An Integrated Metrics Based Approach for Usability Engineering


(*) Corresponding author


Authors' affiliations


DOI's assignment:
the author of the article can submit here a request for assignment of a DOI number to this resource!
Cost of the service: euros 10,00 (for a DOI)

Abstract


Usability Assessment (UA) is a method that is used to elicit the quality of software products through regular tests with potential users by a variety of methods and models. However, existing  methods either falls in qualitative methods, which generally estimate users opinion of a software product which called (subjective assessment) or falls in quantitative methods, which focus on the performance measurement of the software product which is called (objective assessment). In this paper, we have proposed an Integrated Metrics Based Approach For Usability Engineering (IMAUE), which combine both qualitative and quantitative factors to complement the analysis process. Qualitatively, we have contributed to the factors of (1) conducting UA with fewer requirements by means of time, budget and resources (2) establish 2-way interaction between the user and the tester by interviewing users responses in the UA (3) employing dynamic tasks to fill the gap of communication and convert the UA into a discovery process. Quantitatively, we have proposed various models and metrics that can be used to measure the level of usability, those metrics are (1) interviewing time (2) number of errors (3) task accomplishment (4) time for the task and (5) users satisfaction. In order to clarify the assumptions of the proposed model, we have validated our model against two experimental case studies.
Copyright © 2014 Praise Worthy Prize - All rights reserved.

Keywords


UA; Literature Overview; Research Needs; IMAUE; Case Studies

Full Text:

PDF


References


Haidar S. Jabbar and T. V. Gopal, User centered design for adaptive e-Learning systems, Asian Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 5, pp. 429-436, 2006.

Punam Bedi and Hema Banati, Asseseing user trust to improve web usability, Journal of Computer Science, Vol. 2, pp. 283-287, 2006.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2006.283.287

Nielsen J., Usability engineering (Boston Academic Press, 1993).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-052029-2.50008-5

Patrick W. Jordan, An introduction to usability (Taylor and Francis, 1998).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/106480469900700211

Davis A., Software requirements: objects, functions and states (Prentice Hall, 1993).

Lauesen, S. and Harning, S., Virtual windows: linking user tasks, data models and interface design”, IEEE Software, vol. 18, pp. 67-75, 2001.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ms.2001.936220

Xavier Ferre, Integration of usability techniques into the software development process, Proc. ICSE Bridging the Gaps between Software Engineering and Human-Computer Interaction, Portland, 2003, pp. 28-35.

Rubin J., Handbook of usability testing: how to plan, design and conduct effective tests (John Wiley and Sons, 1994).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/106480469500300408

Kantner L. and S. Rosenbaum, Usability studies of www sites: Heuristic evaluation vs. laboratory testing, Proc. of the 15th Annual International Conference on Computer Documentation, Salt Lake City, 1997, pp. 145-151.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/263367.263388

Rosenbaum S., Not just a hammer: when and how to employ multiple methods in usability programs, UPA 2000 Proceedings, Ashville NC, 2000.

Virzi R., Refining the test phase of usability evaluation: How many subjects is enough?, The Human Factors Society, Vol. 34, pp. 457-468, 1992.

Kwang Bok Lee and Roger A. Grice, Developing a new testing method for mobile device, Proc. of IPCC IEEE Professional Communication Society, Minneapolis, 2004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ipcc.2004.1375285

Watts S. Humphery, Managing the software process (Pearson Education, 1999).

Nielsen J, Discount usability for the web, 1997, retrieved from http://www.useit.com/papers/web_discount_usability.html

Nielsen, J. and R.L. Mack, Usability inspection methods (New York Wiley, 1994).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/208628.1065831

Wharton C., Rieman, J., Lewis, C. and Polson P., The cognitive walk-through method: a practitioner’s guide (New York Wiley, 1994).

Bias R.G., The pluralistic usability walkthrough: coordinated empathies (New York Wiley, 1994).

Constantine L.L., Collaborative usability inspections for software in the Software development, Proc. San Francisco: Miller Freeman, USA, 1994.

Nielsen J., Designing web usability the practice of simplicity (New Riders Publishing, 2000).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1520-6564(200124)11:1%3C73::aid-hfm6%3E3.0.co;2-7

Tom Brinck, Darren Gergle and Scott Wood, Usability for the web: designing web sites that work (Sagebrush Publishing, 2001).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-155860658-6.50014-6

S.E. Ransdell, Generating think-aloud protocols: impact on the narrative writing of college students, Amer Journal Psychol., vol. 108, pp. 89-98, 1995.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1423102

Kato T., What "question-asking protocols" can say about the user interface, International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, Vol. 25, pp. 659-673, 1986.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0020-7373(86)80080-3

Wilson C., Pros and cons of co-participation in usability studies, Usability Interface, Vol. 4, 1998.

Bartek V. and Cheatham D., Experience remote usability testing, part 2: examine the benefits and downside of remote usability testing, 2003, retrieved from http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/ web/ library/wa-rmusts2.html

Ian Sommerville and Pete Sawyer, Requirements engineering a good practice guide (John Wiley and Sons, 1997).

Greenbaum T.L., The handbook for focus group research (Sage Publications, 1997).

Deborah J. Mayhew, The usability engineering life cycle (Morgan Kauffman Publisher, 1999).

Steinar Kvale, Interviews: an introduction to qualitative research interviewing (Sage Publication, 1996).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1098-2140(99)80208-2

Denzin, Norman K. and Yvonna S. Lincoln, The handbook of qualitative research (Sage Publications, 2000).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2001.0472a.x

Rosson M.B., Integrating development of task and object models, Communication of the ACM, Vol. 42, pp 49-56, 1999.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/291469.293168

Faulkner, L., Beyond the five-user assumption: benefits of increased sample sizes in usability testing, Behaviour Research Methods, Instruments and Computers, Vol. 35, pp. 379-383, 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/bf03195514

Peter Merholz, Is lab usability dead, 2005, retrieved from http://www.peterme.com/archives/000628.html

Lufthansa Airlines, www.lufthansa.com.

British Airways, www.britishairways.com.

Andrew Dillon and Min Song, An empirical comparison of the usability for novice and expert searchers of a textual and a graphic interface to an art-resource database, Journal of Digital Information, Vol. 1, pp. 09-26, 1997.

Nigel Bevan, Carol Barnum, Gilbert Cockton, Jakob Nielsen, Jared Spool and Dennis Wixon, Accepted panels: the "magic number 5": is it enough for web testing?, Proc. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Washington, 2003, pp. 285-286.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/765891.765936

Kent Beck, Test driven development: by example (Addison Wesley, 2003).


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Please send any question about this web site to info@praiseworthyprize.com
Copyright © 2005-2024 Praise Worthy Prize