Formalizing graphical notations

The thesis describes research into graphical notations for software engineering, with a principal interest in ways of formalizing them. The research seeks to provide a theoretical basis that will help in designing both notations and the software tools that process them. The work starts from a survey of literature on notation, followed by a review of techniques for formal description and for computational handling of notations. The survey concentrates on collecting views of the benefits and the problems attending notation use in software development; the review covers picture description languages, grammars and tools such as generic editors and visual programming environments. The main problem of notation is found to be a lack of any coherent, rigorous description methods. The current approaches to this problem are analysed as lacking in consensus on syntax specification and also lacking a clear focus on a defined concept of notated expression. To address these deficiencies, the thesis embarks upon an exploration of serniotic, linguistic and logical theory; this culminates in a proposed formalization of serniosis in notations, using categorial model theory as a mathematical foundation. An argument about the structure of sign systems leads to an analysis of notation into a layered system of tractable theories, spanning the gap between expressive pictorial medium and subject domain. This notion of 'tectonic' theory aims to treat both diagrams and formulae together. The research gives details of how syntactic structure can be sketched in a mathematical sense, with examples applying to software development diagrams, offering a new solution to the problem of notation specification. Based on these methods, the thesis discusses directions for resolving the harder problems of supporting notation design, processing and computer-aided generic editing. A number of future research areas are thereby opened up. For practical trial of the ideas, the work proceeds to the development and partial implementation of a system to aid the design of notations and editors. Finally the thesis is evaluated as a contribution to theory in an area which has not attracted a standard approach

Towards useful and usable interaction design tools: CanonSketch

Despite all the effort dedicated to bringing better User-Centered Design (UCD) tools to market, current studies show that the industry is still dominated by tools that do not support the activities and workstyles of designers. Also, there is a growing need for interaction design tools aimed at software engineers, a problem related to bringing usability into the software engineering processes. We propose a new workstyle model that can be effectively used to envision, design and evaluate a new generation of innovative interaction and software design tools, aimed at integrating usability and software engineering. We illustrate the effectiveness of our model by describing a new tool, called CanonSketch, that was built in order to support UCD in terms of the dimensions in our workstyle model. We also describe an evaluation study aimed at contrasting paper prototyping with our tool as well as the level of workstyle support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Embedding Requirements within the Model Driven Architecture

The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) brings benefits to software development, among them the potential for connecting software models with the business domain. This paper focuses on the upstream or Computation Independent Model (CIM) phase of the MDA. Our contention is that, whilst there are many models and notations available within the CIM Phase, those that are currently popular and supported by the Object Management Group (OMG), may not be the most useful notations for business analysts nor sufficient to fully support software requirements and specification. Therefore, with specific emphasis on the value of the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) for business analysts, this paper provides an example of a typical CIM approach before describing an approach which incorporates specific requirements techniques. A framework extension to the MDA is then introduced; which embeds requirements and specification within the CIM, thus further enhancing the utility of MDA by providing a more complete method for business analysis

Cognitive Effectiveness of Visual Instructional Design Languages

The introduction of learning technologies into education is making the design of courses and instructional materials an increasingly complex task. Instructional design languages are identified as conceptual tools for achieving more standardized and, at the same time, more creative design solutions, as well as enhancing communication and transparency in the design process. In this article we discuss differences in cognitive aspects of three visual instructional design languages (E²ML, PoEML, coUML), based on user evaluation. Cognitive aspects are of relevance for learning a design language, creating models with it, and understanding models created using it. The findings should enable language constructors to improve the usability of visual instructional design languages in the future. The paper concludes with directions with regard to how future research on visual instructional design languages could strengthen their value and enhance their actual use by educators and designers by synthesizing existing efforts into a unified modeling approach for VIDLs

