Understanding the Needs of Novice Developers in Creating Self-Powered IoT

The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) has given birth to transformative and massively deployed computing applications that raise the significant issue of energy sources. It is impractical and irresponsible to rely on wires and batteries to power trillion-level devices. One promising prediction is that energy harvesting technologies will serve as alternative power sources for IoT devices. However, we might be losing this prophecy for lack of understanding of how novice developers comprehend energy in developing IoT. In response, we conducted a mentored physical prototyping study with a two-day workshop involving eight novice developers. The study consisted of qualitative and quantitative analyses, the artifacts, interviews with both novice developers and an expert, and implications of designs for future tools. The findings reveal informational gaps that demand educational efforts and assistive features to facilitate novice developers. We present major findings from the study and implications for the design of future tools.