Research Articles Base: Usability Assessment

The Role of a Usability Consultant

Taking the role of a ‘usability consultant’ you are to write a usability report based on a formal test or inspection method that we have covered on the module. you can choose ONE from the following list of web applications: http://www.google.com/google-d-s/intl/en-GB/tour1.html http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/inc/planner places redirect.jsp http://www.coventryairport.co.uk/ it is important that you use a formal inspection method to conduct your test- and you should select one of the methods we have studied in class from the research literature- you might choose a heuristic evaluation, or a recorded usability test with a few subjects, a cognitive walkthrough, or a co-discovery or talk-aloud method. you should NOT simply conduct an ad-hoc critique of your chosen web site. HINT: evidence from last years run of the assignment showed that usability tests were better at identyfing specific usability issues. the report should be about 3000 words in length. the report MUST contain : 1. A DESCRIPTION OF THE FORMAL USABILITY METHOD THAT YOU CONDUCT THE INSPECTION. this might be one of those studied on the module so far, such as talk aloud usability test or heuristic analysis you might, however , like to try one of the other methods of usability testing outlined in the web resources below. 2. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SIGNIFICANT USABILITY ISSUES THAT YOU FOUND. in a 3000word report you are not going to be able to cover every aspect of your chosen sites usability. therefore you should concentrate on the significant usabilty issues. what problems did you ( or your test subject, if you are carrying out a formal user test) encounter when trying to complete the test tasks- it may help, for the purpose of the report, to categorise the issues found in terms of nielsen’s list of heuristics.( e.g consistency, feedback, user control etc). 3. A SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING YOUR SITE’S USABILITY. based on your background research and focussing on the significant problems found on your chosen site. 4. A BRIEF REFLECTION ON THEUSEFULNESS OF THE METHOD YOU CHOSE. assess how successful the method is at highlighting usability problems in your target website, discuss the validity of the data your method produces, identify any difficulties that using the method presents. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

The Role of a Usability Consultant

Taking the role of a ‘usability consultant’ you are to write a usability report based on a formal test or inspection method that we have cov...

