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T. Scheller, E. Kühn:
"Influencing Factors on the Usability of API Classes and Methods";
Vortrag: 2012 IEEE 19th International Conference and Workshops on Engineering of Computer Based Systems (ECBS), Novi Sad, Serbien; 11.04.2012 - 13.04.2012; in: "Engineering of Computer Based Systems (ECBS), 2012 IEEE 19th International Conference and Workshops on", (2012), ISBN: 978-1-4673-0912-7; S. 232 - 241.

Usability is an important quality attribute for APIs. To create APIs with good usability, appropriate measurement methods are needed. But currently available methods are cost- and time-expensive and the results are not objective and therefore hard to quantify. API design guidelines give a good overview about important usability factors, but lack a scientific basis. When looking at scientific API usability studies, only a very small area of API design has been researched yet. Existing results don't give enough basis for a good API usability measurement method. In this paper we identify influencing usability factors for the two most common concepts of APIs: classes and methods. We therefore conduct a study with 20 programmers and 2 different API variants and evaluate how differences between the APIs influence usability when instantiating classes and calling methods. The results build a basis for API usability measurement methods and should help design more usable APIs.

API Design , API Usability , Usability Measurement , Usability Studies

http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ECBS.2012.27