Predictive modelling for HCI problems in novice program editors

Abstract

We extend previous cognitive modelling work to four new programming systems, with results contributing to the development of a new novice programming editor. Results of a previous paper, which quantified differences in certain visual languages, and feedback we had regarding interest in the work, suggested that there may be more systems to which the technique could be applied. This short paper reports on a second series of models, discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and draws comparisons to the first. This matters because we believe "bottlenecks" in interaction design to be an issue in some beginner languages - painfully slow interactions may not always be noticeable at first, but start to become intrusive as the programs grow larger. Conversely, text-based languages are generally less viscous, but often use difficult symbols and terminology, and can be highly error-prone. Based on the models presented here, we propose some simple design choices that appear to make a useful and substantive difference to the editing problems discussed.