A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software

Michael Anders; Martin Obaidi; Barbara Paech; Kurt Schneider

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18

A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software

Michael Anders^*, Martin Obaidi, Barbara Paech, Kurt Schneider

^*Corresponding author for this work

Software Engineering Section

Heidelberg University

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Research › peer review

Abstract

Context and Motivation: Software users describe requirements for new software and give feedback to existing software. Both are well studied in requirements engineering research. However, both are also heavily influenced by the users’ comprehension of existing software. We do not know which aspects of software users have in mind when they talk about it. While their mental model is interesting in itself, knowing this mental model could be helpful both, during requirements elicitation and validation-whenever user statements need to be understood.

Problem: There is no standard methodology to study mental models and existing mental model studies mostly focus on specific elements of a specific software.

Principal results: We have asked students to describe and draw a certain software. We coded the answers to understand the abstraction levels and the software aspects mentioned. We also analyzed differences. Our results showed a strong focus on the interaction and domain level. The users’ drawings primarily represented the user interface. We found only small differences between participants with a computer science background compared to those without one.

Contribution: This paper presents initial insights on the software aspects in the mental model of users concerning existing software. It also describes our method to study this model and ideas for future studies.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Requirements Engineering
Subtitle of host publication	Foundation for Software Quality - 28th International Working Conference, Proceedings
Editors	Vincenzo Gervasi, Andreas Vogelsang
Publisher	Springer, Cham
Chapter	13216
Pages	235-250
Number of pages	16
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-030-98464-9
ISBN (Print)	978-3-030-98463-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18
Publication status	Published - 9 Mar 2022

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume	13216 LNCS
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Keywords

Mental model
User understanding
Software aspects
User language analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Theoretical Computer Science
General Computer Science

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18

Cite this

Anders, M., Obaidi, M., Paech, B., & Schneider, K. (2022). A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software. In V. Gervasi, & A. Vogelsang (Eds.), Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality - 28th International Working Conference, Proceedings (pp. 235-250). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 13216 LNCS). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18

Anders, Michael ; Obaidi, Martin ; Paech, Barbara et al. / A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software. Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality - 28th International Working Conference, Proceedings. editor / Vincenzo Gervasi ; Andreas Vogelsang. Springer, Cham, 2022. pp. 235-250 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)).

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title = "A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software",

abstract = "Context and Motivation: Software users describe requirements for new software and give feedback to existing software. Both are well studied in requirements engineering research. However, both are also heavily influenced by the users{\textquoteright} comprehension of existing software. We do not know which aspects of software users have in mind when they talk about it. While their mental model is interesting in itself, knowing this mental model could be helpful both, during requirements elicitation and validation-whenever user statements need to be understood.Problem: There is no standard methodology to study mental models and existing mental model studies mostly focus on specific elements of a specific software.Principal results: We have asked students to describe and draw a certain software. We coded the answers to understand the abstraction levels and the software aspects mentioned. We also analyzed differences. Our results showed a strong focus on the interaction and domain level. The users{\textquoteright} drawings primarily represented the user interface. We found only small differences between participants with a computer science background compared to those without one.Contribution: This paper presents initial insights on the software aspects in the mental model of users concerning existing software. It also describes our method to study this model and ideas for future studies.",

keywords = "Mental model, User understanding, Software aspects, User language analysis",

author = "Michael Anders and Martin Obaidi and Barbara Paech and Kurt Schneider",

note = "Funding Information: Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 433661943.",

year = "2022",

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Anders, M, Obaidi, M, Paech, B & Schneider, K 2022, A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software. in V Gervasi & A Vogelsang (eds), Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality - 28th International Working Conference, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 13216 LNCS, Springer, Cham, pp. 235-250. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18

A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software. / Anders, Michael; Obaidi, Martin; Paech, Barbara et al.
Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality - 28th International Working Conference, Proceedings. ed. / Vincenzo Gervasi; Andreas Vogelsang. Springer, Cham, 2022. p. 235-250 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 13216 LNCS).

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Research › peer review

TY - GEN

T1 - A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software

AU - Anders, Michael

AU - Obaidi, Martin

AU - Paech, Barbara

AU - Schneider, Kurt

N1 - Funding Information: Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 433661943.

PY - 2022/3/9

Y1 - 2022/3/9

N2 - Context and Motivation: Software users describe requirements for new software and give feedback to existing software. Both are well studied in requirements engineering research. However, both are also heavily influenced by the users’ comprehension of existing software. We do not know which aspects of software users have in mind when they talk about it. While their mental model is interesting in itself, knowing this mental model could be helpful both, during requirements elicitation and validation-whenever user statements need to be understood.Problem: There is no standard methodology to study mental models and existing mental model studies mostly focus on specific elements of a specific software.Principal results: We have asked students to describe and draw a certain software. We coded the answers to understand the abstraction levels and the software aspects mentioned. We also analyzed differences. Our results showed a strong focus on the interaction and domain level. The users’ drawings primarily represented the user interface. We found only small differences between participants with a computer science background compared to those without one.Contribution: This paper presents initial insights on the software aspects in the mental model of users concerning existing software. It also describes our method to study this model and ideas for future studies.

AB - Context and Motivation: Software users describe requirements for new software and give feedback to existing software. Both are well studied in requirements engineering research. However, both are also heavily influenced by the users’ comprehension of existing software. We do not know which aspects of software users have in mind when they talk about it. While their mental model is interesting in itself, knowing this mental model could be helpful both, during requirements elicitation and validation-whenever user statements need to be understood.Problem: There is no standard methodology to study mental models and existing mental model studies mostly focus on specific elements of a specific software.Principal results: We have asked students to describe and draw a certain software. We coded the answers to understand the abstraction levels and the software aspects mentioned. We also analyzed differences. Our results showed a strong focus on the interaction and domain level. The users’ drawings primarily represented the user interface. We found only small differences between participants with a computer science background compared to those without one.Contribution: This paper presents initial insights on the software aspects in the mental model of users concerning existing software. It also describes our method to study this model and ideas for future studies.

KW - Mental model

KW - User understanding

KW - Software aspects

KW - User language analysis

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U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 978-3-030-98463-2

T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

SP - 235

EP - 250

BT - Requirements Engineering

A2 - Gervasi, Vincenzo

A2 - Vogelsang, Andreas

PB - Springer, Cham

ER -

Anders M, Obaidi M, Paech B, Schneider K. A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software. In Gervasi V, Vogelsang A, editors, Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality - 28th International Working Conference, Proceedings. Springer, Cham. 2022. p. 235-250. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_18

A Study on the Mental Models of Users Concerning Existing Software

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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