Papers by Tayana Uchoa Conte
Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, 2020
Background: Playability is the degree by which a player can learn, control, and understand a game... more Background: Playability is the degree by which a player can learn, control, and understand a game. There are many and different Playability evaluation techniques that can evaluate different and numerous game aspects. However, there is a shortage of comparative studies between these proposed evaluation techniques. These comparative studies can assess whether the evaluated techniques can identify playability problems with a better cost-benefit ratio. Also, these studies can show game developers the evaluation power that a technique has in comparison to others. Aim: This paper aims to present and initially evaluate CustomCheck4Play, a configurable heuristic-based evaluation technique that can be suited for different game types and genres. We evaluate CustomCheck4Play, assessing its efficiency and effectiveness in order to verify if CustomCheck4Play performs better than the compared heuristic set. Method: We have conducted an empirical study comparing a known literature heuristic set and CustomCheck4Play. The study had 54 participants, who identified 49 unique problems in the evaluated game. Results: Our statistical results comparing both evaluation techniques have shown that there was a significant statistical difference between groups. Efficiency (p-value = 0.030) and effectiveness (p-value = 0.004) results represented a statistically significant difference in comparison to the literature heuristic set. Conclusions: Overall, statistical results have shown that CustomCheck4Play is a more cost-beneficial solution for the playability evaluation of digital games. Moreover, CustomCheck4Play was able to guide participants throughout the evaluation process better and showed signs that the customization succeeded in adapting the heuristic set to suit the evaluated game.
Human Factors in Computing Systems, Oct 5, 2010
Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, 2017
Background: Advances in technology made possible the development of powerful platforms called Lea... more Background: Advances in technology made possible the development of powerful platforms called Learning Management Systems (LMSs), designed to help the teaching and learning process. Studies show that usability and User Experience (UX) of such platforms may influence in this process. Although several studies had been conducted in this area, most of them are at initial stages and need improvements or deeper empirical studies. Aim: This work aims to analyze scientific publications in order to characterize the usability and UX evaluation techniques in the context of LMSs. Method: We performed a systematic mapping study regarding the usability and UX evaluation techniques in the context of LMSs. Results: A total of 62 publications were accepted in this mapping, which helped identifying the techniques used to evaluate the usability and UX of LMSs and their characteristics such as its origin, type, performing method, learning factors, restriction and availability. Conclusion: Several studies were conducted regarding the evaluation of LMSs. However, there are still some gaps such as the lack of techniques with some features, e.g., feedback with suggestions to correct the identified problems. Besides, there is no sufficient evidence of which of them is best suited for this context.
Anais do XIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Qualidade de Software (SBQS 2014), 2014
Usabilidade é um dos atributos chave de qualidade de software que afeta a aceitação e facilidade ... more Usabilidade é um dos atributos chave de qualidade de software que afeta a aceitação e facilidade de uso de aplicativos móveis. Este artigo relata um caso prático do uso de técnicas de design e avaliação de usabilidade para a melhoria da qualidade do aplicativo Web móvel Dona Know. Ao aplicar técnicas de design de usabilidade, foi possível entender melhor os usuários finais do aplicativo. Além disso, a execução de avaliações de usabilidade permitiu apontar problemas de usabilidade que devem ser corrigidos. Os resultados desta experiência mostram que é possível identificar oportunidades de melhoria da qualidade a um baixo custo.
Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming, 2020
Design Thinking (DT) has been chosen as an approach to support problem-solving by many software d... more Design Thinking (DT) has been chosen as an approach to support problem-solving by many software development companies. However, there are divergences between the professionals of these companies concerning which techniques are performed, which steps are followed, and the way to implement this approach, as it proposes itself, to be divergent to generate numerous alternatives and, also, convergent, to find a solution. For this reason, aiming to characterize how the software companies have been implemented DT, this paper presents the results of a survey answered by 127 professionals from the Brazilian software industry. The results report a variety of scenarios in which DT has been applied: more than ten different models (sets of steps) are followed by the professionals; more than 50 techniques have been used, mainly, for meeting the needs in the process, according to the context of use and based on previous experiences. We also present 29 computational tools that, according to the res...
