Analysis of Software Usability Evaluation Methods 11/30/2018 Analysis of Software Usability Evaluation Methods By Siyao (Amy) Kong University of Southern California

Overview Introduction Usability Evaluation Methods Pros & Cons 11/30/2018 Overview Introduction - What is Human Factor? - What is usability? Usability Evaluation Methods Pros & Cons Possible Improvement Contribution to CSCI 577ab Conclusion

Introduction What is Human Factor? What is usability? 11/30/2018 Introduction What is Human Factor? A study about interaction between people and system A study about designing better user experience To design effective user interface What is usability? The ease of use of the system Influence users’ satisfaction of the system

Usability Evaluation Methods 11/30/2018 Usability Evaluation Methods User-based Evaluate the quality and quantitative result Performance, non-verbal behavior, attitude, stress, motivation Expert-based Domain expert’s rating Theory-based learning curve, performance times, and ease of understanding

Evaluation technique Diagnostic Summative Certification 11/30/2018 Evaluation technique Diagnostic Highlight problem area, recommend redesign Summative Experimental task support, degree of user support Common in expert-based and user-based approaches Certification Against certain criteria

Evaluation technique Expert-based evaluation User-based testing 11/30/2018 Evaluation technique Expert-based evaluation by a group of human-computer interaction researchers User-based testing regular PC users as subject Theory-based evaluation based on guidelines and principles Cognitive walk-through method Step through typical user tasks Compare actions and feedbacks

Pros & Cons Expert-based User-based Theory-based 11/30/2018 Pros & Cons Expert-based Thorough than other techniques Requires experts User-based Only highlight significant problems Simple to make responsive change Expensive cost: time, money, user Theory-based Identify recurring and general problems No need for expert Miss severe problems Cognitive walk-through Identify goals and assumptions Fail to identify many problems

11/30/2018 Possible Improvement Introduce expert knowledge into theory, extends guidelines and problem identification, form more thorough principles Add more quality and quantitative criteria for user-based evaluation Interface responsiveness, effective hint, operation success rate Add more non-typical tasks to cognitive walk-through methods

Contribution to CSCI 577ab 11/30/2018 Contribution to CSCI 577ab Provide guideline for evaluate the ease of use of the system Adopted several methods for project usability evaluation Improves the usability of the system Refined ambiguous interface elements Display elements according to different scenarios Redesign layouts to improve understandability Improve user input efficiency

Conclusion Important factor to influence user experience 11/30/2018 Conclusion Important factor to influence user experience Indispensable factor of a successful software

References Wikipedia Human Factors in Software Engineering 11/30/2018 References Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability Human Factors in Software Engineering J.D. Gannon, University of Maryland Usability Evaluation with the Cognitive Walkthrough http://www.sigchi.org/chi95/proceedings/tutors/jr_bdy.htm Criteria For Evaluating Usability Evaluation Methods http://www.idemployee.id.tue.nl/m.m.bekker/hartson.pdf

11/30/2018 Thank you!