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Between Pragmatism and Infeasibility:

Agile Usability for Children and Teens in a Very Large Multi-Year FOSS Project about Several Complex

Mobile Apps and Mobile Websites

Vienna, 07.06.2013 XP 2013 Workshop - Vesna Krnjic, Wolfgang Slany

XP 2013 - Agile and User Centered Design Integration Workshop

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Who are we?

• Austria, Graz University of Technology

• Institute for Software Technology

• Prof. Wolfgang Slany (head of the institute)

• ~200 students all over the world

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FOSS – Free Open Source Software

164 developers, spent 118 years of effort

11099 commits made by 162 contributors representing 441514 lines of code

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Project statistics from www.ohloh.net

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Used Agile Methods

• Test-driven development

• Kanban– Tickets – GitHub

• Pair Programming• Weekly stand-up

meetings

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General problems with our FOSS project

• Many people• Developers change all the time

(volunteers)• Developers are from all around the

world (e.g. Google Summer of Code 2013)

• No constant work

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What are we doing?

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https://github.com/Catrobat

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Scratch

• Catrobat is inspired by Scratch (programming system developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab)

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http://scratch.mit.edu/

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CATROBAT

• Visual programming language • Set of creative tools for smartphones,

tablets, and mobile browsers • Integrated development environment

(IDE) and interpreters for Android iOS, Windows Phones and HTML5 browsers

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CATROBAT

• Main differences to Scratch– Support and integration of multi-touch

mobile devices– Use of gyroscopes, mobile device’s

special hardware (e.g. acceleration, compass, inclination)

– No need for PC– Availability on all major mobile platforms

and HTML5 capable browsers

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CATROBAT

• Main projects– Pocket Code• Formula Editor

– Pocket Paint– Pocket Code Community Website– Pocket Code for iOS

• About 30 sub-projects

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CATROBAT Sub-Project

• Windows Phone edition• Tutorial game• HTML5/JavaScript editor • Lego Mindstorms sensors • Physics engine based on Box2D• Sony Xperia Play• Tablet Integration• Near Field Communication (NFC)Vienna, 07.06.2013

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CATROBAT Sub-Project• Drag & Drop in pre-stage• YouTube recording of stage• Young kids version (age 3 to 7) – Story telling only version

• Transcode Scratch programs into Catrobat programs

• Musicdroid that allows to enter musical notation by singing

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POCKET CODE

• Mobile• Visual programming

system• Aim is to enable

children and teenagers to creatively develop and share their own software

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POCKET CODE

• Android App, allows kids (from age of 8) to create and execute storytelling and music animations, games,

• Highly user-interface centric application

• “LEGO-Style” programming

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POCKET PAINT

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POCKET PAINT

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• Paint Editor Android App

• Allow setting part of picture to transparent

• Integrated in POCKET CODE

• Can be used on its own

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Community Website

• Up and download Catrobat programs

• Remixing and sharing • GNU Affero General

Public License AGPLed

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iOS

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iOS POCKET CODE

• Execute existing Catrobat programs on iPhone

• Built-in downloader• Not yet in Apple

App Store

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UX

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Personas

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• Additional U for Usability relevant Story – Usability Feedback from non-programmer– (Now: Usability Feedback from Usability

Team)Vienna, 07.06.2013

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Applied Usability Methods

• Mock-Up testing• Observation• Feedback

Questioner• Heuristic

Evaluation• Thinking Aloud

Tests

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UX Progress – before and after

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But…

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UX Challenges

• Classical approach of Usability• Lack of rapid prototyping • Designs were too detailed, with more

need for mock-up’s • Too much documentation and lack of

communication • UX team always behind the

programming team • Too long testing phases Vienna, 07.06.2013

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UX Challenges

• Complicated usability test setups and methods

• Providing feedback on usability issues took too long

• Children and teenagers are the end users, but it is difficult to find appropriate test persons on demand

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UX Challenges

• Permission from parents needed• Constantly changing requirements

even in the late development phase

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Outlook

Better integration of Agile User Experience Design

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Between Pragmatism and Infeasibility

Thank you for your Attention!vesna@sbox.tugraz.at

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