Attaching UI enhancements to websites with end users

We present reform, a system that envisions roles for both programmers and end users in enhancing existing websites to support new goals. First, programmers author a traditional mashup or browser extension, but they do not write a web scraper. Instead they use reform, which allows novice end users to attach the enhancement to their favorite sites with a scraping by-example interface. reform makes enhancements easier to program while also carrying the benefit that end users can apply the enhancements to any number of new websites. We present reform's architecture, user interface, interactive by-example extraction algorithm for novices, and evaluation, along with five example reform enabled enhancements. This is a step toward write-once, apply-anywhere user interface enhancements.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Michael Toomim, Steven M. Drucker, Mira Dontcheva, Ali Rahimi, Blake Thomson, James A. Landay
• Keywords: CHI 2009, Human Computer Interaction, Reform Enabled Enhancements, Reform Makes Enhancements, User Interface Enhancements