The usability of a visual, flow-based programming environment for non-programmers

Abstract

Living with “Big Data” gives us the advantage of being able to exploit this wealth of data sources and derive useful insights to make better decisions, enhance productivity, and optimize resources. However, this advantage is limited to a small group of professionals, with the rest of the population unable to access this data. Lack of support for non-professionals creates the need for data manipulation tools to support all sectors of society without acquiring complex technical skills. “Kit” is a visual flow-based programming environment that aims to facilitate manipulation and visualization for all citizens, particularly non-programmers, enabling them to have hands on data in an easy manner. This study evaluates Kit’s usability by having non-programmers involved in various evaluation activities to assess their ability to solve data-related problems using a prototype of the environment. The results provided useful insights to improve the design of data manipulation tools aiming to support non-programmers