15,911 research outputs found

    Methodological Challenges in Eye-Tracking based Usability Testing of 3-Dimensional Software – Presented via Experiences of Usability Tests of Four 3D Applications

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    Eye-tracking based usability testing and User Experience (UX) research are widespread in the development processes of various types of software; however, there exist specific difficulties during usability tests of three-dimensional (3D) software. Analysing the screen records with gaze plots, heatmaps of fixations, and statistics of Areas of Interests (AOI), methodological problems occur when the participant wants to rotate, zoom, or move the 3D space. The data gained regarded the menu bar is mainly interpretable; however, the data regarded the 3D environment is hardly so, or not at all. Our research tested four software applications with the aforementioned problem in mind: ViveLab and Jack Digital Human Modelling (DHM) and ArchiCAD and CATIA Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. Our original goal was twofold. Firstly, with these usability tests, we aimed to identify issues in the software. Secondly, we tested the utility of a new methodology which was included in the tests. This paper summarizes the results on the methodology based on individual experiments with different software applications. One of the main ideas behind the methodology adopted is to tell the participants (during certain subtasks of the tests) not to move the 3D space while they perform the given tasks at a certain point in the usability test. During the experiments, we applied a Tobii eye-tracking device, and after the task completion, each participant was interviewed. Based on these experiences, the methodology appears to be both useful and applicable, and its visualisation techniques for one or more participants are interpretable

    Current Practices for Product Usability Testing in Web and Mobile Applications

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    Software usability testing is a key methodology that ensures applications are intuitive and easy to use for the target audience. Usability testing has direct benefits for companies as usability improvements often are fundamental to the success of a product. A standard usability test study includes the following five steps: obtain suitable participants, design test scripts, conduct usability sessions, interpret test outcomes, and produce recommendations. Due to the increasing importance for more usable applications, effective techniques to develop usable products, as well as technologies to improve usability testing, have been widely utilized. However, as companies are developing more cross-platform web and mobile apps, traditional single-platform usability testing has shortcomings with respect to ensuring a uniform user experience. In this report, a new strategy is proposed to promote a consistent user experience across all application versions and platforms. This method integrates the testing of different application versions, e.g., the website, mobile app, mobile website. Participants are recruited with a better-defined criterion according to their preferred devices. The usability session is conducted iteratively on several different devices, and the test results of individual application versions are compared on a per-device basis to improve the test outcomes. This strategy is expected to extend on current practices for usability testing by incorporating cross-platform consistency of software versions on most devices

    EyeSpot: leveraging gaze to protect private text content on mobile devices from shoulder surfing

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    As mobile devices allow access to an increasing amount of private data, using them in public can potentially leak sensitive information through shoulder surfing. This includes personal private data (e.g., in chat conversations) and business-related content (e.g., in emails). Leaking the former might infringe on users’ privacy, while leaking the latter is considered a breach of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation as of May 2018. This creates a need for systems that protect sensitive data in public. We introduce EyeSpot, a technique that displays content through a spot that follows the user’s gaze while hiding the rest of the screen from an observer’s view through overlaid masks. We explore different configurations for EyeSpot in a user study in terms of users’ reading speed, text comprehension, and perceived workload. While our system is a proof of concept, we identify crystallized masks as a promising design candidate for further evaluation with regard to the security of the system in a shoulder surfing scenario

    Eye-tracking as a measure of cognitive effort for post-editing of machine translation

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    The three measurements for post-editing effort as proposed by Krings (2001) have been adopted by many researchers in subsequent studies and publications. These measurements comprise temporal effort (the speed or productivity rate of post-editing, often measured in words per second or per minute at the segment level), technical effort (the number of actual edits performed by the post-editor, sometimes approximated using the Translation Edit Rate metric (Snover et al. 2006), again usually at the segment level), and cognitive effort. Cognitive effort has been measured using Think-Aloud Protocols, pause measurement, and, increasingly, eye-tracking. This chapter provides a review of studies of post-editing effort using eye-tracking, noting the influence of publications by Danks et al. (1997), and O’Brien (2006, 2008), before describing a single study in detail. The detailed study examines whether predicted effort indicators affect post-editing effort and results were previously published as Moorkens et al. (2015). Most of the eye-tracking data analysed were unused in the previou

    Investigating the effectiveness of an efficient label placement method using eye movement data

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    This paper focuses on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of dynamic and interactive maps in relation to the user. A label placement method with an improved algorithmic efficiency is presented. Since this algorithm has an influence on the actual placement of the name labels on the map, it is tested if this efficient algorithms also creates more effective maps: how well is the information processed by the user. We tested 30 participants while they were working on a dynamic and interactive map display. Their task was to locate geographical names on each of the presented maps. Their eye movements were registered together with the time at which a given label was found. The gathered data reveal no difference in the user's response times, neither in the number and the duration of the fixations between both map designs. The results of this study show that the efficiency of label placement algorithms can be improved without disturbing the user's cognitive map. Consequently, we created a more efficient map without affecting its effectiveness towards the user

    Embedding accessibility and usability: considerations for e-learning research and development projects

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    This paper makes the case that if e‐learning research and development projects are to be successfully adopted in real‐world teaching and learning contexts, then they must effectively address accessibility and usability issues; and that these need to be integrated throughout the project. As such, accessibility and usability issues need to be made explicit in project documentation, along with allocation of appropriate resources and time. We argue that accessibility and usability are intrinsically inter‐linked. An integrated accessibility and usability evaluation methodology that we have developed is presented and discussed. The paper draws on a series of mini‐case studies from e‐learning projects undertaken over the past 10 years at the Open University

    Controlled language and readability

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    Controlled Language (CL) rules specify constraints on lexicon, grammar and style with the objective of improving text translatability, comprehensibility, readability and usability. A significant body of research exists demonstrating the positive effects CL rules can have on machine translation quality (e.g. Mitamura and Nyberg 1995; Kamprath et al 1998; Bernth 1999; Nyberg et al 2003), acceptability (Roturier 2006), and post-editing effort (O’Brien 2006). Since CL rules aim to reduce complexity and ambiguity, claims have been made that they consequently improve the readability of text (e.g., Spaggiari, Beaujard and Cannesson 2003; Reuther 2003). Little work, however, has been done on the effects of CL on readability. This paper represents an attempt to investigate the relationship in an empirical manner using both qualitative and quantitative methods

    Pervasive and standalone computing: The perceptual effects of variable multimedia quality.

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    The introduction of multimedia on pervasive and mobile communication devices raises a number of perceptual quality issues, however, limited work has been done examining the 3-way interaction between use of equipment, quality of perception and quality of service. Our work measures levels of informational transfer (objective) and user satisfaction (subjective)when users are presented with multimedia video clips at three different frame rates, using four different display devices, simulating variation in participant mobility. Our results will show that variation in frame-rate does not impact a user’s level of information assimilation, however, does impact a users’ perception of multimedia video ‘quality’. Additionally, increased visual immersion can be used to increase transfer of video information, but can negatively affect the users’ perception of ‘quality’. Finally, we illustrate the significant affect of clip-content on the transfer of video, audio and textual information, placing into doubt the use of purely objective quality definitions when considering multimedia presentations
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