Collaborative Modelling: Chatbots or On-Line Tools? An Experimental Study.

Modelling is a fundamental activity in software engineering, which is often performed in collaboration. For this purpose, on-line tools running on the cloud are frequently used. However, recent advances in Natural Language Processing have fostered the emergence of chatbots, which are increasingly used for all sorts of software engineering tasks, including modelling. To evaluate to what extent chatbots are suitable for collaborative modelling, we conducted an experimental study with 54 participants, to evaluate the usability of a modelling chatbot called SOCIO, comparing it with the on-line tool Creately. We employed a within-subjects cross-over design of 2 sequences and 2 periods. Usability was determined by attributes of efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction and quality of the results. We found that SOCIO saved time and reduced communication effort over Creately. SOCIO satisfied users to a greater extent than Creately, while in effectiveness results were similar. With respect to diagram quality, SOCIO outperformed Creately in terms of precision, while solutions with Creately had better recall and perceived success. However, in terms of accuracy and error scores, both tools were similar.