Understanding Marine Scientist Sofware Tool Use

Marine science researchers are heavy users of software tools and systems such as statistics packages, visualization tools, and online data catalogues. Following a constructivist grounded theory approach, we conduct a semi-structured interview study of 23 marine science researchers and research supports within a North American university, to understand their perceptions of and approaches towards using both graphical and code-based software tools and systems. We propose the concept of fragmentation to represent how various factors lead to isolated pockets of views and practices concerning software tool use during the research process. These factors include informal learning of tools, preferences towards doing things from scratch, and a push towards more code-based tools. Based on our findings, we suggest design priorities for user interfaces that could more effectively help support marine scientists make and use software tools and systems.