Methods
Summary
Framed as a pilot study, we aim to collect different lines of evidence illustrating that our lab graph and issues board can be used for the regular exchange of ideas among different members of our research lab. Most of these metrics are already extractable from the graph. We aim to demonstrate that these metrics are useful and quantifiable, with the goal of spurring future in-depth studies that take advantage of these quantitative usage data to more rigorously test hypotheses about the impact of the tool on researchers.
The types of evidence we intend to collect include the following:
Usage of issues: frequency with which researchers create issues
Proof of concept: ~100 Issues created in the lab have time stamps and user stamps, which can be plotted and correlated with metrics listed below.
Claiming issues: frequency with which researchers claim issues (convert an issue into an experiment)
Proof of concept: Issues can be "claimed" with the click of a button, converting the Issue to an active experiment. Each has a time stamp and user information, allowing us to track their conversion from one type to the other.