Usability Assessment of William Ponder (MIS) Way-Finding System

1 Introduction: Interface Analysis in important because it is a process that assess the relationship between the man or the users and the machine interface (Stanton 2005, p. 431). It caters the different physical characteristics of the interface that can affect the performance of the human that is using the system. The result that can be drawn from any interface analysis can help to improve the current interface problems of flaws in redesigning process. The use of different method can help to enhance and improve the presentation of the design, features and utilities by developing all of the system’s usability, the satisfactions of the users as well as preventing different errors and enhancing interaction time Stanton 2005 p. 431). ISO09241-11 requires the usability of the system by considering three different dimensions: first is the effectiveness of how well the performance of the system meets the task or the activities that it was designed and created for; second is the efficiency of the system in dealing with the different important resources like time, money and effort that are necessary for the users to manipulate the system; and the third and the last is the reaction of the users towards the system (Stanton 2005, p. 432).  Stanton (2005) stated that there are many methods that can be used in implementing the interface analysis: the usability assessment, error analysis, interface layout analysis and general interface assessment methods (p.432).   2 Usability Assessment Usability Assessment is an approach that is used in ensuring the usefulness of a particular system. It had been used during the 1980s due to the desired output of the development of the user interface of the system. Later on, during 1985, the approach has reached its popularity due to the works of Gould and Lewis that described the four primary needs of a system in order to obtain the usability of the system. The said four criteria are: early and constant focus towards the users; incorporation of the different deliberation of all of the aspects of usability; trying the untimely and uninterrupted version of the product to the user; and the last is redesigning (Nemeth 2004, p. 265). The main purpose of the said assessment is to find out if there are some difficulties about the usefulness of the system in the perspective of the user that can help to uncover the different opportunities in enhancement and transformation (Nemeth 2004, p. 266). 3.1 The William Ponder (MIS) Way-Finding System The way-finding system of William Finder building is to be installed in the ground floor of the building that consist of a computer set that is connected to the web. The said system will help the first time visitors, visiting academics for meetings, students from other schools who are attempting to locate different tutorial rooms and the friends and relatives of students who will submit coursework.      3. 2 Self-conducted User Test The method that has been used in analyzing and testing the usability of the system is based on the experience of the author in the interaction to the system. By using the perspective of the user, it will be easy to define and analyze the reaction or their response to the system. There are some flaws that have been found out during the personal test of the system. Most of it focuses on the design and the user-friendliness of the system. <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Too much Text – After analyzing the flow and the design of the interface, I have found out that the system is using too much instruction, texts or labels. The said characteristics might affect the interest of the users especially when they are in a hurry. The steps by steps instruction will not be necessary because, the reason behind the implementation of the system is to give the users the information or data that they needed in a short period of time leaving the traditional way of enquiry.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Unnecessary requirements to be entered – According to Brown (1999) a system can be characterized as usable if it can reduce the requirements for the user to enter data. If the information is already accessible to the system or if the design can make this information obtainable to the system, it will be compulsory to refrain from asking or requiring the user to enter the data in manual manner. It will be easy to organize or create some dialogues so that the manual user entries can be minimized (p. 7).  As of the case of the William Ponder (MIS) way-finding system, the process where in the system is requiring the user to memorize or take note of the room number of the professor or school staff that they are looking, will be a redundant since the room number is already available in the system. Aside from that, it will also be time consuming. But I must give credit to the process where in the system offers a list of the professors, by doing this; the users will no longer have to worry if they forgot the name of the professor or staff that they want to visit. Selecting data or information from a displayed list instead of manually entering choices can effectively reduce input requirements (Brown 1999, p. 7). But the problem about the list is that it doesn’t display the name of the professor in any particular order, it somewhat confuses the user and will take them some time to look for it. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Too much Processes – The system also shows some redundancy in processes. Like for example, the process of generating the map, the user have to click the floor number on which the room is located that was gotten from the first process. Again, this characteristic of the system can annoy the user or can make the user to get lost while browsing, manipulating or using the system. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Missing Information – Another thing that might confuse the user is the missing data or information in the system. Just like the floor number of the room that was stated. The first part of the instruction has stated that those rooms with the letter g before the number are all located on the ground floor, but how about the first, the second and so on. The system has also showed some redundancy in data or information such as the details about the contact information of the professors or staff. It wouldn’t be necessary to post both of their email address and their telephone number. