Crossed Wires - Investigating the Problems of End-User Developers in a Physical Computing Task

Explore an empirical study investigating the challenges faced by end-user developers in physical computing tasks. Delve into the research conducted at the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, which observed participants connecting a temperature sensor to an Arduino microcontroller and visualizing its readings using LEDs. Examine the frequency and types of problems encountered, their locations, and whether they were overcome. Discover that most fatal faults were due to incorrect circuit construction, with problems often misdiagnosed as program bugs. Learn about the lack of support tools for physical computing tasks compared to software development environments. Gain insights into the potential for building appropriate tools to assist end-user developers in overcoming obstacles when constructing physical computing artifacts.

Introduction
The Maker Movement
Research Questions
Participants
Task Description
Coding Scheme
Completed Task
Coding
Most Problems
Successful Participants
Failures
Miss Wiring Components
Missed Diagnosis
What does this mean
Support tools
Summary