TY - GEN
T1 - CatalaBlocks
T2 - ACM conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS 2026
AU - Russo, Nicholas Michael
AU - Schmitt, Matthew
AU - Iyer, Ananya
AU - Hong, Jonggi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).
PY - 2026/6/12
Y1 - 2026/6/12
N2 - Catala is a domain-specific programming language for statutory law, featuring prioritized default logic and programming constructs that precisely mirror legal reasoning structures. Extensive study of block-based programming has not clarified how such representations function in semantics-constrained domain-specific languages that require users to directly encode statutory logic. We introduce CatalaBlocks, a block-based representation of Catala that renders its core semantic constructs into a constrained visual form, enabling empirical study of how representation shapes interaction with computationally formalized statutory logic. We conducted a comparative study with legal professionals, examining how participants implemented statutory rules using either textual Catala or CatalaBlocks. Participants using CatalaBlocks completed tasks more quickly, produced more accurate code, reported lower difficulty, and expressed greater confidence in the solutions' alignment with intended statutory logic. These findings provide insight into how representation shapes domain experts' interaction with a semantics-first language for statutory law.
AB - Catala is a domain-specific programming language for statutory law, featuring prioritized default logic and programming constructs that precisely mirror legal reasoning structures. Extensive study of block-based programming has not clarified how such representations function in semantics-constrained domain-specific languages that require users to directly encode statutory logic. We introduce CatalaBlocks, a block-based representation of Catala that renders its core semantic constructs into a constrained visual form, enabling empirical study of how representation shapes interaction with computationally formalized statutory logic. We conducted a comparative study with legal professionals, examining how participants implemented statutory rules using either textual Catala or CatalaBlocks. Participants using CatalaBlocks completed tasks more quickly, produced more accurate code, reported lower difficulty, and expressed greater confidence in the solutions' alignment with intended statutory logic. These findings provide insight into how representation shapes domain experts' interaction with a semantics-first language for statutory law.
KW - block-based programming
KW - computational law
KW - domain specific language
KW - legal expert systems
KW - legal informatics
KW - visual programming
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105042742247
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105042742247#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1145/3800645.3813091
DO - 10.1145/3800645.3813091
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105042742247
T3 - DIS 2026 - Proceedngs of the 2026 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference
SP - 688
EP - 707
BT - DIS 2026 - Proceedngs of the 2026 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference
A2 - Yen, Ching Chiuan
A2 - Lee, Jung-Joo
A2 - Do, Ellen Yi-Luen
A2 - Zheng, Clement
A2 - Yoo, Daisy
A2 - Tang, Tony
Y2 - 13 June 2026 through 17 June 2026
ER -