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Mental Models or System Operation – In general the main problem of the system is its poor of physical or interface design. The said problem can affect the mental model cognitive of the user or the representation or conceptualization of a systems internal mechanics that can be developed by the end users (cited in Brown 1999, p. 8). The overall design of the system is somewhat confusing because it is using so many labels or instructions as well as different separate process that I believe can be breakdown into few processes only. </li> 3.2 Task Analysis – Different users has their different requirements, needs or demands for a given system or interface. That is why conducting a usability test can help to cater to the said demands of the end users. Here are the task analyses of the William Ponder (MIS) Way-Finding System: <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Search for the name of the staff – searching for their needed or looked-for staff or professor is the primary reason of the users in using the system. This is due to the fact that the target user of the system are those students, families or people or are not familiar with the building and other stuffs about it. The process or the method on which the system uses a list that displays the name and other information about the staff can help greatly the users in searching for the information of the staff that they are looking for. </li> On the other hand, other users are requesting for a search features where in it will return the information about the specific staff that they are looking for. This is to prepare the system for future enhancement, for example, the number of staffs grows to 50 or so, it will be hard for the user to search for the desired staff. Another thing is the feature of the system where in, it uses the initial of the first name together with the last name can confuse the user in the future. What if someone with the same initial of the first name and last name was hired by the company, it will hard to distinguish the difference between the two if you are not familiar with them and their position in the company. <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Search for the room location of a specific staff – knowing about the room location or room number of the user’s desired staff is also one of the most important features of the system, since it is a help or guide for the new comers or visitors to locate their specific room or staff. Their primary requirement about this task is to give different information about the room including the floor number.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Search for the room (alone) – this is entirely different from the feature number 2, this is because, there are already some visitors who already knew or only knew the room number that they are going to visit. By doing this, the user will no longer have to search for the information about the staff and just continue about the room information enquiry.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Mapping – this is the most important feature of the system because it serves as a report or the printed out of the system. This will give a definite or exact representation of the structure or the floor plan of a specific floor. Most of the users had agreed that the map must be easy to follow as well as clear. Although the current system already included the feature where in it will include the “You are here label”, it didn’t add the feature that signifies or give focus on the room that the user is looking for. For example, highlighting it or shading it with different color. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Availability of the Staff – this particular feature is not included in the system. This feature can help the user to save time and effort. This is due to the fact that there are some instances where in the staffs or professors are not present or not available at a given moment, and the fact that the finding-way system is located in the ground floor. What if one user, uses the system and find out that what she’s looking for is located on the fifth floor, imaging the time and effort that she will be spending just to find out that what she was looking for is not available or absent? That is availability status is necessary. If the staff is not available, since the system is connected to the net, he or she can leave his or her message to the staff.</li>               3. The Prototype Figure 1 Welcome/Menu Screen                                 Figure 1 shows the welcome/menu screen of the interface where in the user can choose between the two commands which are the search for the staff and search for a room. By doing this, those users who are going to search for the information about a specific room only doesn’t have to go through the process like those who are looking for some staff. Figure 2 Search for Staff Form                                       Figure 2 shows the prototype for the search for stuff form. As shown in the figure, the search button is placed on the upper part of the form. By doing this, those users who knew already the name and position of their desired staff will no longer have to search for their room information in manual form. Also, as the form load, the names and positions of all staffs will be display in the list and the user will have to double click the data and they will get the information. The floor map button will be linked to the form that displays the map of specific floor where in the requested room located. The status will display if the staff is available or not, this will serve as added information in case they need to talk to the staff personally. The user can leave his or her message to inform the staff about their visit. Figure 3 Search for Room Form                                 Figure 3 shows the prototype of the form that shows the information about a particular room. As the form loaded, the list of all the rooms as well as its type will be displayed, but again in order to make the life of the user easier, the search feature will be included. The room type will signify if the room is a teaching room or the other types. The button floor map will show the form that will display the floor map of the desire room. Figure 4 Floor Map Form                                   Figure 4 shows the form that will display the floor map of a given or requested room. As you can see the requested room is displayed using other color, by doing this, it will caught the attention of the user and will no longer have to spent some time searching for the room.                                       Bibliography:   Brown, M 1999, Human-Computer Interface Design Guidelines, Intellect Books   Nemeth, C 2004, Human Factors Method for Design: Making Systems Human-Centered, CRC Press   Proctor, R & Vu, K P 2005, Handbook of Human Factors in Web Design, Routledge   Stanton, N 2005, Human Factors Methods: A Practical Guide for Engineering and Design, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Usability Assessment of William Ponder (MIS) Way-Finding System

