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End-User Customization by Direct Manipulation of Tabular Data

Author(s)
Litt, Geoffrey
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Advisor
Jackson, Daniel
Terms of use
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright MIT http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/
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Abstract
Customizing software should be as easy as using it. Unfortunately, most customization methods require users to abruptly shift from using a graphical interface to writing scripts in a programming language. We introduce data-driven customization, a new way for end users to extend software by direct manipulation without doing traditional programming. We augment existing user interfaces with a table view showing the structured data inside the application. When users edit the table, their changes are reflected in the original UI. This simple model accommodates a spreadsheet formula language and custom data-editing widgets, providing enough power to implement a variety of useful extensions. We illustrate the approach with Wildcard, a browser extension that implements data-driven customization on the web using web scraping. Through concrete examples, we show that this paradigm can support useful extensions to many real websites, and we share reflections from our experiences using the tool. Finally, we share our broader vision for data-driven customization: a future where end users have more access to the data inside their applications, and can more flexibly repurpose that data as part of everyday software usage.
Date issued
2021-06
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139085
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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