Attaching UI enhancements to websites with end users

ABSTRACT

We present reform, a step toward write-once apply-anywhere user interface enhancements. The reform system envisions roles for both programmers and end users in enhancing existing websites to support new goals. First, a programmer authors a traditional mashup or browser extension, but they do not write a web scraper. Instead they use reform, which allows novice end users to attach the enhancement to their favorite sites with a scraping by-example interface. reform makes enhancements easier to program while also carrying the benefit that end users can apply the enhancements to any number of new websites. We present reform's architecture, user interface, interactive by-example extraction algorithm for novices, and evaluation, along with five example reform enabled enhancements.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

General Terms:
Human Factors

Keywords:
end-user programming, mashups, programming by example, web data extraction