Minhyuk Ko

My name is Minhyuk Ko. I am a Ph.D. Candidate at Virginia Tech in the Department of Computer Science. Before joining VT, I did my undergraduate at George Mason University in 2022 and I earned my high school diploma from Centreville High School in 2019. My research interests include Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Software Engineering (SE), and Computer Science Education. At George Mason University, I worked as a undergraduate research assistant under Dr. Thomas LaToza, applying UX principles to iteratively evaluate and improve the usability of a web app for creating, finding, and using explicit programming strategies. At Virginia Tech, I work with Dr. Chris Brown in exploring empirical, interdisciplinary, and automated methods to improve the behavior, productivity, and decision-making of software engineers. My work has been published at top SE and HCI conferences, including EASE, ICSE and VL/HCC. I received the Best Short Paper, Honorable Mention at VL/HCC 2023 and Distinguished Paper Award at ICSE 2023.

News

	Our papers, "Designing Tools to Enhance Best Practices in Research Software Engineering" and "Finding RSEs: Challenges in Recruiting Research Software Engineers for Research", are accepted to ICSE 2026's co-located conferences (CHASE 2026 and SERS 2026). See you in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! 🇧🇷
	Our papers, "AutoPrint: Judging the Effectiveness of An Automatic Print Statement Debugging Tool" and "Programmers Without Borders: Bridging Cultures in Computer Science Study Abroad Program", are accepted to VL/HCC 2025
	Our paper, "Are We on the Same Page? Examining Developer Perception Alignment in Open Source Code Reviews", is accepted to EASE 2025.
	Our paper, "Exploring the Barriers and Factors that Influence Debugger Usage for Students", won a Best Short Paper Honorable Mention.
	Our paper on Exploring the Barriers and Factors that Influence Debugger Usage for Students is accepted to VL/HCC 2023.
	Our paper on A Qualitative Study on the Implementation Design Decisions of Developers is accepted to ICSE 2023.

Publications

2026

[CHASE 2026] Designing Tools to Enhance Best Practices in Research Software Engineering

Minhyuk Ko, Chris Brown

International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering 2026

5 Pages.

Abstract

Background: Research software engineers (RSEs) develop software to advance research across disciplines. However, RSEs rarely adopt the best software engineering practices---activities to enhance the development and maintenance of software. This can lead to negative consequences, such as increased development effort and inaccurate study results. Method: We conducted two participatory design workshops with RSEs to understand development challenges and explore possible design affordances to overcome those challenges. Results: Our findings reveal that RSEs struggle in various aspects of programming, such as debugging and understanding codebases, and face unique challenges, including selecting programming languages that best suit their needs and adopting developers’ mental models. Our findings also reveal that RSEs desire novel tools that support research development tasks---prioritizing code translation, code understanding, and communication---leveraging the power of large language models (LLMs). Conclusion: Our paper offers valuable insights and future research directions for designing tools to assist RSEs in adopting beneficial software engineering practices.
[SERS 2026] Finding RSEs: Challenges in Recruiting Research Software Engineers for Research

Minhyuk Ko, Shawal Khalid, Chris Brown

International Workshop on Software Engineering and Research Software 2026

3 Pages.

Abstract

Research Software Engineers (RSEs) bridge the gap between scientific research and software engineering by developing, maintaining, and optimizing software that enables data analysis, modeling, and simulation across disciplines. Their contributions are fundamental to reproducibility and innovation in modern science. However, RSEs face various challenges in their work, such as technical, social, and scientific challenges.

2025

[VL/HCC 2025] AutoPrint: Judging the Effectiveness of An Automatic Print Statement Debugging Tool

Minhyuk Ko, Omer Ahmed, Yoseph Berhanu Alebachew, Chris Brown

Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing 2025

6 Pages. 37% Acceptance Rate

Abstract

Debugging is one of the most difficult and tedious tasks for software engineers. While various tools and techniques have been introduced to assist debugging, most programmers use print statement debugging to find and fix errors in their code. That is, they manually add code to print values to verify if the code is executing as expected and make sure a certain section of the program is reached. However, this process can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially in large and complex programs. To that end, we introduce AutoPrint, a tool that automatically inserts and removes print statements to streamline print statement debugging in Java code. We conducted a judgment study with 23 participants---students and practitioners---to elicit feedback on AutoPrint and gain insights on its utility in practical debugging tasks. Our results show participants perceive AutoPrint saves debugging time and effort through a faster, simpler, and more usable tool compared to other approaches.
[VL/HCC 2025] Programmers Without Borders: Bridging Cultures in Computer Science Study Abroad Program

