On understanding software tool adoption using perceptual theories

Abstract

Successful adoption depends on many factors, one of which is cognitive support. This paper presents some theories in cognitive science, especially the theory of perception that might be useful to understand tool adoption. We study SHriMP, a software visualization environment and propose some suggestions to improve the visualization in SHriMP based on perceptual theories. We believe that combining research in cognitive science and software engineering will help us to evaluate existing tools and provide design criteria so that adoption will be improved.