Software Architecture and Software Usability: A Comparison of Data Entry Form Designing Configurable Platforms. Lawrence Fatsani Byson Tiwonge Davis Manda Computer Science Department Computer Science Department University of Malawi University of Malawi Zomba, Malawi Zomba, Malawi [email protected] [email protected] Abstract--- The objective of the research was to discuss how platforms provide for end-user software development, through software architecture shapes the usability of configurable software customization of software interfaces and behaviour via in data entry-form design. The research process was conducted in interaction with graphical user interface (UI) elements and three stages. The first stage focused on usability studies for DHIS2 configuration files [2], [3]. Thus, with the advent of configurable custom form editor from which empirical data was collected from software platforms, the implementation of software solutions is 11 participants. The second phase centred on experimentation shifting from total reliance on software developers towards with Sketch2Code and Commcare. The final stage focused on solution prototyping and evaluation. The research found out that increased participation of end-users. In turn, providing for end- usability is enhanced in configurable platforms through the user development of software applications may lead to reduced availability of interface elements for achieving desired goals with software development time and costs [4], [5]. the platform without the need for writing code and meta-design. Constraining factors to usability include lack of functionality to Despite their benefits, configurable software platforms are advance the appearance of interfaces beyond the basic outlook and not without challenges. A key challenge associated with having predefined functions with limited room for innovation configurable software platforms is that they may have complex outside the predefined range. The research also found out that interface designs a result of which users may experience software architecture enables software usability by providing usability challenges, which may affect their productivity [6]–[8] mechanisms for cross-platform compatibility with similar User interfaces are a common means through which users applications, provision of boundary resources for further interact with software, meaning they are a key to the acceptance customisation and through meta-design of software products. Thus, interface design issues may also Keywords---Usability, Software Architecture, Design, negatively impact user experiences for those working with such Configurable Platform. configurable platforms [3], [7]. As such, to make these interfaces effective for target user groups, it is critical to design them based I. INTRODUCTION on principles of human interface design [9]. The three well- Traditionally, software development has involved two sets known human interface design principles include Jakob Nielsen of distinct teams: software developers and end-users. Software – 10 usability heuristics for user interface design, Ben developers are people with a programming background, Shneiderman – The eight golden rules of interface and Bruce involved in the design and implementation of software products. Tognazzini – Principles of interaction design [10]. In a traditional software development setup, end-users provide This paper discusses how software architecture shapes the software specifications and wait for software developers to usability of configurable software in data entry-form design. To actualise the requirements into the desired software product. achieve this, the paper focusses on the utilisation of configurable Thus, end-users are consumers of the final product from the software platforms in Malawi’s health sector. There is an software developers. This process of development has been increased uptake of configurable platforms in the development deemed costly in terms of human resources, time and money [1]. of patient care and National Health Management Information Good software developers are costly and limited in number. System (HMIS) solutions in resource-constrained settings such Employing software developers also means that organizations as Malawi, which face a dearth of highly skilled software have to deal with an overhead of human resource management developers. Notable configurable platforms in use include issues. Further to this, the process of end-users giving software Commcare and the District Health Information System 2 specifications to software developers and then waiting for the (DHIS2). Commcare is a mobile data collection platform where software developers to implement solutions is reported to take a user does not need to write a single line of code. It has features time due to differences in priorities between the software for offline data collection, tracking data over time, incorporating developers and end-users [1]. multimedia and multi-language support [11]. DHIS2 is a To address problems inherent to traditional software configurable web software platform developed for the development, organizations are progressively adopting collection, validation, analysis, and presentation of aggregate configurable software platforms. Configurable software and patient-based statistical data [12]. It enjoys usage in over 60 Copyright © 2020 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) countries (Malawi inclusive), most of which are developing balancing these properties there are always tradeoffs as some countries [13]. properties are negatively correlated whereby increasing one property decreases another property [18]. The paper uses DHIS2 a primary case, analyzing the experiences of platform end-users in the configuration of data Another challenge with configurable software is the process collection forms. Based on noted challenges, the paper compares of testing [19]. On top of non-configurable software testing the DHIS2 platform with other platforms (Commcare, challenges that exist like test case generation, test case selection, Sketc2Code) in regard to form design, in order to draw lessons and test case prioritization, configurable software platforms add for design improvement. The choice of DHIS2 is motivated to the list the challenge of testing all possible configurations of based on the platform’s wide usage in Africa. At the same time, the system [19]. Another challenge is the actual development of literature shows that the platform can be complex to use. For the software platform to satisfy more than one stakeholder example, in Uganda, electronic forms for a health commodity requirement at the same time and uncovering the potential ordering system were reported to have use flexibility challenges configuration for the software platform to satisfy requirements due to the poor design of the forms as the custom editor in [3]. Literature has also outlined software quality as another DHIS2 limited the extent to which designers could design forms challenge. Software developers cannot always conduct all [14]. Our interactions with colleagues from other countries also quality assurance to each possible configuration that users might show that countries often rely on a small set of experts for come up with [20]. configuring national software products, due to platform complexity and usability issues. It is therefore hoped that lessons Another key challenge associated with configurable drawn herein will benefit other countries beyond Malawi. software platforms is that they can be complex and users may experience various usability challenges which may affect their A. Configurable Software Platforms productivity [6], [8], [21]. In turn, the complexity and interface design issues in configurable software platforms may also A Software platform is defined as a software-based product negatively impact user experiences for those working with such or service that serves as a foundation on which outside parties platforms [3], [7]. To enhance designers’ experiences in can build complementary products [15]. A software platform working with configurable software platforms researchers must provides the core functionality of what the platform is expected continue to investigate and correct usability challenges to do, but it is extendable [8]. To facilitate the extension of associated with various configurable software platforms [22]. functionality, platforms include an interface that allows third parties to develop apps that extend the functionality of the C. Software architecture and software usability platform [8]. Platform owners concentrate on the development of the platform core and boundary resources, leaving the ISO/IEC 9126-1 defines usability as the capability of a development of the actual applications in which end-users will software product to be understood, learned, used and be interact with the third-party software developers. attractive to the user, when used under specified conditions. Usability is a core aspect of the system development process to Configurable software platforms inherit the properties of improve and enhance system facilities and to satisfy users' needs software platforms but use the concept of configuration. The and necessities. Usability confirms if a software product has word configure means “to arrange how something, such as a good utility, is efficient, effective, safe, easy to learn, easy to computer system or software, is organized, so that it can be used remember, easy to use and to evaluate