A user task design notation for improved software design

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2021

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Information Systems Engineering
Information Systems is an academic and professional discipline which follows data collection, utilization, storage, distribution, processing and management processes and modern technologies used in this field. Our department implements a pioneering and innovative education program that aims to raise the manpower, able to meet the changing and developing needs and expectations of our country and the world. Our courses on current information technologies especially stand out.
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Computer Engineering
(1998)
The Atılım University Department of Computer Engineering was founded in 1998. The department curriculum is prepared in a way that meets the demands for knowledge and skills after graduation, and is subject to periodical reviews and updates in line with international standards. Our Department offers education in many fields of expertise, such as software development, hardware systems, data structures, computer networks, artificial intelligence, machine learning, image processing, natural language processing, object based design, information security, and cloud computing. The education offered by our department is based on practical approaches, with modern laboratories, projects and internship programs. The undergraduate program at our department was accredited in 2014 by the Association of Evaluation and Accreditation of Engineering Programs (MÜDEK) and was granted the label EUR-ACE, valid through Europe. In addition to the undergraduate program, our department offers thesis or non-thesis graduate degree programs (MS).
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Software Engineering
(2005)
Department of Software Engineering was founded in 2005 as the first department in Ankara in Software Engineering. The recent developments in current technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, and Blockchains, have placed Software Engineering among the top professions of today, and the future. The academic and research activities in the department are pursued with qualified faculty at Undergraduate, Graduate and Doctorate Degree levels. Our University is one of the two universities offering a Doctorate-level program in this field. In addition to focusing on the basic phases of software (analysis, design, development, testing) and relevant methodologies in detail, our department offers education in various areas of expertise, such as Object-oriented Analysis and Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Software Quality Assurance, Software Requirement Engineering, Software Design and Architecture, Software Project Management, Software Testing and Model-Driven Software Development. The curriculum of our Department is catered to graduate individuals who are prepared to take part in any phase of software development of large-scale software in line with the requirements of the software sector. Department of Software Engineering is accredited by MÜDEK (Association for Evaluation and Accreditation of Engineering Programs) until September 30th, 2021, and has been granted the EUR-ACE label that is valid in Europe. This label provides our graduates with a vital head-start to be admitted to graduate-level programs, and into working environments in European Union countries. The Big Data and Cloud Computing Laboratory, as well as MobiLab where mobile applications are developed, SimLAB, the simulation laboratory for Medical Computing, and software education laboratories of the department are equipped with various software tools and hardware to enable our students to use state-of-the-art software technologies. Our graduates are employed in software and R&D companies (Technoparks), national/international institutions developing or utilizing software technologies (such as banks, healthcare institutions, the Information Technologies departments of private and public institutions, telecommunication companies, TÜİK, SPK, BDDK, EPDK, RK, or universities), and research institutions such TÜBİTAK.

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Abstract

System design is recognized as one of the most critical components of a software system that bridges system requirements and coding. System design also has a significant impact on testing and maintenance activities, and on further improvements during the lifespan of the software system. Software design should reflect all necessary components of the requirements in a clear and understandable manner by all stakeholders of the software system. To distinguish system elements, separation of concerns in software design is suggested. In this respect, identification of the user tasks, i.e., the tasks that need to be performed by the user, is not currently reflected explicitly in system design documents. Our main assumption in this study is that software quality can be improved significantly by clearly identifying the user tasks from those that need to be performed by the computer system itself. Additionally, what we propose has the potential to better reflect the user requirements and main objectives of the system on the software design and thereby to improve software quality. The main aim of this study is to introduce a novel notation for software developers in the frame of UML Activity Diagram (UML-AD) that enables designers to identify the user tasks and define them separately from the system tasks. For this purpose, an extension of UML-AD, named UML-ADE (UML-Activity Diagram Extended) was proposed. Afterwards, it was implemented in a serious game case for which the specification of user tasks is extremely important. Finally, its effectiveness was analyzed and compared to UML-AD experimentally with 72 participants. The defect detection performance of the participants on both diagrams with two real-life serious game scenarios was evaluated. Results show a higher level of understandability for those using UML-ADE, which in turn may indicate a better design and higher software quality. The results encourage researchers to develop specific design representations dedicated to task design to improve system quality and to conduct further evaluations of the impact of these design on each of the above mentioned potential benefits for the software systems.

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Cagiltay, Nergiz/0000-0003-0875-9276
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UML-Activity diagram, Software quality, Software design, Player task notation, Defect detection performance

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https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj-cs.503
 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14411/2090

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