VTP: an end-user programming paradigm based on tool-based language constructs

Are there types of end-user “programming” tasks which favor a visual tool-based paradigm? This paper reports on an experiment to empirically compare two end-user programming paradigms; a visual direct manipulative tool-based language versus an end-user scripting language. This experiment is part of a larger research effort to study issues relating to computer user interfaces supported by “intelligent software agents”. The purpose of this work is to identify end-user programming tasks which favor a tool-based paradigm for collaborative work by groups of humans and the “agents”