Abstract Recent empirical studies show that software engineers use 5 tools and 14 artifacts on average for a single task. As development work is frequently interrupted and several simultaneous tasks are performed in parallel, engineers need to switch many times between these tools and artifacts. A lot of time gets wasted in repeatedly locating, reopening or selecting the right artifacts needed next. To address this problem we introduce Switch!, a context-aware artifact recommendation and switching tool. Switch! assists engineers in switching artifacts based on the type of the development task and the interaction history.

1. RSSE’10, Cape Town,
South Africa, Mai 2010
Assis$ng Engineers in
Switching Ar$facts
by using Task Seman$cs
and Interac$on History
Walid Maalej and Alexander Sahm
Technische Universität München, Germany

2. Execu$ve Summary
1
Current desktop environments lack the support for
switching between ar6facts during engineers’ work
2
We propose a context‐aware switching approach
based on task seman6cs and interac6on history
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 2

3. Outline
1 The Switching Problem
2 Our Context‐Aware Approach
3 The System: Switch!
4 Preliminary Evalua$on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 3

4. Example of Tools and Ar$facts Used in a Bug
Fixing Scenario (iPhone App)
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 4

5. © W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 5

6. Postponed Tasks Lead to Even More Windows
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 6

7. © W. Maalej, Mai 2010

8. Current Desktop Environments Have Four
Shortcomings
Windows of different tasks The context of previous
are mixed sessions is lost
Task irrelevant windows Locate the ar6facts when
create a screen cluAer resuming tasks
The
Switching
Problem
Switching between windows Different workflows for
instead of ar$facts open and closed ar$facts
Mul6‐layer switching: first Check if the ar6fact is open,
the windows then the ar6fact if not: find it, open it
More details: W. Maalej, Task‐First or Context‐First? Tool Integra6on Revisited. In IEEE/ACM ASE 2009
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 8

9. Outline
1 The Switching Problem
2 Our Context‐Aware Approach
3 The System: Switch!
4 Preliminary Evalua$on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 9

10. The Goal is to Assist Engineers Switching
Between Ar$facts
Engineers can
The system The ar6fact is
easily select the
recommends shown no maAer
ar6fact from the
ar6facts needed whether it is
set of
next open of closed
recommenda6ons
1 2 3
Detect and use engineer’s context
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 10

11. What is Engineer’s Context?
Task Interac6on
Seman6cs History
Context
(Universal (Personal
Dimension) Dimension)
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 11

12. Task Seman$cs (Universal Dimension)
Why?
• A classifica$on of soXware
engineering tasks (bug
fixing, implementa6on, • To model tool types and
specifica6on, modeling, ar$fact types and associate
collabora6on…) them to task types
• A shared common
• Example: A tes6ng tool and
understanding of each task
test documents are rather
type (ontology)
used during tes6ng tasks
than during modeling tasks
What?
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 12

13. Interac$on History (Personal Dimension)
Why?
• The engineer’s interac6on in
her workplace (desktop
environment) • To model the personal
switching habits and need
• Individual work habits of engineers
• Preferred tools
• Example: An engineer
• Preferred ar6facts
maintains a To‐do list in text
document instead in task
management system
What?
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 13

14. Outline
1 The Switching Problem
2 Our Context‐Aware Approach
3 The System: Switch!
4 Preliminary Evalua$on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 14

15. Overall Architecture
Switch!
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 15

16. Overall Recommenda$on Process
1 2
Find suitable Calculate the
ar$fact types relevance of
based on task each ar$fact
seman$cs to switch to
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 16

17. Recommenda$on Heuris$cs
Frequency The usage frequency of an
artifact by the engineer
The 6me in seconds the usage
Dura$on of an ar6fact by the engineer
The number of switches
Switched To between two ar6facts
The relevance of the ar6fact
Relevance for this switch
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 17

18. UI Principle 1: Group Tools by Purposes
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 18

19. UI Principle 2: Rank Ar$facts in Each Tool Group
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 19

20. UI Principle 3: Ar$facts Clickable by Mouse and
Keyboard
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 20

21. Outline
1 The Switching Problem
2 Our Context‐Aware Approach
3 The System: Switch!
4 Preliminary Evalua$on and Outlook
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 From Work To Word 21

22. Preliminary Evalua$on
• Internal use for currently supported task types
(work in progress)
Internal
evalua$on of • Switch! Supports bug fixing, tes6ng and
Switch! documen6ng
prototype • Current version handles source code, PDFs,
emails, text documents, and web pages
• Paper prototype experiment
Paper
• Created from printed Switch! user interface
prototype
experiment • Conducted with 7 experienced soXware
engineers (from Equinux & MacInTUM)
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 22

23. Paper Prototype ‐ Example
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 23

24. Paper Prototype ‐ Findings
1
Subjects confirmed the switching problem and appreciated our
context‐aware approach (5 of 7 subjects would use Switch!)
2
Subjects needed to get used to the user interface concepts (avg. <
5 min.)
3
Subjects wanted to understand recommenda6on ra$onale
4
Most subjects had privacy concerns due to the system wide
context observa6on
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 24

25. Conclusion and Future Work
Extend Switch! to Improve Make privacy and
other task types and recommenda6ons usability a fist order
evaluate it in by detec6ng the concern in context‐
industrial seangs task change aware recommenda6on
3 4 5
Developers encounter Our context‐aware approach
frequent problems while seems to be appropriate for
switching between ar6facts addressing switching problems
1 2
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 25

26. Feedback, Ques$ons, Sugges$ons
and Collabora$on are Welcomed!
Walid Maalej Alexander Sahm
TUM TUM
maalejw@cs.tum.edu sahm@cs.tum.edu
hAp://TeamWeaver.org
© W. Maalej, Mai 2010 Assis$ng Engineers in Switching Ar$facts 26