Hello all
Here are the final results of the usability issues of diagrams survey.
Thank you all for participating (24 total responses).
Regards,
--
Bogdan SZANTO
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Impossible is nothing ~ Nothing is impossible !
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|
Percentage |
Responses |
| user of ArgoUML |
 |
55.2
|
16
|
| developer of ArgoUML |
|
41.4
|
12
|
| Other |
|
3.4
|
1
|
|
|
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2)
|
Have you
participated in GSoC? (This year's paticipation also counts)
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| |
|
Percentage
|
Responses
|
| Yes, as a student. |
|
13.0
|
3
|
| Yes, as a mentor. |
|
26.1
|
6
|
| Yes, both student and
mentor. |
|
0.0
|
0
|
| No. |
|
60.9
|
14
|
| Not applicable (haven't
heard about GSoC). |
|
0.0
|
0
|
|
|
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3)
|
My
GSoC project this year is to tackle some of the usability issues of
ArgoUML. Please list the below wishlist in the order of your preference.
* NA/IDU - you don't understand the description and therefore prefer
not to give a value for it (PLEASE DON'T SELECT ANYTHING)
* 1 - useless and distracting - if implemented, please make it optional
and by default disabled;
* 2 - I don't think I will use it, but, maybe I will try it;
* 3 - might be useful;
* 4 - useful and improves the usability;
* 5 - very useful and it would be a killer feature from a usability
point of view.
|
|
 |
1
|
2
|
3
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4
|
5
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Responses
|
Average Score
|
| A.
A quick “Build new class wizard” allowing to create a class from
scratch and to avoid the same repetitive tasks every time a class is
created: class name, attributes (visibility, type) and operations
(visibility, returned/received parameters) |
0 (0.00%)
|
5 (23.81%)
|
7 (33.33%)
|
4 (19.05%)
|
5 (23.81%)
|
21
|
3.43 / 5 (68.60%)
|
| B.
Drag an attribute from a class: to the panel in order to create a new
class and a new association; or onto another class to copy/move it. |
2 (9.09%)
|
2 (9.09%)
|
8 (36.36%)
|
6 (27.27%)
|
4 (18.18%)
|
22
|
3.36 / 5 (67.20%)
|
| C. Drag & drop reorder of
attributes and operations. |
0 (0.00%)
|
1 (4.35%)
|
4 (17.39%)
|
10 (43.48%)
|
8 (34.78%)
|
23
|
4.09 / 5 (81.80%)
|
| D.
Integration of classes between diagrams: a class created on a Class
diagram should easily be integrated in other diagrams (as an actor or
as a classifier role for example) and operations from the class should
be available for integration on these diagrams. |
0 (0.00%)
|
1 (4.55%)
|
3 (13.64%)
|
10 (45.45%)
|
8 (36.36%)
|
22
|
4.14 / 5 (82.80%)
|
| E.
Laser mode: instead of drawing an association all the way from class X
to class Y the user can just start to drag from class X towards class
Y. The edge being drawn will shoot ahead of the user‟s mouse position
and attach to the first class in line when the user releases. |
1 (4.35%)
|
7 (30.43%)
|
8 (34.78%)
|
6 (26.09%)
|
1 (4.35%)
|
23
|
2.96 / 5 (59.20%)
|
| F. Bird's eye view – a new panel
showing a non editable, reduced size image of the current diagram. |
3 (13.04%)
|
2 (8.70%)
|
6 (26.09%)
|
8 (34.78%)
|
4 (17.39%)
|
23
|
3.35 / 5 (67.00%)
|
| G.
Class modification on the panel: possibility to modify visibility of
attribute/methods by clicking an icon in front of the name, or the
current +, -, ~, # signs; possibility to modify type of attribute or of
the received/return type of an operation by using a drop down menu or
the keyboard. |
1 (5.00%)
|
4 (20.00%)
|
4 (20.00%)
|
7 (35.00%)
|
4 (20.00%)
|
20
|
3.45 / 5 (69.00%)
|
| H. Rotate through aggregation types by
double clicking on association end. |
3 (15.79%)
|
3 (15.79%)
|
9 (47.37%)
|
4 (21.05%)
|
0 (0.00%)
|
19
|
2.74 / 5 (54.80%)
|
| |
|
|
3.45 / 5 (69.05%) |
|
|
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4)
|
Have
you got any other suggestion for features, related to usability issues,
you would like to see implemented in ArgoUML or any other comment to
the above features (Please use letters A,B,C... to identify features
above)?
|
|
- UML2.
Less 'quirkiness' in UI. Haven't used it for half a year, so can't
provide any specifics, but I remember that although it is not a bad
program, it took a longer time to do things than in many commercial UML
programs, and results generally didn't look as good. Too easy to lose
or destroy work accidentally. I like the code generation and reversal
support. Would like to see round-trip engineering. :D |
| - Swim Lanes :-) |
- A:
It isn't clear to me how this works, but I think "templates" of some
form would be a good idea. They should include color, font, and other
presentation attributes in addition to the model attributes.
B: I think dragging to the canvas is an extra complication that is
unnecessary. Dragging between classes is fine.
D: This should already be true. If it isn't, it's a bug.
E, G, H: There are already too many bizarre little hidden features. If
there isn't an obvious way for the user to discover that these are
there and how they operate, we shouldn't bother implementing them. |
| - Make
A available for existing classes and integrate C and A. Move up and
move down buttons enabled when a method or property is selected. |
| - Would like the ability to
generate classes/documentation using editable templates. |
- A quick sketching mode with more
emphasis on roughly laying things out quickly than getting the syntax
exactly right.
In general, to make the interface more usable, I think we need to
reduce the number of panels, not add new ones. |
| - Drag-move cardinalities on the
diagram. |
| - From
the Refactoring book, I think the following Refactorings could be
useful: Collapse Hierarchy, Extract Hierarchy, Extract Class, Extract
Interface, Extract Superclass, Pull Up Field, Pull Up Method, Push Down
Field, Push Down Method, Rename Method |
| - mof-editor |
| - In
case of problems (e.g. malformed xmi file) user centric error messages.
Instead of Java exceptions with line number of source code, a message
with the xml element or line number of xmi file, wich cause the problem. |
| - Undo |
| - e)
The user will need some way to switch between current mode and lazer
mode maybe by holding down a hotkey in the process and/or a toggle
button in the diagram toolbar. They will still need the current mode if
they want to drop multiple points for an edge. |
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