## 5 Results: Assisted Service Composition
### Assisted-Composition Problems and Overall Perception  
Notably, the non-programmers reported less usability issues (\(t\)-test (22) = \(-\)2.20, \(p\) = 0.038) and were more positive about the assisted composition than the programmers, with the statistical difference approaching significance (\(t\)-test (22) = 1.96, \(p\) = 0.063) supporting hypothesis H2a, as shown in Table 10. This contrasts the results of manual composition (Section 4), were more conceptual issues were prevalent. These results support hypothesis H2b, which stipulates a more positive view by non-programmers toward assisted composition than programmers. So, which factors induced these opposing perceptions by the two user groups? To answer this question, we studied the types of conceptual weaknesses and strengths of assisted composition. Table 11 stipulates that the basic capabilities of assisted-composition approach and inability to express complex application logic and behaviour instigated the negative perception, especially amongst the expert sample, who typically wanted more control to create complex application logic and behaviour. Technically-oriented terminology and the absence of runtime effects were deterrents from using assisted composition by the non-programmers. A common issue to both user groups was the inability to differentiate between the available services under each activity of the design template. A few non-programmers highlighted that the composition process is quite simple and there is no opportunity to see why certain actions are happening, nor the possibility to program complex behaviours. For instance, users are unable to express conditional statements (e.g., \"Or\") using the tool. The feedback from non-programmers 1 and 5 below suggest that not all non-programmers are happy with hiding the logic of the composition process. This is an interesting and not-entirely expected result, since the expectation is that simplicity would guarantee a favourable perception by non-programmers. This problem was of paramount importance to the programmers, constituting 64% of their comments, because assisted composition constrains them from creating complex application \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Category**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Non-Programmers**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Programmers**} \\ \cline{2-5}  & **M** & **SD** & **M** & **SD** \\ \hline Overall problems & 1.92 & 1.78 & 3.17 & 2.12 \\ \hline -Conceptual problems & 1.08 & 1.16 & 0.92 & 1.24 \\ \hline -Usability problems & 1.00 & 1.20 & 2.25 & 1.54 \\ \hline Positive comments & 3.33 & 2.30 & 1.67 & 1.82 \\ \hline Suggestions & 1.25 & 1.86 & 1.58 & 1.67 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 10: Average number of problems, positive comments, and suggestions during the assisted service composition; Cells in grey signify statistical differences. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Task**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Non-Programmers**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Programmers**} \\ \cline{2-5}  & **Average Task** & **\# Users Who** & **Average Task** & **\# Users Who** \\  & **Completion Time** & **Completed the** & **Completion Time** & **Completed the** \\  & **(Seconds)** & **Tasks** & **(Seconds)** & **Tasks** \\ \hline
2. Removing & & & & \\ “Police & & & & \\ Registration” & 47.33 (SD = 39.29) & 11 & 56.08 (SD = 58.13) & 11 \\ activity from & & & & \\ design template & & & & \\ \hline
3. Selecting & & & & \\ appropriate & & & & \\ services for & 192.75 (SD = 88.29) & 12 & 297.67 & 11 \\ activities ** & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 9: _Cont._logic and sophisticated application behaviour (supporting Hypothesis H2a). Therefore, whilst abstracting composition approaches from technical representations may reduce cognitive complexity and learning costs for the lay people, it is not always a favourable option for end-users, including some non-programmers.