Visual History for Scheduling Behaviour

Actenum produces scheduling software (Actenum DSO) that computes project schedules based on user defined criteria, constraints and desired KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). The software represents schedules using Gantt charts. A user of Actenum DSO enters activities and the constraints between them and then runs an optimization algorithm to produce a schedule. Actenum has found that their customers have challenges understanding what their schedule optimization algorithm is doing. This leads to a lack of trust in the algorithm and a tendency to control much of the schedule manually, often leading to less than ideal schedules. Actenum would like to provide tools that help the users to understand the optimizer. We propose to design a visualization history module for DSO that tracks and visually represents changes made to the schedule. Our history module will enable users to visually understand and compare the effects of changes made in a schedule.

Faculty Supervisor:

Melanie Tory

Student:

Partner:

Actenum Corporation

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Victoria

Program: