The impact of human-centered features on the usability of a programming system for children

Authors:
John F. Pane;Brad A. Myers
Affiliations:
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Venue:
CHI '02 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
2002

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Abstract

HANDS is a new programming system for children that was designed for usability. This paper examines the effectiveness of three features of HANDS: queries, aggregate operations, and data visibility. The system is compared with a limited version that lacks these features. In the limited version, programmers can achieve the same results but must use more traditional programming techniques. Children using the full-featured HANDS system performed significantly better than their peers who used the limited version. This provides evidence that usability of programming systems can be improved by including these features.