2017 IEEE 30th Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE&T), 2017
Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a modeling standard that has been commonly used in the softwar... more Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a modeling standard that has been commonly used in the software industry. However, students face difficulties while learning how to model complete and correct UML diagrams. One of the reasons is the way UML has been taught. In order to improve the effectiveness of learning it is necessary to employ methods in which the students actively take part in the learning process. This paper describes an empirical study that evaluates two teaching methods: Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Learning from Erroneous Examples (ErrEx). We compared these methods by assessing the degree of correctness and completeness of the produced diagrams. We analyzed students' perceptions about each method. The quantitative results showed that the diagrams created using both methods presented similar level of correctness and completeness. The qualitative results showed that students found PBL easier when learning UML diagrams. Results showed that students found PBL easier when learning UML diagrams.
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 2021
Together with many success stories, promises such as the increase in production speed and the imp... more Together with many success stories, promises such as the increase in production speed and the improvement in stakeholders' collaboration have contributed to making agile a transformation in the software industry in which many companies want to take part. However, driven either by a natural and expected evolution or by contextual factors that challenge the adoption of agile methods as prescribed by their creator(s), software processes in practice mutate into hybrids over time. Are these still agile? In this article, we investigate the question: what makes a software development method agile? We present an empirical study grounded in a large-scale international survey that aims to identify software development methods and practices that improve or tame agility. Based on 556 data points, we analyze the perceived degree of agility in the implementation of standard project disciplines and its relation to used development methods and practices. Our findings suggest that only a small number of participants operate their projects in a purely traditional or agile manner (under 15%). That said, most project disciplines and most practices show a clear trend towards increasing degrees of agility. Compared to the methods used to develop software, the selection of practices has a stronger effect on the degree of agility of a given discipline. Finally, there are no methods or practices that explicitly guarantee or prevent agility. We conclude that agility cannot be defined solely at the process level. Additional factors need to be taken into account when trying to implement or improve agility in a software company. Finally, we discuss the field of software process-related research in the light of our findings and present a roadmap for future research.
2021 IEEE/ACM 13th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE), 2021
Despite years of research for improving accuracy, software practitioners still face software esti... more Despite years of research for improving accuracy, software practitioners still face software estimation difficulties. Expert judgment has been the prevalent method used in industry, and researchers' focus on raising realism in estimates when using it seems not to be enough for the much-expected improvements. Instead of focusing on the estimation process's technicalities, we investigated the interaction of the establishment of commitments with customers and software estimation. By observing estimation sessions and interviewing software professionals from companies in varying contexts, we found that defensible estimates and padding of software estimates are crucial in converting estimates into commitments. Our findings show that software professionals use padding for three different reasons: contingency buffer, completing other tasks, or improving the overall quality of the product. The reasons to pad have a common theme: buying time to balance shortand long-term software development commitments, including the repayment of technical debt. Such a theme emerged from the human aspects of the interaction of estimation and the establishment of commitments: pressures and customers' conflicting short and longterm needs play silent and unrevealed roles in-between the technical activities. Therefore, our study contributes to untangling the underlying phenomena, showing how the practices used by software practitioners help to deal with the human and social context in which estimation is embedded.
