ArguLens: a framework to help developers make sense of usability-related feedback

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Evaluating the usability of open-source software (OSS), software that is made freely available to developers worldwide, generally entails analyzing the feedback and comments of those who used it. Processing and understanding the feedback provided in user discussions, however, can be challenging due to the vast number of comments online, and because they often present opposing opinions.

 

Aware of these difficulties, researchers at McGill University, the University of Bari and Polytechnique Montreal have recently developed ArguLens, a theoretical framework and automated technique to simplify the analysis of community discussions related to the usability of OSS. Their recent paper, pre-published on arXiv, is part of a broader ongoing research effort aimed at helping developers of open source projects to improve the usability of their software.

 

"Understanding the rationales behind community requests and further evaluating their impacts on the end users can be very difficult, especially when the community's opinions are in conflict with each other," the researchers told TechXplore, via email. "The main objective of our study was to help open source contributors digest and evaluate the community's opinions about the usability of their project."

 

Before they started working on ArguLens, the researchers had lengthy discussions with open source contributors to better understand what they found most challenging about understanding feedback they received from the community. They found that most developers experienced huge difficulties in digesting and incorporating community comments, including suggestions and requests made via issue tracking systems.

 

This was due to the sheer volume of feedback they collected, as well as to the fact that users often expressed diverse and somewhat opposing perspectives. Combined, these two factors often made processing and digesting usability-related feedback challenging.

 

The researchers devised ArguLens with the key goal of assisting OSS developers in making sense of the rich and varied feedback they collected online. ArguLens includes both a conceptual framework and an automated technique for the analysis of online comments.

 

 

 

Evaluating the usability of open-source software (OSS), software that is made freely available to developers worldwide, generally entails analyzing the feedback and comments of those who used it. Processing and understanding the feedback provided in user discussions, however, can be challenging due to the vast number of comments online, and because they often present opposing opinions.

 

Aware of these difficulties, researchers at McGill University, the University of Bari and Polytechnique Montreal have recently developed ArguLens, a theoretical framework and automated technique to simplify the analysis of community discussions related to the usability of OSS. Their recent paper, pre-published on arXiv, is part of a broader ongoing research effort aimed at helping developers of open source projects to improve the usability of their software.

 

"Understanding the rationales behind community requests and further evaluating their impacts on the end users can be very difficult, especially when the community's opinions are in conflict with each other," the researchers told TechXplore, via email. "The main objective of our study was to help open source contributors digest and evaluate the community's opinions about the usability of their project."

 

Before they started working on ArguLens, the researchers had lengthy discussions with open source contributors to better understand what they found most challenging about understanding feedback they received from the community. They found that most developers experienced huge difficulties in digesting and incorporating community comments, including suggestions and requests made via issue tracking systems.

 

This was due to the sheer volume of feedback they collected, as well as to the fact that users often expressed diverse and somewhat opposing perspectives. Combined, these two factors often made processing and digesting usability-related feedback challenging.

 

The researchers devised ArguLens with the key goal of assisting OSS developers in making sense of the rich and varied feedback they collected online. ArguLens includes both a conceptual framework and an automated technique for the analysis of online comments.

 

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