Computer usability : interactive challenges faced by less experienced computer users in South Africa

Abstract:The growing use of applications and access to the internet has increased the number of average computer users in South Africa, as people are using applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. The goal of the study is to identify the challenges that most South African people face when they are interacting with computer applications, web applications, and mobile applications. The reason for conducting the study is that lately in South Africa we have seen an increase in South Africans who have access to computer systems, such as the use of smartphones, tablets or iPads, game consoles, and laptops. Most of the people who are using these devices or have access to them still face challenges as to how to use these devices or to use some of the applications that come with these devices. The paper will begin by introducing the topic. The paper will be followed by a literature review section, which will include four topics relating to the topic that helped the researcher to build a foundation for the research topic and to get ideas on how to do the research. The paper will then be followed by the research methodology, and the findings of, and discussions flowing from the study will then follow

Aplicación del Método de Evaluación de Comunicabilidad para evaluar el diseño de una interfaz de usuario: Un caso de estudio en un sistema de ATM

The Communicability Evaluation Method (CEM) is a technique proposed by Semiotic Engineering that measures the degree to which adequate communication is achieved between designers and users is achieved through the user interface. The case studies found in the literature focus on desktop applications or web applications. In this study, we present the results of a Communicability Evaluation on an ATM System in the Self-Service domain. The experimental case was executed by specialists in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at the request from BBVA Continental to define which of two user interface proposals would be better received by its customers, as well as being less intrusive to the current retirement experience. The operation was called "Retiro Seguro" and consisted in offering a micro-insurance during the navigation of a withdrawal. Current customers were asked to perform some tasks on both proposed interfaces in a realistic environment. We concluded that the second proposed interface was better at achieving design objectives and we proposed implementing an intermediate solution.El método de evaluación de comunicabilidad (CEM) es una técnica propuesta por la ingeniería semiótica que mide el grado de efectividad de la comunicación entre diseñadores y usuarios mediante la interfaz. El presente caso de estudio encontró que la literatura existente se enfoca en aplicaciones de escritorio o web. En este estudio presentamos los resultados de una evaluación de comunicabilidad en un Sistema de ATM. El caso se desarrolló con especialistas en HCI, quienes recibieron el requerimiento del BBVA Continental para definir cuál de dos propuestas sería mejor recibida por sus clientes, además de menos intrusiva para le experiencia actual de Retiro. La operación llamada “Retiro Seguro” consistía en ofrecer un micro seguro durante el flujo de Retiro. Se convocó a clientes reales y se les pidió que ejecuten tareas sobre ambas propuestas en un entorno realista. Concluimos que la segunda propuesta tuvo un mejor diseño, y propusimos una solución intermedia

Usability, communicability and cultural tourism in interactive systems : trends, economic effects and social impact

We have developed a set of techniques and an analysis methodology aimed at boosting the quality of interactive tourism systems. The details of it will be presented in full and with real examples which have yielded interesting results in the last few years, both from the social and economical point of view, but with a huge wealth of cultural and natural heritage. We will also present a first guidelines to foster tourism in those villages that are willing to promote themselves in the national and international market at a low cost

Establishing usability heuristics for heuristics evaluation in a specific domain: is there a consensus?

Heuristics evaluation is frequently employed to evaluate usability. While general heuristics are suitable to evaluate most user interfaces, there is still a need to establish heuristics for specific domains to ensure that their specific usability issues are identified. This paper presents a comprehensive review of 70 studies related to usability heuristics for specific domains. The aim of this paper is to review the processes that were applied to establish heuristics in specific domains and identify gaps in order to provide recommendations for future research and area of improvements. The most urgent issue found is the deficiency of validation effort following heuristics proposition and the lack of robustness and rigour of validation method adopted. Whether domain specific heuristics perform better or worse than general ones is inconclusive due to lack of validation quality and clarity on how to assess the effectiveness of heuristics for specific domains. The lack of validation quality also affects effort in improving existing heuristics for specific domain as their weaknesses are not addressed

