Human computer interaction (HCI) is concerned with the practice of usability, which is a measure that evaluates the simplicity of using a system, software, or interface design for performing particular tasks. Evaluation is a process by which designers gather information about a systems usability to improve its user interfaces features. This research presents a study of a usability evaluation of EduGate, an online academic portal of King Saud University. In this research the heuristic evaluation method was chosen to evaluate the usability of the EduGate. Our results show that, the EduGate suffers from certain usability problem and some recommendations were proposed to enhance the usability of the EduGate. A questionnaire was then used to collect the feedback of real users (i.e. students) on the value of these recommendations. The participants supported 80% of the proposed recommendations to improve the usability of the EduGate.
Usability of User Interface Styles for Learning Graphical Software ApplicationsWaqas Tariq
This paper examines usability of different user interface styles for learning graphical software applications, namely Adobe Flash CS4 and Microsoft Expression blend 4. An empirical study was performed to investigate the usability attributes of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction scores for learning the graphical software applications. There were 32 participants recruited whom consist of interface designers and software developers. A set of 7 tasks was designed to compare the different effects of user interface styles including graphical user interface (GUI) and command line interface (CLI). User Performance variables (effectiveness, efficiency, duration, number of errors and number of helps) were measured for tasks performed by all the participants in the test. Satisfaction score was measured using QUIS (Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction) tool. The result revealed that the average effectiveness scores are higher than 75% for both software applications. Although Adobe Flash CS4 gained slightly higher on effectiveness, Microsoft Expression Blend 4 obtained better results in terms of efficiency, duration, errors and helps. The user satisfaction rates also showed Microsoft Expression Blend 4 gained higher satisfaction comparing Adobe Flash CS4. Generally, both software applications gained scores above average (>3.5) for majority of the user interface satisfaction attributes of software regardless of users’ background.
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology.
Assessing web site usability measurementeSAT Journals
Abstract Web evaluation has been used in decade to validate the web site to see how it performs. When analysing a web site, typical factors to be considered are the way the information is organized and presented, and how to access and navigate the informative structure [1]. Usability evaluations evaluate the ease of use of a web site functions and see either the user can perform their tasks efficiently. This paper review existing usability standards and models in determining an appropriate model for evaluating the usability of web site. Previous research are reviewed and comparison and analysis of existing usability model and identification of usability criteria and characteristics for web site is made to identify the attribute or characteristic that should be used in evaluating web site.This study proposed an extension of the QUIM model as a basic model for usability model for a web site. Therefore, a set of guidelines to assist in determining design and usability Keywords: web site usability, usability model, usability attributes, QUIM model.
BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING USER INTERFACE DESIGN ijseajournal
A rich and effective computational system must have a friendly user interface with appealing usability features that provides excellent user experience. In order to develop interactive systems with the best user experience, an innovative iterative approach to user interface engineering is required because it is one of the most challenging areas given the diversity of knowledge, ideas, skills and creativity needed for building smart interfaces in order to succeed in today’s rapidly paced and tough, competitive marketplace. Many modeling aspects including analytical, intuitive, artistic, technical, graphical, mathematical, psychological and programming models need to be considered in the development process of an effective user interface. This research examines some of the past practices and recommends a set of guidelines for designing effective user interfaces. It also demonstrates how UML use case diagrams can be enhanced by relating user interface elements to use cases.
Help through demonstration and automation for interactive computing systems: ...IJECEIAES
Usability is very important however, it is still difficult to develop interactive computing systems that meet all user’s specificities. Help systems should be a way of bridging this gap. This paper presents a general survey on recent works (building upon previous surveys) related to improving applications’ help through demonstration and automation and, identifies which technologies are acting as enablers. The main contributions are, identifying: i) which are the recent existing solutions; ii) which aspects must be investigated further; and iii) which are the main difficulties that are preventing a faster progress.
