First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your participation in this work. We are researchers from the
Loki research lab in the Inria Center of the University of Lille (France) and we are interested in how users automate frequent actions in their daily use of interactive software.
We define “automated actions” as
means to facilitate the activation of sequences of commands or tasks in an interactive system. These automated actions can be triggered by the user (button, menu item, shortcut) or automatically (e.g. via a script launched by a program), and aim to facilitate repetitive tasks.
This questionnaire consists of a series of questions on how you
use automated actions, how you
design them (if you do), and
which tools you use to use or create them.
This research focuses on sequences of commands which are already accessible within a given application or system (e.g., a filter or a paint stroke in Adobe Photoshop), as opposed to programming new features which were not already available (e.g., implementing image recognition in MS Excel). As examples of mechanisms that interest us, we can list actions in the Adobe Suite, macros in MS Word, Sublime Text or Emacs, or scripts that apply effects equivalent from the commands of a specific software (e.g., resize and apply filters to images with a Python script instead of using Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photos, or Gimp).
You may proceed with the questionnaire if you consider yourself eligible, based on the following criteria:
- you willingly use automated actions in your usage of interactive software
- you previously created automated actions that can later be reused by yourself or others
- you have thought about sequences of actions that you would like to automate, but did not have the means to do it (e.g., lacking the right tools or knowledge)
- you are aware that one or more applications that you use provide some means to define or use automated actions, but are not using them.
The questionnaire may take up to 45 minutes to complete, depending on your answers. You may withdraw at anytime without consequences.
Please note that, since we do not record any identifying information, we cannot tell when a participant leaves then comes back to resume the survey.
This questionnaire therefore needs to be completed in one go.
Please be aware that by clicking the “Next” button you agree to participate in the project, and this without any restrictions or external pressure. If you don’t have the information that you need to make that decision, please don’t hesitate to send us an email at
bruno.fruchard@inria.fr or
mathieu.nancel@inria.fr.
Regarding the data concerning you which may have been collected before you withdraw from the project, the research team may continue to use such data for the time during which the data mentioned below is kept, unless you have objections which you should make known to the contact persons. In this case, the data concerning you will be destroyed.