Evaluación de técnicas para medir la usabilidad en aplicaciones web

El impacto de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC’S) a nivel económico, político, social, etc. y sus múltiples posibilidades de integración en la industria, educación, comercio, salud, etc. han permitido un crecimiento positivo en el desarrollo de software. Sin embargo, para desarrollar un producto de software es necesario realizar un buen diseño de software, pues considerado como un factor clave para mejorar la usabilidad al momento de interactuar con el producto de software final. En el presente trabajo de investigación se realiza un análisis documental de las diferentes técnicas de evaluación de usabilidad que se han implementado para evaluar prototipos de desarrollo de software en fase inicial considerando tres (3) criterios de evaluación de usabilidad: eficiencia, efectividad y satisfacción. Se ha tenido como grupo de estudio de treinta (30) participantes, que han intervenido en evaluar el diseño de los prototipos desarrollados. Los resultados obtenidos para la técnica de prueba con usuarios en el criterio de efectividad y eficiencia son de 40% y 0.33 segundos respectivamente. En cambio, para la técnica de cuestionario, el valor usabilidad del sistema es del 39.7%. Estos resultados demuestran que es necesario realizar una modificación en el diseño de los prototipos del sistema antes de que el proyecto pase a una fase de desarrollo.TesisInfraestructura, Tecnología y Medio Ambient

An integrated user-centric service platform to promote sustainable behaviour

In this thesis, the focus is on addressing the gaps that exist between (a) utility companies’ efforts to implement and diffuse Internet-based services and (b) their goal to achieve users’ expectations in terms of managing their domestic utility services online. The research highlights the importance of shifting the focus towards a user-centric and integrated virtual enterprise service delivery platform that factors in user demands and functions as a medium for interaction between all utility parties to cooperate in achieving efficient resources usage, while promoting sustainability and environmental welfare. The research involves a critical investigation of users’ perspectives related to the success of the creation of the proposed platform in the utility domains, with particular emphasis on its potential influence on user perceptions in terms of benefits, technology-fit, acceptance, and service adoption; in addition to the potential role of such platform in promoting individual pro-environmental sustainability. The research methodology design involves the collection of information (n=1142) about individual opinions, views, beliefs and expectations towards the new conceptualised innovation platform. The methodology involves four main stages. The initial stage was devoted to defining the research problem, conceptual model, developing a theoretical validation framework and the research questions with a formulation of the related hypothesis. This stage of the research design is critical to identify the key underpinning aspects of the research topic and to determine the main variables that have an impact on the research problem. The second stage involves an empirical investigation of Internet-user’s perceptions of task-technology fit, new technology innovation adoption, barriers, trends and difficulties for both existing and future technology innovation as well as an electronic service delivery approach, using a quantitative questionnaire survey. In the third stage, a mock-up prototype system is implemented to illustrate and validate the proposed research concepts. The last stage, aimed at analytically validate users’ perspective towards the new technology innovation platform as formulated in the research model and to predict their willingness to adopt the platform and impact on their individual sustainable behaviour. The resulting validated model and service platform provide a means for utility companies to deliver user accepted electronic utility management services, while promoting environmental friendly behaviour

Understanding the Determinants of User Acceptance of Enterprise Instant Messaging: An Empirical Study

As modern organizations increasingly depend on information systems (IS) to enhance work productivity and seek new business opportunities, communication effectiveness has become one of the key factors that underlie the effective performance of IS implementations and applications. Instant Messaging (IM) presents a revolution in enterprise communication. As more organizations are findings ways to utilize this near-synchronous computing communication technology to enhance communication effectiveness in the workplace, there is a compelling need to understand the factors that are important for the adoption of enterprise IM. We have developed an integrative model based on constructs of the existing IT adoption models as well as theories on motivation, innovation diffusion, and critical mass. Using responses from 140 intended subjects, we have found the results of survey data support the contentions that perceived usefulness, compatibility, enjoyment, and security are significant predictors of intention to use enterprise IM. Although perceived connectivity did not predict the intention directly, it did indirectly through perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Implications and future research are discussed

A Calculus for Orchestration of Web Services

Service-oriented computing, an emerging paradigm for distributed computing based on the use of services, is calling for the development of tools and techniques to build safe and trustworthy systems, and to analyse their behaviour. Therefore, many researchers have proposed to use process calculi, a cornerstone of current foundational research on specification and analysis of concurrent, reactive, and distributed systems. In this paper, we follow this approach and introduce CWS, a process calculus expressly designed for specifying and combining service-oriented applications, while modelling their dynamic behaviour. We show that CWS can model all the phases of the life cycle of service-oriented applications, such as publication, discovery, negotiation, orchestration, deployment, reconfiguration and execution. We illustrate the specification style that CWS supports by means of a large case study from the automotive domain and a number of more specific examples drawn from it