next up previous contents
Next: Conclusion Up: thesis Previous: Development Methodology   Contents

Future Work

As Agar approaches stability and a feature-set robust enough to stop the flow of requests, the places where it falls short are becoming more and more apparent. Some of the problems that are surfacing are subtle effects of the choice of wxPython as the GUI platform for the tool. Most notably, Agar fails to perform in one of our design guidelines: since this represents an entirely new kind of tool there is almost certainly going to be a large discrepancy between the user-model and program-model of behavior. To minimize this effect, the behavior of the system must be as transparent as possible. Unfortunately, within the wxPython widget paradigm, there is little that can be done to mitigate this elegantly. A fundamentally different interface design is necessary. If the interface is to be thrown out, it represents an opportunity for change in terms of separation of interface from functionality, increased testability, and better software engineering practices. Within the next 6 months we hope to begin work on Agar2, which will be a significant departure from the existing paradigm in terms of interface and usage metaphor, and will take advantage of all of the lessons that have been learned in the development and deployment of Agar over the past year. The core ideas in Agar2 will include

As a proposed system model, a flow chart with labeled and color-coded inputs and outputs would grant both greater flexibility and more intuitive interface. A grossly simplified mock-up of what a rubric could look like with such a system is shown in Figure 7.1.

Figure 7.1: Agar2 Rubric Mock-up
Image agar2

next up previous contents
Next: Conclusion Up: thesis Previous: Development Methodology   Contents
Titus Winters 2005-02-17