The Impact of In-House Software Development Practices on System Usability in ...IJMIT JOURNAL
In-house software development is a critical phenomenon for the production of efficient and effective
software in generating requisite job output. A few studies have devoted efforts towards establishing the
impact of in-house software development on software. Therefore, this paper is an effort towards
establishing the impact of in-house software development practices on system usability. In pursuit of this
paper, a sample of a sample size of 169, at 95% confidence level, with margin error of 5% was drawn from
bold software users, i.e. 300 employees who used the all software including those dealing with the main
stream activities. A total of 102 respondents actually responded to the questionnaires. The Online Sample
Calculator was used to draw the sample. Quantitative data were collected using semi-structured
questionnaires and processed using the SPSS. Descriptive statistics were applied in the analysis. Findings
of the study indicate that software development practices, specifically usability test and user involvement in
software designing and development had an impact on determining software usability for in-house
software. The paper concludes that software development practices shape the design of the software; hence
influence usability of the software produced. Recommended is therefore that software usability test and
user involvement in software designing and development be promoted for effective software production
Generating a Domain Specific Inspection Evaluation Method through an Adaptive...Waqas Tariq
The growth of the Internet and related technologies has enabled the development of a new breed of dynamic websites and applications that are growing rapidly in use and that have had a great impact on many businesses. These websites need to be continuously evaluated and monitored to measure their efficiency and effectiveness, to assess user satisfaction, and ultimately to improve their quality. Nearly all the studies have used Heuristic Evaluation (HE) and User Testing (UT) methodologies, which have become the accepted methods for the usability evaluation of User Interface Design (UID); however, the former is general, and unlikely to encompass all usability attributes for all website domains. The latter is expensive, time consuming and misses consistency problems. To address this need, new evaluation method is developed using traditional evaluations (HE and UT) in novel ways.
The lack of a methodological framework that can be used to generate a domain-specific evaluation method, which can then be used to improve the usability assessment process for a product in any chosen domain, represents a missing area in usability testing. This paper proposes an adapting framework and evaluates it by generating an evaluation method for assessing and improving the usability of a product, called Domain Specific Inspection (DSI), and then analysing it empirically by applying it on the educational domain. Our experiments show that the adaptive framework is able to build a formative and summative evaluation method that provides optimal results with regard to the identification of comprehensive usability problem areas and relevant usability evaluation method (UEM) metrics, with minimum input in terms of the cost and time usually spent on employing UEMs.
Usability of User Interface Styles for Learning Graphical Software ApplicationsWaqas Tariq
This paper examines usability of different user interface styles for learning graphical software applications, namely Adobe Flash CS4 and Microsoft Expression blend 4. An empirical study was performed to investigate the usability attributes of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction scores for learning the graphical software applications. There were 32 participants recruited whom consist of interface designers and software developers. A set of 7 tasks was designed to compare the different effects of user interface styles including graphical user interface (GUI) and command line interface (CLI). User Performance variables (effectiveness, efficiency, duration, number of errors and number of helps) were measured for tasks performed by all the participants in the test. Satisfaction score was measured using QUIS (Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction) tool. The result revealed that the average effectiveness scores are higher than 75% for both software applications. Although Adobe Flash CS4 gained slightly higher on effectiveness, Microsoft Expression Blend 4 obtained better results in terms of efficiency, duration, errors and helps. The user satisfaction rates also showed Microsoft Expression Blend 4 gained higher satisfaction comparing Adobe Flash CS4. Generally, both software applications gained scores above average (>3.5) for majority of the user interface satisfaction attributes of software regardless of users’ background.
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology.
Assessing web site usability measurementeSAT Journals
Abstract Web evaluation has been used in decade to validate the web site to see how it performs. When analysing a web site, typical factors to be considered are the way the information is organized and presented, and how to access and navigate the informative structure [1]. Usability evaluations evaluate the ease of use of a web site functions and see either the user can perform their tasks efficiently. This paper review existing usability standards and models in determining an appropriate model for evaluating the usability of web site. Previous research are reviewed and comparison and analysis of existing usability model and identification of usability criteria and characteristics for web site is made to identify the attribute or characteristic that should be used in evaluating web site.This study proposed an extension of the QUIM model as a basic model for usability model for a web site. Therefore, a set of guidelines to assist in determining design and usability Keywords: web site usability, usability model, usability attributes, QUIM model.
BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING USER INTERFACE DESIGN ijseajournal
A rich and effective computational system must have a friendly user interface with appealing usability features that provides excellent user experience. In order to develop interactive systems with the best user experience, an innovative iterative approach to user interface engineering is required because it is one of the most challenging areas given the diversity of knowledge, ideas, skills and creativity needed for building smart interfaces in order to succeed in today’s rapidly paced and tough, competitive marketplace. Many modeling aspects including analytical, intuitive, artistic, technical, graphical, mathematical, psychological and programming models need to be considered in the development process of an effective user interface. This research examines some of the past practices and recommends a set of guidelines for designing effective user interfaces. It also demonstrates how UML use case diagrams can be enhanced by relating user interface elements to use cases.
Help through demonstration and automation for interactive computing systems: ...IJECEIAES
Usability is very important however, it is still difficult to develop interactive computing systems that meet all user’s specificities. Help systems should be a way of bridging this gap. This paper presents a general survey on recent works (building upon previous surveys) related to improving applications’ help through demonstration and automation and, identifies which technologies are acting as enablers. The main contributions are, identifying: i) which are the recent existing solutions; ii) which aspects must be investigated further; and iii) which are the main difficulties that are preventing a faster progress.
The Impact of In-House Software Development Practices on System Usability in ...IJMIT JOURNAL
In-house software development is a critical phenomenon for the production of efficient and effective
software in generating requisite job output. A few studies have devoted efforts towards establishing the
impact of in-house software development on software. Therefore, this paper is an effort towards
establishing the impact of in-house software development practices on system usability. In pursuit of this
paper, a sample of a sample size of 169, at 95% confidence level, with margin error of 5% was drawn from
bold software users, i.e. 300 employees who used the all software including those dealing with the main
stream activities. A total of 102 respondents actually responded to the questionnaires. The Online Sample
Calculator was used to draw the sample. Quantitative data were collected using semi-structured
questionnaires and processed using the SPSS. Descriptive statistics were applied in the analysis. Findings
of the study indicate that software development practices, specifically usability test and user involvement in
software designing and development had an impact on determining software usability for in-house
software. The paper concludes that software development practices shape the design of the software; hence
influence usability of the software produced. Recommended is therefore that software usability test and
user involvement in software designing and development be promoted for effective software production
Generating a Domain Specific Inspection Evaluation Method through an Adaptive...Waqas Tariq
The growth of the Internet and related technologies has enabled the development of a new breed of dynamic websites and applications that are growing rapidly in use and that have had a great impact on many businesses. These websites need to be continuously evaluated and monitored to measure their efficiency and effectiveness, to assess user satisfaction, and ultimately to improve their quality. Nearly all the studies have used Heuristic Evaluation (HE) and User Testing (UT) methodologies, which have become the accepted methods for the usability evaluation of User Interface Design (UID); however, the former is general, and unlikely to encompass all usability attributes for all website domains. The latter is expensive, time consuming and misses consistency problems. To address this need, new evaluation method is developed using traditional evaluations (HE and UT) in novel ways.
The lack of a methodological framework that can be used to generate a domain-specific evaluation method, which can then be used to improve the usability assessment process for a product in any chosen domain, represents a missing area in usability testing. This paper proposes an adapting framework and evaluates it by generating an evaluation method for assessing and improving the usability of a product, called Domain Specific Inspection (DSI), and then analysing it empirically by applying it on the educational domain. Our experiments show that the adaptive framework is able to build a formative and summative evaluation method that provides optimal results with regard to the identification of comprehensive usability problem areas and relevant usability evaluation method (UEM) metrics, with minimum input in terms of the cost and time usually spent on employing UEMs.
APPLICATION BASED SMART OPTIMIZED KEYBOARD FOR MOBILE APPScsandit
Mobile applications are becoming an emerging property in today’s world. Delivering high quality mobile applications by improving the quality of the user interface is a definitive guide in building successful mobile applications and will have a significant increase in the market for that application. This paper addresses some issues related to mobile user interface, current input system and user dictionary. After analysing these issues we have proposed a new system by making some improvements to the current input system and user dictionary. In order to improve the current system, we have taken some issues related to one of the most widely used data entry methods ‘Keyboard’ and proposed some improvements by introducing Smart Optimized Keyboard (STOKE). We have provided the results, which include performance, reduction in number of keystrokes, and screen space. This describes the significant change after adopting the proposed keyboard. In the end, we have proposed an optimized way of building up
the user dictionary, which assists the user in inserting the input very easily, rapidly and effectively. In a combine, these two will help in providing the best user experience to the users.
