Understanding and Assessing Techniques for Vocabulary Extension in Software
Date
2024-04-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0002-2910-4746
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Vocabulary extension techniques teach users about the capabilities of a software application. Many techniques exist, but there is little information available to designers about what makes a vocabulary extension technique effective. To provide this information, I carried out a comprehensive four-part project that encompasses a literature review and inspection of commercial applications, two user surveys and an in-depth analysis. The first part identified types of vocabulary-extension techniques that are in current use, created a framework with six design dimensions that group and separate the techniques, and identified a set of quality criteria that can be used for assessment. I then surveyed 100 participants to determine the importance of these qualities for vocabulary-extension techniques and identified trust, convenience, annoyance, and value as critical. The second survey then investigated usage frequency and user ratings of 22 different vocabulary extension techniques. I determined that the most used techniques were exploration and hover help. I then analyzed the results to determine that the techniques which were the most highly rated overall were hover help, help pages and long official videos. Furthermore, I determined the impact of altering the following design dimensions on user preferences: Source, Presentation, Time Requirement, Integration, Context, and Intentionality. This analysis provides new, empirically-grounded recommendations for how to improve vocabulary extension.
Description
Keywords
expertise development, novice-to-expert transitions, vocabulary extension, learnability
Citation
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Computer Science
Program
Computer Science