Towards Interactive Systems Usability Improvement through Simulation Modeling

Nowadays, usability has become an essential contribution to the success of interactive systems and is recognized as a quality attribute for software products. This paper proposes the use of dynamic simulation models for the improvement of interactive systems usability through the application of a User Centered Design (UCD) process and its integration into the software development process. The simulation model developed is used to experiment on the effect that different levels of usability have over the behavior of the UCD process in a specific kind of interactive systems such as web site application development.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) TIC 2003-369Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) TIC-2001-1143-C03-0

Usability context analysis: a practical guide

The usability of a product is affected not only by the features of the product itself, but also by the characteristics of the users, the tasks they are carrying out, and the technical, organisational and physical environment in which the product is used. In this guide, we use the term 'context' to include all factors which affect the usability of the product, excluding the features of the product itself. We use the term 'product' to represent any interactive system or device designed to support the performance of users' tasks

The development of user requirements as a framework for the design and evaluation of a fit-for-purpose missing person locator system for underground mines

Entrapments are a huge risk in underground mines. This happens when miners (or any other persons who have entered underground) survive the initial event of an accident, become trapped or lost in unknown and life-threatening locations after evacuation, and remain unaccounted for. At this point, every second counts, and emergency response is highly desired for any chances of saving survivors. The survival chances of the missing persons depend on how quickly they can be located. Rescue teams are often deployed to search for the missing persons underground. However, the rescue teams are forced to search in random and presumed areas of the mine. This is due to the unavailability of information pertaining to the whereabouts of the missing persons. Not only the provision of accurate locations, but various other types of information such as post-accident two-way communication can enhance the survival chances of the missing persons. This information can be provided by a fit-for-purpose missing person locator system. A wide variety of missing person locator systems are already commercially available, some are in testing phases and others in prototype and development phases. This includes tracking, tracing, location detectors and post-accident two-way communication systems. These systems have unique functionalities, capabilities and limitations; making it difficult for mines to select the most effective, applicable and suitable system specific to their mine. In this study, the user requirements for a fit-for-purpose missing person locator system were developed. The purpose of the user requirements was to provide a guideline to facilitate the system selection process. The user requirements can also be used as a tool to measure and evaluate the performance of the selected missing person locator system. The user requirements were also used to predict the success of the selected system under different missing person incident scenarios. The development of the user requirements showed a potential for many other benefits for missing person locator systems.The MHSC. Open access funding provided by University of Pretoria.https://link.springer.com/journal/42461hj2024Mining EngineeringNon

A comparative study of three ICT network programs using usability testing

Thesis (M. Tech. (Information Technology)) -- Central University of technology, Free State, 2013This study compared the usability of three Information and Communication Technology (ICT) network programs in a learning environment. The researcher wanted to establish which program was most adequate from a usability perspective among second-year Information Technology (IT) students at the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State. The Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) testing technique can measure software quality from a user perspective. The technique is supported by an extensive reference database to measure a software product’s quality in use and is embedded in an effective analysis and reporting tool called SUMI scorer (SUMISCO). SUMI was applied in a controlled laboratory environment where second-year IT students of the CUT, utilized SUMI as part of their networking subject, System Software 1 (SPG1), to evaluate each of the three ICT network programs. The results, strengths and weaknesses, as well as usability improvements, as identified by SUMISCO, are discussed to determine the best ICT network program from a usability perspective according to SPG1 students

Experimental methodology report

In architectural design and the construction industry, there is insufficient evidence about the way designers collaborate in their normal working environments using both traditional and digital media. It is this gap in empirical evidence that the CRC project, “Team Collaboration in High Bandwidth Virtual Environments” addresses. The project is primarily, but not exclusively, concerned with the conceptual stages of design carried out by professional designers working in different offices. The aim is to increase opportunities for communication and interaction between people in geographically distant locations in order to improve the quality of collaboration. In order to understand the practical implications of introducing new digital tools on working practices, research into how designers work collaboratively using both traditional and digital media is being undertaken. This will involve a series of empirical studies in the work places of the industry partners in the project. The studies of collaboration processes will provide empirical results that will lead to more effective use of virtual environments in design and construction processes. The report describes the research approach, the industry study, the methods for data collection and analysis and the foundation research methodologies. A distinctive aspect is that the research has been devised to enable field studies to be undertaken in a live industrial environment where the participant designers carry out real projects alongside their colleagues and in familiar locations. There are two basic research objectives: one is to obtain evidence about design practice that will inform the architecture and construction industries about the impact and potential benefit of using digital collaboration technologies; the second is to add to long term research knowledge of human cognitive and behavioural processes based on real world data. In order to achieve this, the research methods must be able to acquire a rich and heterogeneous set of data from design activities as they are carried out in the normal working environment. This places different demands upon the data collection and analysis methods to those of laboratory studies where controlled conditions are required. In order to address this, the research approach that has been adopted is ethnographic in nature and case study-based. The plan is to carry out a series of indepth studies in order to provide baseline results for future research across a wider community of user groups. An important objective has been to develop a methodology that will produce valid, significant and transferable results. The research will contribute to knowledge about how architectural design and the construction industry may benefit from the introduction of leading edge collaboration technologies. The outcomes will provide a sound foundation for the production of guidelines for the assessment of high bandwidth tools and their future deployment. The knowledge will form the basis for the specification of future collaboration products and collaboration processes. This project directly addresses the industry-identified focus on cultural change, image, e-project management, and innovative methods

