4,098 research outputs found
Current Practices for Product Usability Testing in Web and Mobile Applications
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
One Site to Rule Them All Redux: The Second Round of Usability Testing of a Responsively Designed Website
This article examines the usability testing of a responsively redesigned library Web site. Responsive design provides a unified user experience regardless of the device used to view a site. The study\u27s aim is twofold: to determine if the responsively designed site and its external online services support users’ information seeking needs, and to discover if there is a singular experience across different devices. A cognitive walkthrough was the main testing instrument used in gathering input. Over two rounds of testing, students of various class years and technological skill from the New York City of Technology (City Tech), CUNY participated in the study. The first round of testing for this usability study on the library Web site was previously documented (Tidal 2015) This article presents the findings and comparisons between the first and second round of usability testing. The study found not only numerous improvements that could enhance the library Web site, but also the lack of a unified experience between tablet, smartphone, and desktop users, despite using a responsive design. Smartphone users were at a disadvantage in utilizing library resources. The study also found there was a significant usability impact in using a mobile-optimized discovery tool among users in comparison to its Web OPAC predecessor.
Tidal, J. (2015). “One Site to Rule Them All: Usability Testing of a Responsively Designed Library Web Site.” In Creating Sustainable Community: The Proceedings of the ACRL 2015 Conference, edited by D. Mueller. Paper presented at the Association of College and Research Libraries, Portland, OR, 25–28 March (pp. 593–604). Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.)
TechNews digests: Jan - Nov 2008
TechNews is a technology, news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news. TechNews service : digests september 2004 till May 2010 Analysis pieces and News combined publish every 2 to 3 month
Testing the Effects of Automated Navigation in a General Population Web Survey
This study investigates how an auto-forward design, where respondents navigate through a web survey automatically, affects response times and navigation behavior in a long mixed-device web survey. We embedded an experiment in a health survey administered to the general population in The Netherlands to test the auto-forward design against a manual-forward design. Analyses are based on detailed paradata that keep track of the respondents’ behavior in navigating the survey. We find that an auto-forward design decreases compleÂtion times and that questions on pages with automated navigation are answered significantÂly faster compared to questions on pages with manual navigation. However, we also find that respondents use the navigation buttons more in the auto-forward condition compared to the manual-forward condition, largely canceling out the reduction in survey duration. Furthermore, we also find that the answer options 'I don't know' and 'I rather not say' are used just as often in the auto-forward condition as in the manual-forward condition, indiÂcating no differences in satisficing behavior. We conclude that auto-forwarding can be used to reduce completing times, but we also advice to carefully consider mixing manual and auto-forwarding within a survey
Redefining editorial experience: user experience & user interface design in digital publications
The publishing industry is facing a transition era, where the
development of new digital technologies has led people to adopt
new reading habits, where every day is less common to receive
content in a piece of printed paper, and more and more common to
do it through a screen.
Digital publications have been present for a while, facing constant
changes, so this theoretical-practical research aims to explore their
transition, what they have done, and what are they doing to respond
to their readers’ needs. Emphasized in digital magazines, the objective
is to understand them from its roots, analyzing concepts related to
editorial design and through theory and the work of designers who
redefined the concept of publications on the screens. This theoretical
part is complemented with the study of two areas of design that are
related to the development of digital products: user experience and
user interface.
The two case studies presented, Wired and The New Yorker magazines
explore what magazines that have lead the market in terms of
innovation and design have done in recent years and how are
they facing today’s challenges. In addition, in this critical analysis
exploration, topics such as their online strategy, design of their apps,
and their activity in social networks are explored.
The practical project developed, seeks to apply the concepts explored
in the theoretical part of the research, in order to respond to the needs
of a cultural magazine of Mexico, La Tempestad. Through a survey,
the reading habits of the target audience are analyzed to understand
what readers are looking for and create a solution that is appropriate
for them. A graphic proposal of a digital magazine in the form of an
application is presented, with interactions, design, and navigational
tools the app seeks to create a unique experience with their readers
E-reading in organizations: Users' satisfaction and preference
This paper defines electronic reading (e-reading) and then continues to discuss the diverse definitions of the main resource of e-reading, which are, electronic books (e-books). It then proceeds to describe the formats and standards of existing e-book initiatives, which are gaining wider interest since the introduction of portable electronic reading devices and software-based readers that provide users with a more realistic book reading experience. Advantages, disadvantages, and problems with paper-based reading are also explained. In addition, a study concerning an evaluation of e-reading satisfaction is
described. Three different e-book formats (LIT, PDF, and HTML) were utilised to accomplish the primary aims of the study, which were to identify the most preferred format, associated software-based reader (Microsoft Reader, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Internet Explorer), and the potential of e-reading in the workplace. Based on a proposed preferred index, the results seem to suggest that Microsoft Reader is
more preferable when compared to the other two. However, most participants preferred reading on paper rather than on screen. Although this was the case, some participants would e-read depending on resources and situations
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