Evaluating the features of Museum Websites (The Bologna Report)

MiLE (Milano – Lugano Evaluation Method) is an innovative method for evaluating the quality and usability of hypermedia applications. This paper focuses upon the specific “module” of MiLE concerning cultural heritage applications, synthesizing the results of research carried on by a group of seven museum experts of Bologna (Italy), with the joint coordination of IBC (Institute for the Cultural Heritage of the Emilia Romagna Region) and Politecnico di Milano. The “Bologna group” is composed of different professional figures working in the museum domain: museum curators of artistic, archaeological and historical heritage; museum communication experts; Web sites of cultural institutions’ communication experts. After illustrating the general features of MiLE and the specific features for Cultural Heritage, we will briefly show a few of the results which are to be published in the “Bologna Report”

Destination Online Communication: Why Less is Sometimes More. A Study of Online Communications of English Destinations

This research investigates the relationship between Web site design and the Web site end-user experience of a vast number of English tourism destinations, both local and regional ones. Following recent research in the field, this paper evaluates destinations' online communication based on the implemented Web site features and on the effectiveness of the communication itself, borrowing its research methodology from different domains. After content and functionality analysis, a user-experience, scenario-based investigation has been carried out, which demonstrated that complex Web sites do not always serve end-users' needs properly; in other words, Web site complexity is not directly related with good user experience. This research may help destination managers to foster their online communication if they have fewer content and functionalities but are better focused and clearly user-oriented. © 2014 Taylor & Francis

Multilingual adaptive search for digital libraries

This paper describes a framework for Adaptive Multilingual Information Retrieval (AMIR) which allows multilingual resource discovery and delivery using on-the-fly machine translation of documents and queries. Result documents are presented to the user in a contextualised manner. Challenges and affordances of both Adaptive and Multilingual IR, with a particular focus on Digital Libraries, are detailed. The framework components are motivated by a series of results from experiments on query logs and documents from The European Library. We conclude that factoring adaptivity and multilinguality aspects into the search process can enhance the user’s experience with online Digital Libraries

Better bioinformatics through usability analysis

Motivation: Improving the usability of bioinformatics resources enables researchers to find, interact with, share, compare and manipulate important information more effectively and efficiently. It thus enables researchers to gain improved insights into biological processes with the potential, ultimately, of yielding new scientific results. Usability ‘barriers' can pose significant obstacles to a satisfactory user experience and force researchers to spend unnecessary time and effort to complete their tasks. The number of online biological databases available is growing and there is an expanding community of diverse users. In this context there is an increasing need to ensure the highest standards of usability. Results: Using ‘state-of-the-art' usability evaluation methods, we have identified and characterized a sample of usability issues potentially relevant to web bioinformatics resources, in general. These specifically concern the design of the navigation and search mechanisms available to the user. The usability issues we have discovered in our substantial case studies are undermining the ability of users to find the information they need in their daily research activities. In addition to characterizing these issues, specific recommendations for improvements are proposed leveraging proven practices from web and usability engineering. The methods and approach we exemplify can be readily adopted by the developers of bioinformatics resources. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics onlin

Why not empower knowledge workers and lifelong learners to develop their own environments?

In industrial and educational practice, learning environments are designed and implemented by experts from many different fields, reaching from traditional software development and product management to pedagogy and didactics. Workplace and lifelong learning, however, implicate that learners are more self-motivated, capable, and self-confident in achieving their goals and, consequently, tempt to consider that certain development tasks can be shifted to end-users in order to facilitate a more flexible, open, and responsive learning environment. With respect to streams like end-user development and opportunistic design, this paper elaborates a methodology for user-driven environment design for action-based activities. Based on a former research approach named 'Mash-Up Personal Learning Environments'(MUPPLE) we demonstrate how workplace and lifelong learners can be empowered to develop their own environment for collaborating in learner networks and which prerequisites and support facilities are necessary for this methodology

Evaluating the Usability and Ease of Use of a Mobile Game to Enrich Understanding of Hawaiian History and Culture for 4th Grade Students

This project was created as a usability study for LTEC 690 and presented at the TCC Conference 2017.According to the Social Studies Standard 4.1.1, elementary teachers in Grade 4 are responsible for teaching about Hawaii’s history and about understanding that history, by examining change, continuity and causality. Through this project, “Kualii’s Journey: A Search for Hauwahine,” a place-based, mobile game was developed to provide an enriching and culturally sensitive experience for students to learn of these concepts as they “journey” around the Kawai Nui Marsh, visiting three significant sites, in Kailua, Oahu. Using the neighboring community as a resource and a story that incorporates key characters in the history of the Kawai Nui Marsh, Na Pohaku o Hauwahine and Ulupo Heiau, the goal of the project was to provide an engaging tool for students. This tool would aid in teaching about changes in history, what may have caused those changes and how they can have an impact on the continuity of Hawaiian culture in their community and beyond. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to evaluate the ease of use of a place-based, mobile game of Kawai Nui Marsh. This web-based game was developed using ARIS, an open source tool for creating mobile learning games. The study identified the game’s ease of use and motivational factors. The study also contributed to improvement of the game as results from students and adults were analyzed. Feedback indicated that clear instructions, an obvious purpose, and added audio for walking and listening ease, was preferred by users. Revisions were made. The usability tests included a pre-survey, a usability protocol and a post-survey

Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (2/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 2 of

Introduction of the Methods and Models of University Website Evaluation

Among different tools, university website is one of the cost-effective and convenient methods for communicating with users; it is also a platform for institutions or organizations to achieve their goals. Universities should work on their websites to keep positive images in their public minds. This study aimed to introduce overlapping various types of university website evaluation methods and models. Therefore, content analysis was adopted as the research methodology. Then, scientific databases were searched using the related keywords and extracting the published articles in the context of the university website evaluation. The results of this study showed that university website evaluation models and methods included Quality Web Model Development, Webqem, WAI, Webometrics, E-Qual, University Websites Evaluation and Credibility (UWEAC), University Website Evaluation Framework (UWEF), Development and Validation of the University Website Evaluation Scale (UWES), a Web Usability Evaluation Model for Higher Education (WUEM), University Websites Quality Web Model Development, University Portals Data Quality assessment Framework (UPDQAF), and the University Website Usability Evaluation checklist (UWUE): An exploratory study. In fact, webometrics is the only method that is distinct from other assessment methods. Moreover, UWEAC model with the highest average (0.194) has the most overlap with others. Since the University Websites Evaluation and Credibility (UWEAC) are the comprehensive model, university website designers and evaluators could consider this approach as a preferable model in the university website evaluation but they should ensure that most of the evaluation criteria are considered