Müller, Helge (2019) A customizable and extensible Tutorial Framework for improved Usability in ExplorViz. (Master thesis), Kiel University, Kiel, Germany, 78 pp.

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Abstract

Software development is rapidly increasing in importance and size. Open-source development is more important than ever. More and more open-source software is used in companies. This causes more people to use the software. Feature the users are not aware about are not used, therefore software is only as good as the introduction of its features. Providing instructions for features is therefore an essential part of every software. ExplorViz is an open-source software which provides visualizations for live trace data. We develop an extensible and customizable tutorial framework for ExplorViz. The framework is developed for the current version of ExplorViz which is still under heavy development. The framework is an extension to ExplorViz which allows for the tutorials to be executed in the same context as the visualizations are used. The focus of development for this framework is to provide a structure which will by itself provide basic tutorial functionality. Considering extensibility has a large influence in our decisions during the development process. We describe the overall structure of ExplorViz and how the different components are relevant for the development of the tutorial framework. A tutorial framework which is customizable to suit automatic instructions during experiments is valuable, since ExplorViz is also frequently used in research. These features should however not intervene with the instruction of other users. We design the tutorial framework as an extension for ExplorViz, therefore either an extension to the framework or a customized variant could be created to exactly match the requirements for the experiments. These extension capabilities are not limited to the use in experiments, other customizations are possible. The usability of the framework is evaluated by questionnaires answered by participants after executing an example tutorial. This determines if the tutorials usability is as high as expected. The tutorial editor is evaluated similarly with the same participants. The work provides an overview about development of extensions with ExplorViz and highlights the potential problems, solutions and principles to follow when developing extensions for ExplorViz.

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