in the MDE community, and posit that many existing tools and languages have room for improvement with respect to UX [26], [44], [37], where UX is a key focus area in the software development industry. We consider this gap a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed by the community if MDE is to gain widespread use. In this vision paper, we explore how and where UX fits into MDE by considering motivating use cases that revolve around different dimensions of integration: model integration, tool integration, and integration between process and tool support. Based on the literature and our collective experience in research and industrial collaborations, we propose future directions for addressing these challenges.

[1]  Silvia Mara Abrahão,et al.  Interplay between User Experience (UX) evaluation and system development , 2014, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[2]  Jean Vanderdonckt,et al.  Usability Evaluation of User Interfaces Generated with a Model-Driven Architecture Tool , 2008, Maturing Usability.

[3]  Silvio Romero de Lemos Meira,et al.  AGILEUX Model: Towards a Reference Model on Integrating UX in Developing Software Using Agile Methodologies , 2014, 2014 Agile Conference.

[4]  Marc Hassenzahl,et al.  User experience - a research agenda , 2006, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[5]  Nuno Jardim Nunes,et al.  Hammering Models: Designing Usable Modeling Tools , 2011, INTERACT.

[6]  Jean-Marc Jézéquel,et al.  Globalizing Domain-Specific Languages , 2015, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[7]  Paul A. Cairns,et al.  A Maturity Model for Integrating Agile Processes and User Centred Design , 2016, SPICE.

[8]  Paul van Schaik,et al.  Leisure and Work, Good and Bad , 2016, ACM Trans. Comput. Hum. Interact..

[9]  D. Hartfiel,et al.  Understanding , 2003 .

[10]  Jürgen Dingel,et al.  The problems with eclipse modeling tools: a topic analysis of eclipse forums , 2016, MoDELS.

[11]  Bran Selic,et al.  What will it take? A view on adoption of model-based methods in practice , 2012, Software & Systems Modeling.

[12]  Matthew Chalmers,et al.  A Historical View of Context , 2004, Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).

[13]  M. Csíkszentmihályi,et al.  Leisure and work. , 1981 .

[14]  Jonathan Grudin,et al.  Why CSCW applications fail: problems in the design and evaluationof organizational interfaces , 1988, CSCW '88.

[15]  Miguel A. Fernández,et al.  An empirical study of the state of the practice and acceptance of model-driven engineering in four industrial cases , 2012, Empirical Software Engineering.

[16]  Marian Petre,et al.  Usability Analysis of Visual Programming Environments: A 'Cognitive Dimensions' Framework , 1996, J. Vis. Lang. Comput..

[17]  Virpi Roto,et al.  Understanding, scoping and defining user experience: a survey approach , 2009, CHI.

[18]  Harald Störrle.  How are Conceptual Models used in Industrial Software Development? A Descriptive Survey , 2019, SE/SWM.

[19]  Natalia Juristo Juzgado,et al.  Interplay between usability and software development , 2010, J. Syst. Softw..

[20]  G. Pronovost,et al.  Leisure and Work , 1985, The Sociology of Leisure.

[21]  Kevin Lano,et al.  Requirements Engineering in Model-Transformation Development: An Interview-Based Study , 2016, ICMT 2016.

[22]  Simone Diniz Junqueira Barbosa,et al.  Quantifying usability of domain-specific languages: An empirical study on software maintenance , 2015, J. Syst. Softw..

[23]  Tore Dybå,et al.  Building Theories in Software Engineering , 2008, Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering.

[24]  Paul Ralph,et al.  Toward a Theory of Debiasing Software Development , 2011, SIGSAND.

[25]  Pieter Jan Stappers,et al.  Co-creation and the new landscapes of design , 2008 .

[26]  Ahmed Seffah,et al.  Usability through Software Design , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

[27]  Bernhard Rumpe,et al.  Model-driven Development of Complex Software : A Research Roadmap , 2007 .

[28]  Alan Cooper,et al.  The Inmates are Running the Asylum , 1999, Software-Ergonomie.

[29]  Daniel L. Moody,et al.  The “Physics” of Notations: Toward a Scientific Basis for Constructing Visual Notations in Software Engineering , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

[30]  Miguel Goulão,et al.  Usability Evaluation of Domain-Specific Languages , 2012, 2012 Eighth International Conference on the Quality of Information and Communications Technology.

[31]  Sarah Diefenbach,et al.  Needs, affect, and interactive products - Facets of user experience , 2010, Interact. Comput..

[32]  Eugene Syriani,et al.  Automating activities in MDE tools , 2016, 2016 4th International Conference on Model-Driven Engineering and Software Development (MODELSWARD).

[33]  Håkan Burden,et al.  Industrial Adoption of Model-Driven Engineering: Are the Tools Really the Problem? , 2013, MoDELS.

[34]  John Klein,et al.  Model-Driven Engineering: Automatic Code Generation and Beyond , 2015 .

[35]  Frank Maurer,et al.  User-Centered Design and Agile Methods: A Systematic Review , 2011, 2011 AGILE Conference.

[36]  M. Sheelagh T. Carpendale,et al.  Sketching User Experiences - The Workbook , 2011 .

[37]  Silvia Mara Abrahão,et al.  Usability Inspection in Model-Driven Web Development: Empirical Validation in WebML , 2013, MoDELS.

[38]  Virpi Roto,et al.  User experience evaluation methods: current state and development needs , 2010, NordiCHI.

[39]  Pierre-Alain Muller,et al.  Exploiting model driven technology: a tale of two startups , 2012, Software & Systems Modeling.