Research Interests

• HCI
• UX
• Networking
• Undo Methods

Ph.D

Understanding Configuration History in Domestic Networks

Supervisors: Professor Tom Rodden and Dr Richard Mortier

Description

Networks are now a common feature in homes. Although networks are commonplace, householders still face difficulty in maintaining their networks.

Previous research has shown that often network management is the responsibility of one householder. There is often difficulty understanding the components in a network and how the network is configured for householders who do not manage the network. Where householders were asked to draw their network, the level of understanding demonstrated by the details in the diagrams reflects the effect that not managing the network has on the ability to understand it.

The work presented in this thesis attempts to provide a greater degree of information about how the network evolves. Presenting network changes in a timeline was intended to make it easier for others to manage their network when necessary.

Networks have also increased in complexity, both in terms of the number of devices, but the types of devices that are connected. Managing devices when changes occur can also be a challenge, so I attempted to address this by creating a new network when changes were made to configuration. By creating a new network, devices are not disconnected, and they can be reconfigured individually, and potentially at different times.