extended-abstract

Using concept maps to evaluate the usability of APIs

Authors:

Jens Gerken,

Hans-Christian Jetter,

Harald ReitererAuthors Info & Claims

CHI EA '10: CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Pages 3937 - 3942

https://doi.org/10.1145/1753846.1754082

Published: 10 April 2010 Publication History

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Abstract

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are the interfaces to existing code structures, such as widgets, frameworks, or toolkits. Therefore, they very much do have an impact on the quality of the resulting system. So ensuring that developers can make the most out of them is an important challenge. However standard usability evaluation methods as known from HCI have limitations in grasping the interaction between developer and API -- the GUI, which makes this interaction obvious, is missing. In this paper we present a longitudinal approach using concept maps and a question diary to make this interaction visible and study the usability of an API over time.

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Cited By

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Horvath AMyers BGrover SDong SZhou EVoichick FKery MShinju SNam DNagy M(2019)The Long Tail: Understanding the Discoverability of API Functionality2019 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC)10.1109/VLHCC.2019.8818681(157-161)Online publication date: Oct-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/VLHCC.2019.8818681
Nam DHorvath AMacvean AMyers BVasilescu BZimmermann TLawall JMarinov D(2019)MARBLEProceedings of the 34th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering10.1109/ASE.2019.00063(615-627)Online publication date: 10-Nov-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/ASE.2019.00063
Padilla SMethven TRobb DChantler MMark GFussell SLampe Cschraefel mHourcade JAppert CWigdor D(2017)Understanding Concept MapsProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025977(815-827)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3025453.3025977
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Index Terms

Using concept maps to evaluate the usability of APIs
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods

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The concept maps method as a tool to evaluate the usability of APIs
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Abstract
An Application Programming Interface (API) provides a programmatic interface to a software component that is often offered publicly and may be used by programmers who are not the API’s original designers. APIs play a key role in software reuse. ...

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Published In

CHI EA '10: CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2010

2219 pages

ISBN:9781605589305

DOI:10.1145/1753846

General Chairs:
Elizabeth Mynatt
Georgia Institute of Technology
,
Don Schoner
Georgia Institute of Technology
,
Program Chairs:
Geraldine Fitzpatrick
Vienna University of Technology
,
Scott Hudson
Carnegie Mellon University
,
Keith Edwards
Georgia Tech
,
Tom Rodden
University of Nottingham

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 10 April 2010

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CHI '10: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 10 - 15, 2010

Georgia, Atlanta, USA

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CHI EA '10 Paper Acceptance Rate 350 of 1,346 submissions, 26%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,164 of 23,696 submissions, 26%

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Horvath AMyers BGrover SDong SZhou EVoichick FKery MShinju SNam DNagy M(2019)The Long Tail: Understanding the Discoverability of API Functionality2019 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC)10.1109/VLHCC.2019.8818681(157-161)Online publication date: Oct-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/VLHCC.2019.8818681
Nam DHorvath AMacvean AMyers BVasilescu BZimmermann TLawall JMarinov D(2019)MARBLEProceedings of the 34th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering10.1109/ASE.2019.00063(615-627)Online publication date: 10-Nov-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/ASE.2019.00063
Padilla SMethven TRobb DChantler MMark GFussell SLampe Cschraefel mHourcade JAppert CWigdor D(2017)Understanding Concept MapsProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025977(815-827)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3025453.3025977
Mayr ESchreder GSmuc MWindhager F(2016)Looking at the Representations in our MindProceedings of the Sixth Workshop on Beyond Time and Errors on Novel Evaluation Methods for Visualization10.1145/2993901.2993914(96-103)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2993901.2993914
Doedt MSteffen B(2011)Requirement-Driven Evaluation of Remote ERP-System SolutionsProceedings of the 2011 IEEE 34th Software Engineering Workshop10.1109/SEW.2011.14(57-66)Online publication date: 20-Jun-2011
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/SEW.2011.14

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The concept maps method as a tool to evaluate the usability of APIs

API usability peer reviews: a method for evaluating the usability of application programming interfaces

A systematic mapping study of API usability evaluation methods

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