Not all visualizations are useful: the need to target user needs when visualizing object oriented software

Abstract

”A picture is worth a thousand words”. In the software field, this is justified by the increasing research into software visualization. Pictures are increasingly being used to represent software code with many studies establishing that they improve comprehension. This paper discusses results from observing expert programmers use 3 visualization tools. The results show that if tools are developed without user consultation, they may fail to be useful for the users. The necessity for developers of tools to target the needs of the users for whom the tools are aimed is further discussed.