Patina: Smart Heatmaps for Visualizing Application Usage

AbstractWe present Patina, an application independent system for collecting and visualizing application usage data which requires no instrumentation of the target application for either the data collection or presentation. All data collected through standard window metrics and accessibility APIs. The primary visualization is a smart heatmap overly which is dynamically created to match the content and location of the user interface controls visible in the active application even if the controls change location or shape. After reviewing the design goals, we explain the implementation of both the data collection and presentation parts of the system. Lastly, we explore three additional application of the Patina system based on previous research and report on an internal usage evaluation.