A strategy-centric approach to the design of end-user debugging tools

Abstract

End-user programmers' code is notoriously buggy. This problem is amplified by the increasing complexity of end users' programs. To help end users catch errors early and reliably, we employ a novel approach for the design of end-user debugging tools: a focus on supporting end users' effective debugging strategies. This paper makes two contributions. We first demonstrate the potential of a strategy-centric approach to tool design by presenting StratCel, an add-in for Excel. Second, we show the benefits of this design approach: participants using StratCel found twice as many bugs as participants using standard Excel, they fixed four times as many bugs, and all this in only a small fraction of the time. Other contributions included: a boost in novices' debugging performance near experienced participants' improved levels, validated design guidelines, a discussion of the generalizability of this approach, and several opportunities for future research.