What we understand is what we get: Assessment in Spreadsheets

Abstract

In previous work we have studied how an explicit representation of background knowledge associated with a specific spreadsheet can be exploited to alleviate usability problems with spreadsheet-based applications. We have implemented this approach in the SACHS system to provide a semantic help system for spreadsheets applications. In this paper, we evaluate the (comprehension) coverage of SACHS on an Excel-based financial controlling system via a "Wizard-of-Oz" experiment. This shows that SACHS adds significant value, but systematically misses important classes of explanations. For judgements about the information contained in spreadsheets, we provide a first approach for an "assessment module" in SACHS.