More Like this

1. Building the Collaboration Graph of Open-Source Software Ecosystem

   https://doi.org/10.1109/MSR52588.2021.00086  

   Lyulina, Elena; Jahanshahi, Mahmoud (May 2021, 2021 IEEE/ACM 18th International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR))

   null (Ed.)

   The Open-Source Software community has become the center of attention for many researchers, who are investigating various aspects of collaboration in this extremely large ecosystem. Due to its size, it is difficult to grasp whether or not it has structure, and if so, what it may be. Our hackathon project aims to facilitate the understanding of the developer collaboration structure and relationships among projects based on the bi-graph of what projects developers contribute to by providing an interactive collaboration graph of this ecosystem, using the data obtained from World of Code [1] infrastructure. Our attempts to visualize the entirety of projects and developers were stymied by the inability of the layout and visualization tools to process the exceedingly large scale of the full graph. We used WoC to filter the nodes (developers and projects) and edges (developer contributions to a project) to reduce the scale of the graph that made it amenable to an interactive visualization and published the resulting visualizations. We plan to apply hierarchical approaches to be able to incorporate the entire data in the interactive visualizations and also to evaluate the utility of such visualizations for several tasks. 

   more » « less
2. Visual Exploratory Analysis for Designing Large-Scale Network-on-Chip Architectures: A Domain Expert-Led Design Study

   https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2023.3337173  

   Wang, Shaoyu; Yan, Hang; Isaacs, Katherine E.; Sun, Yifan (April 2024, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics)

   Visualization design studies bring together visualization researchers and domain experts to address yet unsolved data analysis challenges stemming from the needs of the domain experts. Typically, the visualization researchers lead the design study process and implementation of any visualization solutions. This setup leverages the visualization researchers’ knowledge of methodology, design, and programming, but the availability to synchronize with the domain experts can hamper the design process. We consider an alternative setup where the domain experts take the lead in the design study, supported by the visualization experts. In this study, the domain experts are computer architecture experts who simulate and analyze novel computer chip designs. These chips rely on a Network-on-Chip (NOC) to connect components. The experts want to understand how the chip designs perform and what in the design led to their performance. To aid this analysis, we develop Vis4Mesh, a visualization system that provides spatial, temporal, and architectural context to simulated NOC behavior. Integration with an existing computer architecture visualization tool enables architects to perform deep-dives into specific architecture component behavior. We validate Vis4Mesh through a case study and a user study with computer architecture researchers. We reflect on our design and process, discussing advantages, disadvantages, and guidance for engaging in a domain expert-led design studies. 

   more » « less
3. Domain-Centered Support for Layout, Tasks, and Specification for Control Flow Graph Visualization

   https://doi.org/10.1109/VISSOFT55257.2022.00013  

   Devkota, Sabin; LeGendre, Matthew P.; Kunen, Adam; Aschwanden, Pascal; Isaacs, Katherine E. (October 2022, 2022 Working Conference on Software Visualization (VISSOFT))

   Computing professionals in areas like compilers, performance analysis, and security often analyze and manipulate control flow graphs (CFGs) in their work. CFGs are directed networks that describe possible orderings of instructions in the execution of a program. Visualizing a CFG is a common activity in developing or debugging computational approaches that use them. However, general graph drawing layouts, including the hierarchical ones frequently applied to CFGs, do not capture CFG-specific structures or tasks and thus the resulting drawing may not match the needs of their audience, especially for more complicated programs. While several algorithms offer flexibility in specifying the layout, they often require expertise with graph drawing layouts and primitives that these potential users do not have. To bring domain-specific CFG drawing to this audience, we develop CFGConf, a library designed to match the abstraction level of CFG experts. CFGConf provides a JSON interface that produces drawings that can stand-alone or be integrated into multi-view visualization systems. We developed CFGConf through an interactive design process with experts while incorporating lessons learned from previous CFG visualization systems, a survey of CFG drawing conventions in computing systems conferences, and existing design principles for notations. We evaluate CFGConf in terms of expressiveness, usability, and notational efficiency through a user study and illustrative examples. CFG experts were able to use the library to produce the domain-aware layouts and appreciated the task-aware nature of the specification. 

   more » « less
4. EVALUATION OF SYSTEMATIC DESIGN METHODS USED IN SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS

   Angran Xiao, Gaffar Gailani (October 2021, Proceedings of IMECE 2021, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition)

   null (Ed.)

   System Engineering (SE) is utilized in structuring a product development process into simple and collaborative activities, while at the same time, supporting engineers’ decision-making. In most undergraduate engineering design courses, SE was taught by assigning industrial-like projects in which teams of students developed products using certain design methods while following structured design process. It has been observed that some design methods were adopted naturally and used effectively by students while some are less preferred. This is due to various reasons, from strict project deadlines to the fact that some methods are difficult to understand. In this paper, we studied these design methods in the context of senior design projects. We have observed students’ applications of these methods and conducted surveys to assess whether they believe these methods helped their design activities. This study will help us understand how to help students gain knowledge in product development through project-based learning, as well as provide some insights on how inexperienced engineers may use various design methods. 

   more » « less
5. A conceptual model for characterizing the problem domain

   https://doi.org/1473871615608902  

   Kirsten M Winters, Judith B (August 2015, Information visualization)

   Defining characteristics of a problem domain continues to challenge developers of visualization software, even though it is essential for designing both tools and resulting visualizations. Additionally, effectiveness of a visualization software tool often depends on the context of systems and actors within the domain problem. The nested blocks and guidelines model is a useful template for informing design and evaluation criteria for visualization software development because it aligns design to need. [1] Characterizing the outermost block of the nested model—the domain problem—is challenging, mainly due to the nature of contemporary domain problems, which are dynamic and by definition difficult to problematize. We offer here our emerging conceptual model, based on the central question in our research study—what visualization works for whom and in which situation—to characterize the outermost block, the domain problem, of the nested model. [1] We apply examples from a three-year case study of visualization software design and development to demonstrate how the conceptual model might be used to create evaluation criteria affecting design and development of a visualization tool. 

   more » « less