Home // International Journal On Advances in Intelligent Systems, volume 3, numbers 3 and 4, 2010 // View article

Development of a Rich Picture editor: a user-centered approach

Authors:
Andrea Valente
Emanuela Marchetti

Keywords: rich pictures; knowledge acquisition; object-oriented analysis; qualitative tests; learning

Abstract:
This paper describes the development of a software tool to support rich pictures creation for object-oriented analysis. This software is useful both as an e-learning tool for bachelor-level students, as well as for practitioners working with agile methodologies. The transposition of manual rich picture practice into software proved difficult, therefore, we decided to follow a user-centered approach: design and implement a prototype with basic functionalities, then run a usability test with a few students and professionals. The feedback collected in the test validated our hypothesis circa the need of software support for the authoring of rich pictures, but also forced us to re-consider the design of our prototype. To gain a deeper understanding of the students' working practice, we also reviewed rich pictures from past student projects. All the information gathered through our study is guiding us in the design of the tool next version. At a more general level we realized that modern object-oriented development methodologies, such as agile methods, are informed by design, hence they sometimes assume design skills that programmers do not have or do not value.

Pages: 187 to 199

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2010. Used with permission.

Publication date: April 6, 2011

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2679