Continuous Coordination Tools and their Evaluation

Abstract

This chapter discusses a set of co-ordination tools (the Continuous Co-ordination (CC) tool suite that includes Ariadne, Workspace Activity Viewer (WAV), Lighthouse, Palantír, and YANCEES) and details of our evaluation framework for these tools. Specifically, we discuss how we assessed the usefulness and the usability of these tools within the context of a predefined evaluation framework called DESMET. For example, for visualization tools we evaluated the suitability of the level of abstraction and the mode of displaying information of each tool. Whereas for an infrastructure tool we evaluate the effort required to implement co-ordination tools based on the given tool. We conclude with pointers on factors to consider when evaluating coordination tools in general.Keywords: Distributed and Collaborative Software Engineering, Collaborative Tools, Evaluation. IntroductionCo-ordination has been studied in different domains and within different contexts, as any kind of group work entails co-ordination [1,32]. For our purposes, we focus on co-ordination efforts that are required to understand interdependencies among artifacts and developers in a software project, and to take appropriate steps to produce results with minimal conflicts. We recognize that co-ordination is not a static process, but one that needs continuous adjustments. This means that concerned individuals have to have the ability to respond to ongoing changes in the project and the effects of these changes on their work. Furthermore, co-ordination efforts occur at multiple levels: among developers, between managers and their teams,