Designing Building Processes in Software Construction Kits

We have developed a genre of software construction kits and a framework for developing them, which is both conceptual and structural. The kits are highly graphical and highly interactive. They are characterized by two main processes: players’ building of objects from graphical elements, and the software’s activation of the constructions. The existing kits demonstrate a range of interaction designs for creating constructions, and trial users of our framework have introduced further approaches. We review these results and identify considerations for articulation of optimal construction techniques. Designing Building Processes in Software Construction Kits Carol Strohecker Adrienne H. Slaughter Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory (MERL) 201 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA +1 617 621 7517, +1 617 621 7594 [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT We have developed a genre of software construction kits and a framework for developing them, which is both conceptual and structural. The kits are highly graphical and highly interactive. They are characterized by two main processes: players’ building of objects from graphical elements, and the software’s activation of the constructions. The existing kits demonstrate a range of interaction designs for creating constructions, and trial users of our framework have introduced further approaches. We review these results and identify considerations for articulation of optimal construction techniques.We have developed a genre of software construction kits and a framework for developing them, which is both conceptual and structural. The kits are highly graphical and highly interactive. They are characterized by two main processes: players’ building of objects from graphical elements, and the software’s activation of the constructions. The existing kits demonstrate a range of interaction designs for creating constructions, and trial users of our framework have introduced further approaches. We review these results and identify considerations for articulation of optimal construction techniques.