Anais Estendidos do I Simpósio Brasileiro de Educação em Computação (EDUCOMP Estendido 2021), 2021
Neste trabalho em progresso está sendo realizado um estudo sobre quais elementos de jogos mais mo... more Neste trabalho em progresso está sendo realizado um estudo sobre quais elementos de jogos mais motivam e atraem os diferentes tipos de usuários de sistemas gamificados, bem como quais são as tendências e interesses típicos dos usuários de cada tipo. O modelo HEXAD será adotado para classificar os usuários em seis tipos distintos. Para realizar esse estudo, serão empregados o juiz on-line CodeBench e a plataforma de gamificação CodePlay, onde os alunos precisam completar os exercícios de programação disponibilizados pelos professores para avançar nas fases do sistema gamificado.Link para o vídeo da apresentação: https://youtu.be/P9Y218F_9OA
IET Software, 2020
Interaction models specify the structure and content of the user interface, the allowed user acti... more Interaction models specify the structure and content of the user interface, the allowed user actions, and the corresponding system responses. There is a need to inspect interaction models, as it avoids the propagation of defects to other artefacts. We created two inspection techniques for interaction models, called MoLVERIC Cards (MCards) and MoLVERIC Check (MCheck). MCards employs a gamification mechanism to motivate practitioners during the inspection. MCheck is a simple technique to be used by practitioners in a traditional way. Both techniques have questions, whose answers assist in identifying defects. We performed three studies to verify whether these techniques support the inspection of interaction models. In the first and second studies, we evaluated MCards and MCheck in comparison with an ad-hoc technique supported by the conventional inspection approach based on defect types. The results of these studies showed that both techniques support the inspection of interaction models. In the third study, we evaluated MCard in comparison with MCheck to understand the participants'; perceptions of both techniques. The study results showed that MCards was considered more suitable for practitioners interested in using dynamic activities, while MCheck was considered more suitable for practitioners who want to use a more traditional technique.
ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 2019
Requirements Engineering (RE) has established itself as a software engineering discipline over th... more Requirements Engineering (RE) has established itself as a software engineering discipline over the past decades. While researchers have been investigating the RE discipline with a plethora of empirical studies, attempts to systematically derive an empirical theory in context of the RE discipline have just recently been started. However, such a theory is needed if we are to define and motivate guidance in performing high quality RE research and practice. We aim at providing an empirical and externally valid foundation for a theory of RE practice, which helps software engineers establish effective and efficient RE processes in a problem-driven manner. We designed a survey instrument and an engineer-focused theory that was first piloted in Germany and, after making substantial modifications, has now been replicated in 10 countries worldwide. We have a theory in the form of a set of propositions inferred from our experiences and available studies, as well as the results from our pilot s...
Anais Estendidos do XVII Simpósio Brasileiro de Fatores Humanos em Sistemas Computacionais (IHC), 2018
O Design Thinking aparece na Engenharia de Software como uma abordagem promissora, incentivando a... more O Design Thinking aparece na Engenharia de Software como uma abordagem promissora, incentivando a colaborac¸a~o, auxiliando no entendimento e consequente especificac¸a~o das necessidades do usua´rio. Inspirado em pra´ticas de Design centradas no usua´rio, a abordagem ainda tem seus benefi´cios pouco conhecidos no apoio ao desenvolvimento de software. Assim, este projeto visa identificar como o Design Thinking tem sido usado neste contexto. Propo~e-se uma abordagem empi´rica de pesquisa baseada em mu´ltiplos estudos com usua´rios e profissionais da indu´stria, bem como especialistas no uso da abordagem para explorar o assunto. Estes estudos sera~o conduzidos a` luz de conceitos das areas de Interac¸a~o Humano-Computador (e.g., design centrado no usua´rio, personas) e Sistemas Colaborativos (e.g., colaborac¸a~o), vislumbrando contribuir para a integrac¸a~o das a´reas. Um primeiro estudo esta´ em andamento com instrutores e alunos de academias de musculac¸a~o visando tratar a problema´...
International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, 2018
Software organizations need to increase their productivity to stay competitive. Although there is... more Software organizations need to increase their productivity to stay competitive. Although there is a lot of research on productivity in software development, software organizations still do not know what are the most significant productivity factors in which they should invest. This paper presents a Tertiary Literature Review (TLR) that aims to identify and analyze Systematic Literature Reviews (SLR) on the influence factors of software productivity reported in the scientific literature. We extracted and classified the influence factors into organizational factors (organizational-dependent factors) and human factors (people-dependent factors). The relevance of the factors was extracted according to the amount of references found in the secondary studies. Using this information, software organizations can improve the productivity of their projects by evaluating the influence factors that best fit their context.
