Patterns of sharing customizable software

ABSTRACT

The act of customizing software is generally viewed as a solitary activity that allows users to express individual preferences. In this study, users at two different research sites, working with two different kinds of customizable software, were found to actively share their customization files with each other. This sharing allowed the members of each organization to establish and perpetuate informally-defined norms of behavior. A small percentage of people within the organization were responsible for most of the sharing. One group of these were highly-skilled software engineers, who were usually the first to try new software. They used customization as a way to experiment with and learn about the software and made their files available to others through various broadcast mechanisms. This group did not try to determine whether their customizations were useful to other users. The second group were less skilled technically but much more interested in interpreting the needs of their colleagues and creating customization files tailored to those needs. They acted as translators between the highly technical group and the rest of the organization. The spontaneous sharing of customization files within an organization has implications for both organizations and for software designers. Managers should 1) recognize and support the role of translators, 2) recognize that not all sharing is beneficial, and 3) provide opportunities for the exchange of customization files and innovations among members of the organization. Software designers should 1) provide tools that allow users to evaluate the effectiveness of their customizations through reflective software, 2) provide well-tested examples of customization files with the first release of the software, 3) explicitly support sharing of customizations, and 4) provide tools to support the activities of translators.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
      H.4.2 Types of Systems
          Subjects: Decision support (e.g., MIS)
      H.4.3 Communications Applications
          Subjects: Electronic mail

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.3 Software Management
          Subjects: Software development

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors, Management