Minhyuk Ko, Mohammed Seyam, Chris Brown

Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing 2025

6 Pages. 37% Acceptance Rate

Abstract

Studying abroad can be a life-changing experience that can help students develop skills, make friends, and gain a global perspective. However, Computer Science (CS) students rarely encounter opportunities to participate in a study abroad program. We interviewed students that participated in our institution's first CS Study Abroad program---focused on software engineering---to understand participants experiences and how the program impacted the students' personal and computing identities. We found that students faced unique challenges, such as working with teammates that have different cultural backgrounds and programming styles. Through overcoming those challenges, students were able to strengthen their computing identity and gain confidence that they could work in diverse software engineering teams. Based on the lessons that we learned, we provide guidelines to enhance future CS Study Abroad experiences.
[Design4Everyone] ParticipantGuide: Promoting Transparency in Human-Centric User Studies

Minhyuk Ko, Shawal Khalid, Chris Brown

Workshop on Designing for Everyone: Advancing User Experience Through Human-Centric Design Methodologies 2025

2 Pages.

Abstract

Human subjects research is fundamental to advancing human-computer interaction (HCI), as it helps researchers understand user behaviors, needs, and experiences to enhance the design of software products. However, conducting such human-centric studies is often hindered by challenges in participant recruitment, including inefficiencies in finding eligible participants and administrative burdens. Participants are hindered from joining research studies due to logistical, eligibility, communication, or personal barriers that make participation impractical, inaccessible, or unappealing. These barriers not only slow down research progress, but also limit the diversity and representativeness of study participants. To address these issues, we propose ParticipantGuide—a structured label-based approach to enhance participant recruitment through providing key and interpretable information to potential participants. We discuss existing work, present a preliminary design, and provide implications for future research.
[EASE 2025] Are We on the Same Page? Examining Developer Perception Alignment in Open Source Code Reviews.

Yoseph Berhanu Alebachew, Minhyuk Ko, Chris Brown

The 29th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering 2025

12 Pages. 27% Acceptance Rate

Abstract

Code reviews are a critical aspect of open-source software (OSS) development, ensuring quality and fostering collaboration. This study examines perceptions, challenges, and biases in OSS code review processes, focusing on the perspectives of Contributors and Maintainers. Through surveys (n = 289), interviews (n = 23), and repository analysis (n = 81), we identify key areas of alignment and disparity. While both groups share common objectives, differences emerge in priorities, e.g, with Maintainers emphasizing alignment with project goals while Contributors overestimated the value of novelty. Bias, particularly familiarity bias, disproportionately affects underrepresented groups, discouraging participation and limiting community growth. Misinterpretation of approach differences as bias further complicates reviews. Our findings underscore the need for improved documentation, better tools, and automated solutions to address delays and enhance inclusivity. This work provides actionable strategies to promote fairness and sustain the long-term innovation of OSS ecosystems.

2023

[VL/HCC 2023] Exploring the Barriers and Factors that Influence Debugger Usage for Students

Minhyuk Ko, Dibyendu Brinto Bose, Hemayet Ahmed Chowdhury, Mohammed Seyam, Chris Brown

Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing 2023

5 Pages. 29% Acceptance Rate 🏆 Best Short Paper Honorable Mention 🏆

Abstract

Debugging is one of the most expensive and time- consuming processes in software development. To support pro- grammers, researchers, and developers have introduced a wide variety of debuggers or tools to automatically find errors in code, to make this process more efficient. However, there is a gap between industry developers and students regarding the skillful use of debuggers. We aim to understand this gap by studying barriers that hinder new programmers from using debuggers. We conducted a survey involving 73 students with various extents of programming experience and performed qualitative analysis. The goal was to extract insights into why students do not develop debugger usage skills. Our results suggest the general lack of academic course focus on debuggers is one of the primary reasons for avoidance. At the same time, complex user interfaces and a lack of visualization also seem intimidat- ing for many students, making using a debugger unappealing. Based on the results, we provide guidelines to motivate future debugger designs and education materials to improve debugger usage.
[ICSE 2023] A Qualitative Study on the Implementation Design Decisions of Developers

Jenny T. Liang, Maryam Arab, Minhyuk Ko, Amy Ko, Thomas LaToza

The ACM/IEEE 45th International Conference on Software Engineering 2023

13 Pages. 26% Acceptance Rate 🏆 Distinguished Paper Award 🏆

Abstract

Decision-making is a key software engineering skill. Developers constantly make choices throughout the software development process, from requirements to implementation. While prior work has studied developer decision-making, the choices made while choosing what solution to write in code remain understudied. In this mixed-methods study, we examine the phenomenon where developers select one specific way to implement a behavior in code, given many potential alternatives. We call these decisions implementation design decisions. Our mixed-methods study includes 46 survey responses and 14 semistructured interviews with professional developers about their decision types, considerations, processes, and expertise for implementation design decisions. We find that implementation design decisions, rather than being a natural outcome from higher levels of design, require constant monitoring of higher level design choices, such as requirements and architecture. We also show that developers have a consistent general structure to their implementation decision-making process, but no single process is exactly the same. We discuss the implications of our findings on research, education, and practice, including insights on teaching developers how to make implementation design decisions.