Scientists in the MIST: Simplifying Interface Design for End Users

We are building a Malleable Interactive Software Toolkit (MIST), a tool set and infrastructure to simplify the design and construction of dynamically-reconfigurable (malleable) interactive software. Malleable software offers the end-user powerful tools to reshape their interactive environment on the fly. We aim to make the construction of such software straightforward, and to make reconfiguration of the resulting systems approachable and manageable to an educated, but non-specialist, user. To do so, we draw on a diverse body of existing research on alternative approaches to user interface (UI) and interactive software construction, including declarative UI languages, constraint-based programming and UI management, reflection and data-driven programming, and visual programming techniques

Temporal Changes in the Impact of Drivers of Online Review Influence

Traditional IT introduction approaches tend to follow a goal-driven, top-down logic, whereby management evaluates and selects technology that is then imposed on end-users. In this research-in-progress paper, it is argued that such approaches are not appropriate for enterprise social software (ESS) as a type of malleable technology requiring end-user appropriation. Through an embedded researcher relationship with a case organisation, a research approach and preliminary findings are presented in which the juxtaposition of two, client and consultant, practices align with either a top-down or employee-centric view regarding ESS. By utilizing a practice breakdown lens, this paper explores the tensions that are revealed in ESS projects as the two practices struggle to socially construct a joint solution for ESS inside client organisations. This unique context affords studying the particular nature of ESS and solutions for its uptake, as breakdowns foreground the role of the end-user in malleable technologies

Emerging from the MIST: A Connector Tool for Supporting Programming by Non-programmers

Software development is an iterative process. As user re-quirements emerge software applications must be extended to support the new requirements. Typically, a programmer will add new code to an existing code base of an application to provide a new functionality. Previous research has shown that such extensions are easier when application logic is clearly separated from the user interface logic. Assuming that a programmer is already familiar with the existing code base, the task of writing the new code can be considered to be split into two sub-tasks: writing code for the application logic; that is, the actual functionality of the application; and writing code for the user interface that will expose the functionality to the end user. The goal of this research is to reduce the effort required to create a user interface once the application logic has been created, toward supporting scientists with minimal pro-gramming knowledge to be able to create and modify pro-grams. Using a Model View Controller based architecture, various model components which contain the application logic can be built and extended. The process of creating and extending the views (user interfaces) on these model components is simplified through the use of our Malleable Interactive Software Toolkit (MIST), a tool set an infrastructure intended to simplify the design and extension of dynamically reconfigurable interfaces. This paper focuses on one tool in the MIST suite, a connec-tor tool that enables the programmer to evolve the user interface as the application logic evolves by connecting related pieces of code together; either through simple drag-and-drop interactions or through the authoring of Python code. The connector tool exemplifies the types of tools in the MIST suite, which we expect will encourage collabora-tive development of applications by allowing users to inte-grate various components and minimizing the cost of de-veloping new user interfaces for the combined compo-nents

Do You Understand Our Understanding? Personas as Hermeneutic Tools in Social Technology Projects

Personas, prevalent in information systems design and implementation, are often positioned as aesthetic creations imitating technology “end users”. As such, there is an inherent assumption that end user outcomes can be known prior to technology usage in practice. This assumption, however, becomes problematic in malleable end user software (MEUS) contexts, in which concrete usage is unknowable a priori. Through an auto-ethnographic account of a unique case of a small consultancy, the Ripple Effect Group, attuned to the nature of MEUS, we explore a novel approach to personas in social technology projects. We turn to the work of Gadamer (1975) to outline two distinct views of “mimesis” for contrasting the dominant portrayal of personas in the literature compared to our empirical context. Our paper challenges conventional thinking surrounding personas, and offers a practical approach, and preliminary theorizing, for personas as hermeneutic tools to convey meaning for those involved in MEUS projects

Lessons learned in developing a Second Life educational environment

Virtual worlds are rapidly spreading beyond gaming and entertainment into education and the corporate world. Should this trend continue, as forecast by the industry, then immersive applications will become more prominent, with bespoke software developed in the metaverse affording both opportunities and challenges. This paper reflects on the experience of developing a learning virtual space based on Second Life as part of an innovation project at The Open University, UK. The paper focuses on the lessons learnt from the viewpoint of managing the development of the learning environment, and could be of benefit to educators and educational technologists who are thinking to engage in this sort of development

Considering the dimensions of life-long learning tools

Life-long learning is a term that has different meanings. It can refer to the learning that occurs in relation to a particular career path, learning inside or outside the workplace, or informal learning that occurs as a part of a hobby or personal interest. Tools that support life-long learning should be malleable enough to effectively adapt to changes in learning mode, behavior and context to take into account changes in the personal circumstances and objectives of learners. This paper presents the beginning of a process to uncover some of the dimensions that can govern the design of adaptable, extensible and customisable life-long learning systems

Knowing A Few Rules Doesn’t Mean You Can Play the Game : The Limits of “Best Practice” in Enterprise Systems.

We examine the common claim that "best practices" are encompassed and represented in Enterprise Systems (ES). We suggest that an ES can at best only represent the ostensive and not the performative elements of work tasks. Thus, representation of best practice in an ES does not take practical action into account. This has two important implications. First, ostensive abstractions of best practice in an ES are a sparse and superficial representation of a "good" business process, at a specific moment in time. Second, the practical understanding required for performance is often ignored in the ostensive representation of best practice in the implementation of an ES. This constrains user and business adaptability. Inflexible coding of ostensive business tasks furthermore leads to rigidity where flexibility should be sought, to keep on top of the competition. Implications and directions for further research are discussed