Patina: Dynamic heatmaps for visualizing application usage

Abstract

We present Patina, an application independent system for collecting and visualizing software application usage data. Patina requires no instrumentation of the target application, all data is collected through standard window metrics and accessibility APIs. The primary visualization is a dynamic heatmap overlay which adapts to match the content, location, and shape of the user interface controls visible in the active application. We discuss a set of design guidelines for the Patina system, describe our implementation of the system, and report on an initial evaluation based on a short-term deployment of the system. Copyright © 2013 ACM.