Usability Matters: A Human–Computer Interaction Study on Network Management Tools

Abstract

Over the years, network monitoring tools have evolved to keep pace with the advances in networking technologies and paradigms, such as virtualization and softwarization, and more recently, data plane programmability. However, there have been few advances regarding user interfaces and interactions in network management systems. In this paper, an investigation based on the human-computer interaction perspective is presented and improvements on the usability aspects of network monitoring tools are proposed. First, we conducted a survey to capture general information from network administrator professionals. On the basis of these initial data, we identified and specified two personas to represent the groups of users. Thereafter, a study focused on observing users’ interaction and experience with a well-known network monitoring tool was conducted. Finally, our qualitative analysis revealed several findings that were used to develop recommendations to aid developers in the (re)design of these tools to enhance end-user interaction.