From error detection to behaviour observation: first results from screen capture analysis

TL;DR

This study explores analyzing user interaction with spreadsheets through screen capture recordings to better understand behavior, moving beyond error detection to observe how users perform tasks and make decisions.

Contribution

It introduces a methodology for analyzing screen captures to study user behavior in spreadsheet tasks, providing new insights into interaction patterns and decision-making processes.

Findings

Preferred modes of actions identified (toolbar vs menu)

Insights into formula writing and search strategies

Time, rhythm, and density as behavioral indicators

Abstract

This paper deals with errors in using spreadsheets and analysis of automatic recording of user interaction with spreadsheets. After a review of literature devoted to spreadsheet errors, we advocate the importance of going from error detection to interaction behaviour analysis. We explain how we analyze screen captures and give the main results we have obtained using this specific methodology with secondary school students (N=24). Transcription provides general characteristics: time, sequence of performed tasks, unsuccessful attempts and user preferences. Analysis reveals preferred modes of actions (toolbar buttons or menu commands), ways of writing formulas, and typical approaches in searching for solutions. Time, rhythm and density appear to be promising indicators. We think such an approach (to analyze screen captures) could be used with more advanced spreadsheet users.