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CHI
2010
ACM

A strategy-centric approach to the design of end-user debugging tools

13 years 10 months ago
A strategy-centric approach to the design of end-user debugging tools
End-user programmers’ code is notoriously buggy. This problem is amplified by the increasing complexity of end users’ programs. To help end users catch errors early and reliably, we employ a novel approach for the design of enduser debugging tools: a focus on supporting end users’ effective debugging strategies. This paper makes two contributions. We first demonstrate the potential of a strategycentric approach to tool design by presenting StratCel, an add-in for Excel. Second, we show the benefits of this design approach: participants using StratCel found twice as many bugs as participants using standard Excel, they fixed four times as many bugs, and all this in only a small fraction of the time. Other contributions included: a boost in novices’ debugging performance near experienced participants’ improved levels, validated design guidelines, a discussion of the generalizability of this approach, and several opportunities for future research. Author Keywords Debugging strat...
Valentina Grigoreanu, Margaret M. Burnett, George
Added 17 May 2010
Updated 17 May 2010
Type Conference
Year 2010
Where CHI
Authors Valentina Grigoreanu, Margaret M. Burnett, George G. Robertson
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