1 Introduction: Interface Analysis in important because it is a process that assess the relationship between the man or the users and the ...

Usability and other related aspects of the Australian National Film and Sound Archive website by applying the principle of PAIBOC or Purpose, Audience, Information, Benefits, Objective and Context

Australian National Film and Sound Archive Introduction             The National Film and Sound Archive or NSFA is the audiovisual archive of Australia that help to collect, preserve and share the country’s rich heritage. On July 1, 2008, the NSFA had become an independent statutory authority. It is now a national collecting institution in its own right that is committed in building the national collection and expanding public access and outreach (National Film and Sound Archive 2008).             This paper will analyze the usability and other related aspects of the NSFA website by applying the principle of PAIBOC or Purpose, Audience, Information, Benefits, Objective and Context.   Website’s Usability             It can be said that the website of NSFA is good due to different factors and reason. One of the primary good traits of the website is that its design is simple yet, professional, thus making the website easy to understand and navigate (Hoskins 2006). The said aspect is very important due to the fact that it has a direct impact or appeal to the visitors of the website. On the other hand, it can be observed that the texts or contents of the website were not justified, thus it creates a somewhat confusing and unarranged collection of text.             The main purpose of the website is to help the NSFA to spread and inform the public, not only the locals but other movie-goers in the world regarding the collection of works and materials of Australian that represents and showcase their history, technology as well as culture in terms of audiovisual media, from the origin up to the present time. The said purpose is reflected on the website, because it can help to target more possible visitors via the help of the Internet. On the other hand, the audience of the organization and website focuses on the locals, who are very interested and proud about their entertainment and art industry as well as other people from different part of the world, who are interested with the rich culture of Australia. Furthermore, the website is also targeting the educational or academic needs of students, that are searching for good movies and medias that can help them to do their projects and assignment. The website can be a very helpful place for those students, in order to save time, money and effort.             Furthermore, another good characteristic of the website is that it offers rich, clear and helpful information, not only about the company history and profile but also about the purpose of the company regarding the movies and medias that they are offering. The website had been able to apply two of four categories of marketing websites: site that offers organization information, and site that offer information online. First is that the website had been able to explain the origin, business mission and areas of activity, standards and values, job opportunities and even contact points. The website also offers rich information regarding the products that they are offering. At the same time, the website also offer access to the current and even archived past files of news, data and images (Doole & Lowe 2006, p. 116). It offers information regarding the current and past events between the organization and other partners.             In addition, the benefits of the website were slightly discussed in the first parts of the paper, where in it focuses on helping the visitors to save time, money and effort in looking for their desired media. Thus, it can also help many players in the entertainment industry, particularly movie sectors to promote their masterpiece in vast population, at the same time; it can help to endorse the culture, tradition and talents of Australian. Thus, the main objective of the website is to bring awareness and interests, from the locals as well as foreign people who are interested in movies and other entertainment medias (Kyle 2008). The said factor is important because the main benefits of the website to promote the culture and talents of Australian. Above all, the context of the website is to use the Internet as a tool or method of communication with the vast population in the world in order to spread awareness and information.   National Archives of Other Countries           In Africa, the counterpart of the NSFA, is the National Film, Video and Sound Archives or NFVSA, a subdirectorate of the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa that is located in Pretoria. Unlike NSFA, that can collect other audio-visual materials from other countries, the NFVSA focuses on the materials made in South Africa. All of the materials were all donated by film, video and other players in the sound industry as well as the private people.  Just like the website of NSFA, NFVSA’s website is also simple, yet it does not have the formal or professional look. Furthermore, it also gives information regarding the information about the organization, from its origins up to its connections with other government and private organizations. However, unlike NSFA, it does not show or indicate information about the products or services, and did not include the needs of the education sector.             Another website is The New Zealand Film Archive. The said website shows a great difference compare to the website of Australia and the North Africa. Although the design of the website is simple, it is not plain and not formal. It gives a sense of informality yet, it shows an aura that will uplift the spirit of the visitors. The theme complemented the theme of the website, and that is to inform the visitors regarding the rich culture and tradition of the country by their media, especially movie. On the other hand, like Australia, the website also supports the needs and demands of the academic sector by offering education programs.   Conclusion             Based on the different characteristics and attributes that have been mentioned in the body of the paper, it can be said that the NSFA website is good. By focusing on the principles of PAIBOC, it can be observed and concluded that the website is needed and vital to all the stakeholders that are connected to the organization.             First, it is needed by the organization itself, in order to gain awareness and interests from the local people, as well as to promote their culture, traditions and talents to the world. Especially now, that entertainment industry, primarily movie industry is also one of the most important industries that is being affected by globalization, as a result, the competition in the movies had gone to the next level, where in it is already a battle of different nations’ ability to create good movies to be offered to the global population of movie spectator. Furthermore, it will also be important for the local people, in order for them to be informed regarding the rich history of their movies, and therefore help them to appreciate more the beauty of their culture and tradition. The said website also gives them the reference about the evolution of their entertainment industry.             Above all, it will be important for the academic sector, specially those local and international students who are studying subjects about entertainment and film. It will serve as a vast library of reference for them that can serve as an inspiration and references for future career.   References   Doole, I & Lowe, R 2006, Strategic Marketing Decisions, Butterworth-Heinemann.   Hoskins, T 2006, 7 Characteristics of a Great Webpage, Ezine @rticles, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://ezinearticles.com/?7-Characteristics-Of-A-Great-Webpage&id=155509 >   Kyle, B 2008, Your Web Site’s Objectives, Insider Reports, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.insiderreports.com/storypage.asp?StoryID=20005978>   National Archives and Records Service (NARS) 2008, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.national.archives.gov.za/>   National Film and Sound Archive 2008, About Us, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.nfsa.gov.au/about_us/>   The New Zealand Film Archive 2008, The Film Archive, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/> Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Usability and other related aspects of the Australian National Film and Sound Archive website by applying the principle of PAIBOC or Purpose, Audience, Information, Benefits, Objective and Context

Australian National Film and Sound Archive Introduction The National Film and Sound Archive or NSFA is the audiovisual archi...

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