Interactive visualisation for low literacy users

Sixteen percent (5.2 million) of the UK population possess low levels of literacy. The Government and other non-profit organisations, due to funding reforms, are forced to reduce the provision of face-to-face advice, and therefore, are pushing advice services via telephone or internet. As a consequence, low literacy users are experiencing difficulties finding the information they need to solve their day to day problems online. This thesis evaluates how walk in clients of a local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) who come to get social service information, obtain information online using the Adviceguide website. The thesis presents two challenges: (i) knowing the users in a way that can help consider design solutions that are probably not in a typical designer’s standard repertoire of design patterns, and (ii) knowing what is the problem that needs to be addressed. It is not simply an issue of usability or the need for simpler language, but understanding that these low literacy users are very different from the high literacy users. These low literacy users need this information to solve their day-to-day problems and are likely to be less successful in doing so. By providing an information architecture that permits them of a reasoning space and context, while supporting less abstract skills by visualized information in an unconventional way. The above challenges leave us with these research questions to address: what is the basis of such a design, how can these designs be incorporated into existing non-traditional interface proof of concept and finally how can these designs be evaluated

Avaliação da usabilidade e organização e representação da informação do website do SDI da FEUP

Estágio realizado no INESC PortoRelatório do Estágio Curricular da LCI 2005/200

Plantas de emergência em edifícios públicos : um estudo sobre a perceção dos utilizadores

Tese de mestrado. Engenharia de Segurança e Higiene Ocupacionais. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Evaluasi Kebergunaan Aplikasi Ad Code (Automatic Detection Of Cow Desease) Dengan Metode Goal, Question, Metric (Gqm) Melalui Pendekatan Pengujian Thinking Aloud Berdasarkan Iso 9241-11 (Studi Kasus : Peternakan Sapi Kabupaten Sidoarjo)

Sebuah produk dikatakan berguna jika dapat memenuhi tujuannya yaitu efektivitas, efisiensi dan kepuasan. Dalam penelitian ini, evaluasi kebergunaan (usability evaluation) berperan penting untuk memastikan aplikasi AD CODE yang dikembangkan oleh Jurusan Sistem Informasi ITS yang merupakan aplikasi dalam bidang kesehatan dan pada penelitian sebelumnya di tahap testing hanya terbatas pada kevalidan ujicoba sistem diagnosa penyakit saja belum pada ujicoba usability dikarenakan pengguna aplikasi AD CODE harus memiliki kualitas software yang baik. Dengan memanfaatkan teknik Thinking Aloud yang memiliki prosedur fokus pada perhatian terhadap pengguna secara verbal dan adanya pendekatan Goal, Question, Metric yang memiliki penilaian secara objective dan subjective, sehingga usability dengan user opinion (subjective) dapat sinkron dengan user performance pada task ujicoba (objective) menurut metric yang telah ditentukan. Maka hasil pada evaluasi kebergunaan pada aplikasi AD CODE Intelligent Software Deteksi dan Penanganan Dini Penyakit Sapi terdapat beberapa temuan masalah pada aplikasi AD CODE yaitu penggunaan gambar vii yang kurang digunakan untuk visualisasi, navigasi yang kurang dimengerti responden, bahasa atau terminologi istilah yang digunakan dalam aplikasi kurang dapat difahami, dan beberapa responden kurang dapat membaca tulisan secara jelas (kesulitan membaca text pada aplikasi). Kemudian adanya feedback serta membuat rekomendasi untuk menambah fitur help and documentation serta memperbaiki komposisi desain warna dan tulisan berdasarkan literatur dengan tujuan agar mengurangi kesalahan yang terjadi semaksimal mungkin diminimaliir sehingga mudah digunakan pengguna (user friendly) ketika aplikasi tersebut sudah rilis ======================================================================================================= A product is useful if it can meet its goal of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. In this study, evaluation of usability (usability evaluation) play an important role to ensure the application of AD CODE developed by the Department of Information Systems ITS is an application in the field of health and in an earlier study in the testing phase is limited to the validity of the test system disease diagnosis alone is not on trial usability AD CODE applications because users are cattle farmers who lack the technological knowledge and the application must have a good quality software according to ISO / IEC 9126-1 (2011) defines usability as a software quality attributes consisting of five factors (understandability, learnability, operability, attractivness and usability. Thinking Aloud by utilizing techniques that have procedures focus on the attention to the user verbally what is read or seen, or are deciding something, so it is very rich with the diagnosis and evaluation of usability information. And their approach to Goal, Question, Metric that has objective and subjective assessment, so that usability with user opinion (subjective) can be synchronized with a user on task performance test (objective) according to a predetermined metric. ix The results of the evaluation of usability in applications AD CODE Intelligent Software Detection and Response Early Cow Disease are some of the problems discovered in the application of AD CODE know the shortcomings of the software, so their feedback and make recommendations based on the literature with the aim to reduce the bug that occurred as much as possible minimized so easy users use (user friendly) when the application is release