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ICSE 2021
Mon 17 May - Sat 5 June 2021

Context: Software engineering is a social and collaborative activity. Communicating and sharing knowledge between software developers requires much effort. Hence, the quality of communication plays an important role in influencing project success. To better understand the effect of communication on project success, more in-depth empirical studies investigating this phenomenon are needed.

Objective: We investigate the effect of using a graphical versus textual design description on co-located software design communication.

Method: Therefore, we conducted a family of experiments involving a mix of 240 software engineering students from four universities. We examined how different design representations (i.e., graphical vs. textual) affect the ability to Explain, Understand, Recall, and Actively Communicate knowledge.

Results: We found that the graphical design description is better than the textual in promoting Active Discussion between developers and improving the Recall of design details. Furthermore, compared to its unaltered version, a well-organized and motivated textual design description–that is used for the same amount of time–enhances the recall of design details and increases the amount of active discussions at the cost of reducing the perceived quality of explaining.

Thu 27 May

Displayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change

16:30 - 17:30
3.4.4. Open Source: Developers' SkillsTechnical Track / Journal-First Papers at Blended Sessions Room 4 +12h
Chair(s): Daniela Damian University of Victoria
16:30
20m
Paper
Software Engineering Whispers: The Effect of Textual Vs. Graphical Software Design Descriptions on Software Design CommunicationJournal-First
Journal-First Papers
Rodi Jolak Chalmers | University of Gothenburg, Maxime Savary-Leblanc University of Lille, Manuela Dalibor Software Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Andreas Wortmann RWTH Aachen University, Regina Hebig Chalmers University of Technology & University of Gothenburg, Juraj Vincur Slovak University of Technology, Ivan Polasek Slovak University of Technology, Xavier Le Pallec University of Lille, Sebastian Gerard CEA Saclay - NanoInnov, Michel R. V. Chaudron Chalmers | University of Gothenburg
DOI Media Attached
16:50
20m
Paper
What Makes a Great Maintainer of Open Source Projects?ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished PaperTechnical Track
Technical Track
Edson Dias Federal University of Pará, Paulo Meirelles University of São Paulo, Fernando Castor Federal University of Pernambuco, Igor Steinmacher Northern Arizona University, USA, Igor Wiese Federal University of Technology - Paraná (UTFPR), Gustavo Pinto Federal University of Pará
Pre-print Media Attached
17:10
20m
Paper
Representation of Developer Expertise in Open Source SoftwareArtifact ReusableTechnical TrackArtifact Available
Technical Track
Tapajit Dey Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick, Andrey Karnauch University of Tennessee Knoxville, Audris Mockus The University of Tennessee
Pre-print Media Attached

Fri 28 May

Displayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change

04:30 - 05:30
3.4.4. Open Source: Developers' SkillsJournal-First Papers / Technical Track at Blended Sessions Room 4
04:30
20m
Paper
Software Engineering Whispers: The Effect of Textual Vs. Graphical Software Design Descriptions on Software Design CommunicationJournal-First
Journal-First Papers
Rodi Jolak Chalmers | University of Gothenburg, Maxime Savary-Leblanc University of Lille, Manuela Dalibor Software Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Andreas Wortmann RWTH Aachen University, Regina Hebig Chalmers University of Technology & University of Gothenburg, Juraj Vincur Slovak University of Technology, Ivan Polasek Slovak University of Technology, Xavier Le Pallec University of Lille, Sebastian Gerard CEA Saclay - NanoInnov, Michel R. V. Chaudron Chalmers | University of Gothenburg
DOI Media Attached
04:50
20m
Paper
What Makes a Great Maintainer of Open Source Projects?ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished PaperTechnical Track
Technical Track
Edson Dias Federal University of Pará, Paulo Meirelles University of São Paulo, Fernando Castor Federal University of Pernambuco, Igor Steinmacher Northern Arizona University, USA, Igor Wiese Federal University of Technology - Paraná (UTFPR), Gustavo Pinto Federal University of Pará
Pre-print Media Attached
05:10
20m
Paper
Representation of Developer Expertise in Open Source SoftwareArtifact ReusableTechnical TrackArtifact Available
Technical Track
Tapajit Dey Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick, Andrey Karnauch University of Tennessee Knoxville, Audris Mockus The University of Tennessee
Pre-print Media Attached