Extending domain-specific modeling editors with multi-touch interactions

L'ingénierie dirigée par les modèles (MDE) est une méthodologie d'ingénierie logiciel qui permet aux ingénieurs de définir des modèles conceptuels pour un domaine spécifique. La MDE est supportée par des outils de modélisation, qui sont des éditeurs pour créer et manipuler des modèles spécifiques au domaine. Cependant, l'état actuel de la pratique de ces éditeurs de modélisation offre des interactions utilisateur très limitées, souvent restreintes à glisser-déposer en utilisant les mouvements de souris et les touches du clavier. Récemment, un nouveau cadre propose de spécifier explicitement les interactions utilisateur des éditeurs de modélisation. Dans cette thèse, nous étendons ce cadre pour supporter les interactions multitouches lors de la modélisation. Nous proposons un catalogue initial de gestes multitouches pour offrir une variété de gestes tactiles utiles. Nous démontrons comment notre approche est applicable pour générer des éditeurs de modélisation. Notre approche permet des interactions plus naturelles pour l'utilisateur quand il effectue des tâches de modélisation types.Model-driven engineering (MDE) is a software engineering methodology that enables engineers to define conceptual models for a specific domain. Modeling is supported by modeling language workbenches, acting as editor to create and manipulate domain-specific models. However, the current state of practice of these modeling editors offers very limited user interactions, often restricted to drag-and-drop with mouse movement and keystrokes. Recently, a novel framework proposes to explicitly specify the user interactions of modeling editors. In this thesis, we extend this framework to support multi-touch interactions when modeling. We propose an initial set of multi-touch gesture catalog to offer a variety of useful touch gestures. We demonstrate how our approach is applicable for generating modeling editors. Our approach yields more natural user interactions to perform typical modeling tasks

Experimental Object-Oriented Modelling

This thesis examines object-oriented modelling in experimental system development. Object-oriented modelling aims at representing concepts and phenomena of a problem domain in terms of classes and objects. Experimental system development seeks active experimentation in a system development project through, e.g., technical prototyping and active user involvement. We introduce and examine "experimental object-oriented modelling" as the intersection of these practices

Applying a User-centred Approach to Interactive Visualization Design

Analysing users in their context of work and finding out how and why they use different information resources is essential to provide interactive visualisation systems that match their goals and needs. Designers should actively involve the intended users throughout the whole process. This chapter presents a user-centered approach for the design of interactive visualisation systems. We describe three phases of the iterative visualisation design process: the early envisioning phase, the global specification hase, and the detailed specification phase. The whole design cycle is repeated until some criterion of success is reached. We discuss different techniques for the analysis of users, their tasks and domain. Subsequently, the design of prototypes and evaluation methods in visualisation practice are presented. Finally, we discuss the practical challenges in design and evaluation of collaborative visualisation environments. Our own case studies and those of others are used throughout the whole chapter to illustrate various approaches

Towards Sketching Interfaces for Multi-Paradigm Modeling

International audienceExisting design processes typically begin with informal ideation by sketching out a basic approach that can be further developed into a more complete design. Although intuitively simple, and seemingly informal, the sketching process is actually a structured activity that strongly influences the design of the system; hence, it has an important role in the design success. In this work, we develop a well defined specification of the sketching activity. We consider sketching as a process of achieving agreement, based on stakeholders communicating ideas about a design and its properties, with the side-effect of incrementally developing a (set of) common language(s) specific to the idea domain. Our perspective on sketching further differs from more common notions of ideation by noting the roles of requirements and system properties, and offering a general perspective on sketching as a modular activity within design. We validate our approach by analyzing the sketches of a research group at the CAMPaM 2019 workshop. By recognizing sketching as a fundamental activity in design, we enhance the formalization of the design process, and suggest improvements to the tool support for sketching beyond the basic drawing features

Category Theory and Model-Driven Engineering: From Formal Semantics to Design Patterns and Beyond

There is a hidden intrigue in the title. CT is one of the most abstract mathematical disciplines, sometimes nicknamed "abstract nonsense". MDE is a recent trend in software development, industrially supported by standards, tools, and the status of a new "silver bullet". Surprisingly, categorical patterns turn out to be directly applicable to mathematical modeling of structures appearing in everyday MDE practice. Model merging, transformation, synchronization, and other important model management scenarios can be seen as executions of categorical specifications. Moreover, the paper aims to elucidate a claim that relationships between CT and MDE are more complex and richer than is normally assumed for "applied mathematics". CT provides a toolbox of design patterns and structural principles of real practical value for MDE. We will present examples of how an elementary categorical arrangement of a model management scenario reveals deficiencies in the architecture of modern tools automating the scenario.Comment: In Proceedings ACCAT 2012, arXiv:1208.430