Anais do XXIX Simpósio Brasileiro de Informática na Educação (SBIE 2018), 2018
As Internet-based technology becomes more accessible, learning institutions have been adopting pl... more As Internet-based technology becomes more accessible, learning institutions have been adopting platforms such as Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to support and also complement face to face learning. Their widespread adoption raises the importance to evaluate them regarding quality in use attributes such as usability and User eXperience (UX). This paper presents the application of Design Science Research (DSR) to develop a technique and a tool to evaluate the usability and UX of LMSs called TUXEL. By applying DSR, we ensure a high level of rigor in the development process, combining theory and practice. The empirical studies indicated that TUXEL is adequate, in addition to providing better results compared to other techniques.
International Conferences on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, 2016
Usability and UX (User eXperience) are some of the most important factors for evaluating the qual... more Usability and UX (User eXperience) are some of the most important factors for evaluating the quality of mobile applications. They focus on how easy to use an application is and the emotions that such use evokes. However, these aspects are often evaluated separately in industry through different evaluation techniques. Although it is possible to identify more usability and UX problems by employing different UX and usability evaluation methods, this distributed approach may not be cost effective and may not allow to thoroughly explore the identified issues. In order to support the identification of both UX and usability problems in a single evaluation, we have proposed Userbility, an UX and usability inspection technique that allows evaluating these aspects in mobile applications. This paper presents an empirical study over the second version of Userbility to verify its feasibility. In this study, we compared Userbility with the UX and Usability Guidelines Approach (UUGA) that helps the evaluation of usability and UX separately in mobile applications. According to the quantitative results, considering efficiency, UUGA was better than the Userbility technique. However, the qualitative results suggest that Userbility pointed more improvement suggestions, which could be useful for redesigning the evaluated application.
ABSTRACT In the development process, evaluations and metrics are used for measurement and control... more ABSTRACT In the development process, evaluations and metrics are used for measurement and control of the involved variables, such as expenses, labor effort and project prioritization. Therefore, it is necessary to manage human resources as well, beyond the administration of resources invested on products. This paper proposes the Monk tool that suggests professionals who can collaborate on a team with tacit knowledge, based on team organization supported by the Belbin theory. The Monk tool aims to support Knowledge Management, specifically on the socialization of the tacit knowledge in development teams and the sharing of organizational experience. Also, it seeks to encourage collaboration among the group and minimize conflicts on a team.
2013 VII Brazilian Symposium on Software Components, Architectures and Reuse, 2013
Software product line (PL) is an approach that focuses on software reuse and has been successfull... more Software product line (PL) is an approach that focuses on software reuse and has been successfully applied for specific domains. The PL architecture (PLA) is one of the most important assets, and it represents commonalities and variabilities of a PL. The analysis of the PLA, supported by metrics, can be used as an important indicator of the PL quality and return on investment (ROI). This paper presents the replication of a controlled experiment for validating complexity metrics for PLAs. In particular, in this replication we are focused on evaluating how subjects less-qualified than the subjects from the original experiment evaluate complexity of a PLA by means of generated specific products. It was applied a PLA variability resolution model of a given PL to a sample of subjects from at least basic knowledge on UML modeling, PL and variability management. Apart of the selection of different subjects, the same original experiment conditions were kept. The proposed PLA complexity metrics were experimentally validated based on their application to a set of 35 derived products from the Arcade Game Maker (AGM) PL. Normality tests were applied to the metrics observed values, thus, pointing out their non-normality. Therefore, the non-parametric Spearman's correlation ranking technique was used to demonstrate the correlation between the CompPLA metric and the complexity rate given by the subjects to each derived product. Such a correlation was strong and positive. The results obtained in this replication shown that even less-qualified subjects, compared to the subjects from the original experiment, are able to rate the complexity of a PLA by means of its generated products, thus corroborating the results of the original experiment and providing more evidence that the composed metric for complexity (CompPLA) can be used as a relevant indicator for measuring the complexity of PLA based on their derived products.
Uploads
Papers by Tayana Uchoa Conte