Michael Terry

Assistant Professor,
David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science
University of Waterloo
Office: DC 2118
mterry@cs.uwaterloo.ca

Open Source Usability

Go to http://hackingusability.org to follow our latest work in open source usability.

My primary research focuses on improving usability in open source software. ingimp, an instrumented version of the GNU Image Manipulation Program, is the first result of this work. With the data collected from ingimp, we are now able to characterize how this popular open source graphics application is used by a significant number of its users, information that heretofore was unavailable. See ingimp's data analyses for more information.

In the spirit of open source, the ingimp data analyses are completely open (and extensible) thanks to Stats Jam, a MediaWiki extension we built that allows us to embed live SQL queries directly within wiki pages.

Specific Projects

  • ingimp, research into the open instrumentation of end-user open source applications
  • Stats Jam, a MediaWiki extension for dynamic, public data analysis and grounded discourse (with Jon Pipitone)
  • Illustrated Consent Agreements, wordless diagrams that communicate the complex concepts of software consent agreements (with Matthew Kay)
  • AwkChecker, a linguistic aid for non-native speakers and the unique errors they make (with Terry Park, Edward Lank, and Pascal Poupart)
  • Kinematic Templates, a semi-structured drawing aid for visual composition (with Richard Fung, Edward Lank, and Celine LaTulipe)
  • Understanding the gaming practices of Nintendo DS owners (with Christine Szentgyorgyi and Edward Lank)
  • Jump, a tangible user interface for architects' reference (with Janet Cheung, Justin Lee, Terry Park, and Nigel Williams)

Recent Work

Terry, M., Kay, M., and Lafreniere, B. Perceptions and Practices of Usability in the Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) Community. (Currently under review.) Available as Technical Report CS-2009-26, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 2009 [PDF]

Lafreniere, B., Bunt, A., Whissell, J., Clarke, C., and Terry, M. Characterizing Large-Scale Use of a Direct Manipulation Application in the Wild. (Currently under review.) Available as Technical Report CS-2009-27, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 2009 [PDF]

Selected Publications

Bunt, A., Terry, M., and Lank, E. Friend or Foe? Examining CAS Use in Mathematics Research. In Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '09), pp. 229-238. [PDF]

Fung, R., Lank, E., Latulipe, C., and Terry, M. 2008. Kinematic Templates: End-User Tools for Content-Relative Cursor Manipulations. In Proceedings of User Interface Software and Technology, 2008 (UIST 2008). pp. 47-56. [PDF] [Video] [BibTeX ref]

Park, T., Lank, E., Poupart, P., and Terry, M. 2008. “Is the Sky Pure Today?” AwkChecker: An Assistive Tool for Detecting and Correcting Collocation Errors. In Proceedings of User Interface Software and Technology, 2008 (UIST 2008). pp. 121-130. [PDF] [Video] [BibTeX ref]

Szentgyorgyi, C., Terry, M., and Lank, E. 2008. Renegade gaming: practices surrounding social use of the Nintendo DS handheld gaming system. In Proceeding of the Twenty-Sixth Annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Florence, Italy, April 05 - 10, 2008). CHI '08. pp. 1463-1472. [PDF] [BibTeX ref]

Terry, M., Kay, M., Van Vugt, B., Slack, B., and Park, T. 2008. Ingimp: introducing instrumentation to an end-user open source application. In Proceeding of the Twenty-Sixth Annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Florence, Italy, April 05 - 10, 2008). CHI '08. pp. 607-616. [PDF] [BibTeX ref]

Terry, M., Cheung, J., Lee, J., Park, T., and Williams, N. 2007. Jump: a system for interactive, tangible queries of paper. In Proceedings of Graphics interface 2007 (Montreal, Canada, May 28 - 30, 2007). GI '07, vol. 234. pp. 127-134. [PDF] [BibTeX ref]

Terry, M. "Set-Based User Interaction." Ph.D. Dissertation. August, 2005. [PDF]

Terry, M., Brostow, G., Ou, G., Tyman, J., and Gromala, D. "Making Space for Time in Time-Lapse Photography." In SIGGRAPH 2004's Technical Sketches program. [PDF] [Movies]

Terry, M., Mynatt, E. D., Nakakoji, K., and Yamamoto, Y. "Variation in Element and Action: Supporting Simultaneous Development of Alternative Solutions." In Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2004). pp. 711-718. [PDF] [BibTeX ref] [Movie]

Terry, Michael & Mynatt, Elizabeth. "Side Views: Persistent, On-Demand Previews for Open-Ended Tasks." In Proceedings of the 15th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2002). pp. 71-80. [PDF] [BibTeX ref] [Movie]

Terry, Michael & Mynatt, Elizabeth. "Recognizing Creative Needs in User Interface Design." In Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on Creativity & Cognition (2002). pp. 38-44. [PDF] [BibTeX ref]

Terry, M., Mynatt, E. D., Ryall, K., and Leigh, D. "Social Net: Using Patterns of Physical Proximity Over Time to Infer Shared Interests". In CHI 2002 Extended Abstracts. [PDF] [BibTeX ref]

Huang, E., Terry, M., Lyons, K., and Chen, A. "Distributing Event Information by Simulating Word-of-Mouth Exchanges". In Proceedings of the Symposium on Human Computer Interaction with Moblie Devices (Mobile HCI 2002). [PDF]

Mamykina, L., Mynatt, E. D., and Terry, M. "Time Aura: Interfaces for Pacing." In Proceedings of CHI 2001. [PDF] [BibTeX ref]