A Usability Inspection Approach to Assist in the Software Development Process (original) (raw)
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Industry case studies are required to assess the suitability of a software technology to the industrial environment. The use of experimental studies in the development of software technologies provides a reliable knowledge basis and helps determine the best situations to use the technology, reducing the uncertainties in its adoption by the software industry. Therefore, this paper presents two case studies carried out in partnership with two companies of an Industrial Park, in order to evaluate and improve the WDP-RT (Web Design Perspectives-Based Inspection -Reading Technique), a specific usability inspection technique for Web applications.
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Usability is one of the most important software quality attributes regarding its acceptability by end users. It is even more important in the context of Web applications. One way of evaluating application usability is through inspections. The WDP (Web Design Perspectives- based Usability Inspection Technique) presents evidence of industrial use feasibility; however some computerized support had been suggested by practitioners. Therefore, the WDP Tool was built, aiming to provide automated support the WDP technique application, reducing the effort involved in usability inspections with WDP. This paper presents two observational studies regarding the use of the WDP Tool use, one in vivo and one in vitro, which aimed to analyze the cost-effectiveness of its application and its appropriateness to the industrial environment through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The results provide indications about the feasibility of using the WDP Tool to support usability inspections in real so...
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Evaluating Software Engineers’ Acceptance of a Technique and Tool for Web Usability Inspection
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Usability is related to software quality, improving its ability to be understood, operated and attractive to users. We proposed the Design Usability Evaluation (DUE) technologies to allow identifying usability problems earlier in the development of Web applications, through the inspection of mockups. While we found that the DUE technique and tool were effective and efficient in the identification of usability problems, we saw the need to investigate their acceptance in practitioners' work environment. This paper reports the results from a study evaluating the acceptance of the DUE technologies from the point of view of software engineers. We asked questions based on the indicators from the Technology Acceptance Model and identified that a majority of the software engineers who participated in the study: (a) found the DUE technologies useful and easy to use for supporting the usability inspection process; and (b) would regularly use the DUE technologies for future inspections in their job. Nevertheless, the practitioners indicated that the technique should be refined in order to reduce the ambiguity and repetition of some of its items, while the tool should become more intuitive.
Usability inspection methods after 15 years of research and practice
Proceedings of the 25th annual ACM international conference on Design of communication - SIGDOC '07, 2007
Usability inspection methods, such as heuristic evaluation, the cognitive walkthrough, formal usability inspections, and the pluralistic usability walkthrough, were introduced fifteen years ago. Since then, these methods, analyses of their comparative effectiveness, and their use have evolved in different ways. In this paper, we track the fortunes of the methods and analyses, looking at which led to use and to further research, and which led to relative methodological dead ends. Heuristic evaluation and the cognitive walkthrough appear to be the most actively used and researched techniques. The pluralistic walkthrough remains a recognized technique, although not the subject of significant further study. Formal usability inspections appear to have been incorporated into other techniques or largely abandoned in practice. We conclude with lessons for practitioners and suggestions for future research.
… , 2009. SBES'09. …, 2009
Usability Evaluation) specific for Web applications' usability evaluation and we are following an experimentation-based methodology to support its development and improvement. This paper describes an observational study conducted, aimed at eliciting how inspectors apply the WDP technique. We discuss the quantitative and qualitative results of the result and their impact on improving the WDP technique. We analyzed the qualitative data using the procedures from the Grounded Theory (GT) method Web usability evaluation; inspection technique; observational study; qualitative analysis I. 2009 XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering 978-0-7695-3844-0/09 $25.00
Usability by Inspection : Collaborative Techniques for Software and Web Applications
2003
Usability inspections are a cost-effective alternative to conventional usability testing for evaluating and improving the usability of software and Web-based systems. The collaborative usability inspection technique described here is a highly structured, scenario-driven inspection process optimized for rapidly identifying, classifying, and prioritizing usability defects. The process has been refined through extensive application into a highly efficient, easily learned technique. The basic structure is introduced and guidelines for conducting successful inspections are described.
Enhancing the Effectiveness of Usability Evaluation by Automated Heuristic Evaluation System
2011 Third International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Communication Systems and Networks, 2011
Usability defects test escapee can have a negative impact on the success of software. It is quite common for projects to have a tight timeline. For these projects, it is crucial to ensure there are effective processes in place. One way to ensure project success is to improve the manual processes of the usability inspection via automation. An automated usability tool will enable the evaluator to reduce manual processes and focus on capturing more defects in a shorter period of time. Thus improving the effectiveness of the usability inspection and minimizing defects escapee. There exist many usability testing and inspection methods. The scope of this paper is on the Heuristic Evaluation (HE) procedures automation. The Usability Management System (UMS) was developed to automate as many manual steps as possible throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC). It is important for the various teams within the organization to understand the benefits of automation. The results show that with the help of automation more usability defects can be detected. Hence, enhancing the effectiveness of usability evaluation by an automated Heuristic Evaluation System is feasible.
The Effect of Usability Evaluation on Software Development Practice
A vast majority of the people in the western world use software systems on daily basis for achieving their goals. To be able to do that each person needs to communicate what he or she wants to do to the system and receive a response. This communication needs to be easy for the user, especially when the system is new to him or her. Otherwise, the user either quits using the system; it takes a very long time or gets very irritated. A software team that is making new software needs to evaluate the usability of the system and various methods have been introduced in the literature to do that.