Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Queen's University
$147,080.00
Improving the Perceived Quality of Mobile Software
FY 2009-10
Summary
Perceived quality is concerned with the quality of software as experienced by its users. The perceived quality of a software which crashes often, requires frequent battery recharges, and has limited space to store personal files is low since the user experience is a disappointing one. Users of mobile devices are more sensitive to the perceived quality of mobile software due to the tight integration of mobile devices in our daily lives.
The goal of this research project is to explore the concept of perceived quality in an industrial setting using real-life field data gathered from complex software. We want to improve the perceived quality of mobile software. Instead of performing traditional small-scale user studies, we will mine field data collected from thousands of mobile devices. The work will centre around three dimensions: 1) Software Reliability: Using field data, we will build models to measure the perceived quality of software and guide project planning activities by providing estimates of the optimal length for field testing periods and by helping developers rapidly fix bugs. 2) Software Footprint: We will develop a framework to automatically reduce the overall footprint of mobile software throughout its lifetime. 3) Battery Life: We will develop a framework to track the energy consumption of mobile software over time and refactor the code to help improve the battery life.
The results of this research will permit companies, like RIM, to better understand, closely monitor and drastically improve the perceived quality of their mobile software deployed on millions of devices. The results will also help international and Canadian mobile carriers, such as Rogers, Bell Mobility and Telus, in understanding the perceived quality of their device offerings and ensuring that their subscribers have a high quality user experience. This project will train 12 HQP (3 Ph.D., 4 Master's, 2 Post-doctoral and 3 undergraduate students) in an important area of software engineering for mobile software.
Program
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
372784-2008
Name nom
Zou, Ying
Department département
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Organization id
29
Institution établissement
Queen's University
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2009
Competition year année de concours
2008
Award amount
147080
Program id
CRDPJ
Program nane en
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Program name fr
Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
802
Area of application group en
Information and communication services
Area of application group fr
Services d'information et de télécommunications
Area of application en
Information systems and technology
Area of application fr
Systèmes d'information et technologie de l'information
Research subject code
2706
Research subject group en
Information technology
Research subject group fr
Technologie de l'information
Research subject en
Software engineering
Research subject fr
Génie logiciel
Partie
1
Nb partie
3
Application title
Improving the Perceived Quality of Mobile Software
Keyword
NA
Application summary
Perceived quality is concerned with the quality of software as experienced by its users. The perceived quality of a software which crashes often, requires frequent battery recharges, and has limited space to store personal files is low since the user experience is a disappointing one. Users of mobile devices are more sensitive to the perceived quality of mobile software due to the tight integration of mobile devices in our daily lives.
The goal of this research project is to explore the concept of perceived quality in an industrial setting using real-life field data gathered from complex software. We want to improve the perceived quality of mobile software. Instead of performing traditional small-scale user studies, we will mine field data collected from thousands of mobile devices. The work will centre around three dimensions: 1) Software Reliability: Using field data, we will build models to measure the perceived quality of software and guide project planning activities by providing estimates of the optimal length for field testing periods and by helping developers rapidly fix bugs. 2) Software Footprint: We will develop a framework to automatically reduce the overall footprint of mobile software throughout its lifetime. 3) Battery Life: We will develop a framework to track the energy consumption of mobile software over time and refactor the code to help improve the battery life.
The results of this research will permit companies, like RIM, to better understand, closely monitor and drastically improve the perceived quality of their mobile software deployed on millions of devices. The results will also help international and Canadian mobile carriers, such as Rogers, Bell Mobility and Telus, in understanding the perceived quality of their device offerings and ensuring that their subscribers have a high quality user experience. This project will train 12 HQP (3 Ph.D., 4 Master's, 2 Post-doctoral and 3 undergraduate students) in an important area of software engineering for mobile software.
