ABSTRACT

The use of Smart Homes has grown considerably in the past decade. Enabling end-users to develop rules to program their homes and devices is very important to empower them. Several studies have analysed trigger-action programming tools, primarily using form-based and data-flow approaches for programming interfaces. This study evaluated the usability of a block-based tool for end-user development of rules to control smart homes and compared the difficulties encountered by non-programmers and programmers. Evaluations involved 10 programmers and 10 non-programmers in Brazil. A thematic analysis of 247 problem instances (80 from programmers and 167 from non-programmers) yielded the following themes, with problems related to condition blocks, action blocks, states and actions, time-related tasks, block configuration and personalisation, information architecture, programming logic, conceptual model of smart homes, simulator and debugging, help and technical problems. Despite most non-programmers being able to experiment with blocks, their task completion rates were significantly lower than programmers. The analysis showed aspects where block-based programming can enhance the use for non-programmers. They also confirmed interaction aspects revealed by previous studies using form-based and data-flow approaches that also occur with block-based programming to design smart home rules, with important contributions to improve end-user development tools for smart homes.

摘要

在过去十年中，智能家居的使用大幅增长。使最终用户能够制定规则来对他们的家庭和设备进行编程对于赋予他们权力非常重要。几项研究分析了触发动作编程工具，主要使用基于表单和数据流的编程接口方法。本研究评估了基于块的工具用于最终用户开发规则以控制智能家居的可用性，并比较了非程序员和程序员遇到的困难。评估涉及巴西的 10 名程序员和 10 名非程序员。对 247 个问题实例（80 个来自程序员，167 个来自非程序员）的主题分析产生了以下主题，与条件块、动作块、状态和动作、时间相关任务、块配置和个性化相关的问题，信息架构、编程逻辑、智能家居概念模型、模拟器与调试、帮助与技术问题。尽管大多数非程序员都能够试验块，但他们的任务完成率明显低于程序员。分析显示了基于块的编程可以增强非程序员使用的方面。他们还证实了之前研究中使用基于表单和数据流方法揭示的交互方面，这些方法也出现在基于块的编程中，以设计智能家居规则，为改进智能家居的最终用户开发工具做出了重要贡献。他们的任务完成率明显低于程序员。分析显示了基于块的编程可以增强非程序员使用的方面。他们还证实了之前研究中使用基于表单和数据流方法揭示的交互方面，这些方法也出现在基于块的编程中，以设计智能家居规则，为改进智能家居的最终用户开发工具做出了重要贡献。他们的任务完成率明显低于程序员。分析显示了基于块的编程可以增强非程序员使用的方面。他们还证实了之前研究中使用基于表单和数据流方法揭示的交互方面，这些方法也出现在基于块的编程中，以设计智能家居规则，为改进智能家居的最终用户开发工具做出了重要贡献。