A Knowledge Sharing Framework for Better Interaction with Participants

In software development producing human-centric solutions relies heavily on conducting effective research with diverse groups of human participants, yet researchers perceive and experience many barriers in this process. A research tool which provides recommendations for research processes tailored to specific cohorts could alleviate some of these barriers.

Therefore, this research builds a tool to facilitate knowledge sharing within the software engineering research community concerning best practices for conducting research with specific end-user cohorts. This tool aims to allow researchers to easily identify the appropriate research framework, tools, and guidelines when conducting research with human participants. The tool was evaluated via surveys and interviews conducted with experienced software engineering researchers. These evaluations revealed that there is a strong need for the establishment and knowledge sharing of best practices for conducting human-centric research. Whilst the tool, in its current state, demonstrated potential to improve research outcomes, there is further work needed. Future work would ensure the tool provides relevant insights for a variety of research demographics and that its content remains relevant over time.

Project Lead

Dr Anuradha Madugalla

Project Team

Dr Tanjila Kanij, Student team: Chloe Brett, Daniel Feltham, Riley Keane, Lucia Pugh, Irmgard van der Spuy