AN EXPERT GAMIFICATION SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL SOFTWARE TEAMScsandit
Gamification is the concept of applying game elements in non-game context platforms to motivate people to participate in planned activities to achieve goals.
Gamification has been applied to academic fields including software engineering (SE) in recent years. Many gamification implementations in SE have been ad hoc and lacked standardized guidelines. This paper introduces a new concept of building an expert gamification system(EGS) to provide guidelines for the implementation of gamification for virtual and cross cultural software teams (VCCST). The system will extend the core of a regular expert system to include gamification tools, a supplementary database, and an expert knowledge source. The cross-cultural data for the EGS contains the Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HCD).
As more and more VCCST are formed in recent years, many issues have been raised in those teams stemming from miscommunication and cultural conflicts. This paper uses the EGS to help resolve the issues in VCCST.
Ease of Use and Its Effect on User Decision of Adopting New Method of Car Ren...IJERA Editor
The effective collaboration of multidisciplinary fields of software engineering and business will
eventually lead to a better understanding of UX and how to use such in our daily life .This paper
spots the light on the how can we improve the user experience of using a internet website to commit
and complete a business transaction of booking a vehicle through ease of use.
Considering User Participation in Light Of level and Stages of Self-Selectio...IJMER
Presenting the new definition of self-selection in Architectural Design Process (ADP) needs to
clarify the edges of this new concept versus the others, which exist in design area. Referring to conducting
content analysis in previous published studies, the general meaning of self-selection is a situation in which
user decide to do something for themselves rather than do something that has chosen for them. On the
other hand, different users’ and designers’ vision of self-selection make a connection with End User’s
Personalization (EUP) and User Centered Design (UCD). Both self-selection and user participation
indicate the user decision-making power. Consequently, for earning a high level of user satisfaction, users
should allow to contribute partially or totally, in certain decision-making processes, which have normally
considered as the typical responsibility of architects. This paper by gathering a close group dissection and
using brainstorming method, has attempted to argue the levels and stages of user participation in order to
discover and establish the level and stages of self-selection in ADP.
City i-Tick: The android based mobile application for students’ attendance at...journalBEEI
This paper presents City i-Tick, the android based mobile application for students’ attendance at a university. In this study, we developed mobile application for lecturers to take students’ attendance in City University, Petaling Jaya. Managing students’ attendance during lecture periods has become a difficult challenge. The research objectives for this study are to identify user requirement for City i-Tick, to design and develop City i-Tick, and to demonstrate the prototype of City i-Tick. The study is a narrative participatory design and exploits Design Thinking as the research methodology. City i-Tick was successfully validated by 14 lecturers and System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to determine the findings of the study. We found that City i-Tick is effective for lecturers in taking attendance because it is easy to use, easy to learn, and the users feel confident when using this application.
Dashboard settings design in SVARA using user-centred design methodTELKOMNIKA JOURNAL
SVARA is the first Social Media audio application in Indonesia developed by PT. Zamrud Teknologi Khatulistiwa. At present, this application does not have feature settings to display content and other basic settings on the user's side. This situation results in users not having the role to manage the appearance of the dashboard according to their preferences. Settings are done entirely by administrators using scripts and must take APIs with regular PHP scripts. And this is very troublesome. So to give a role to the view of user management, the application needs to be made a dashboard setting feature as a follow-up. Through this paper, the researchers propose designing this dashboard feature using the User-Centered Design (UCD) method. The design results show that this method has a positive correlation with user involvement support in the application development process.
The impact of gamification on students learning engagementIJECEIAES
Gamification is to use game elements in a non-game context to increase engagement between human and computer, on the other hand, to encourage in-demand for good behaviors in learning. This research tried to increase student engagements in learning by conducted Gamification technique especially in difficult subjects such as Programming Language courses. The previous work was shown that students dropped, failed, or withdrew from the course at rates of between 35% and 50%. Therefore the main objective of this study is to increase student engagements in learning programming subject, and also to measure the impact of game elements on student’s engagements. Finally, the findings have shown the score of game elements that have a good effect on student’s engagement in the experiment group.
QUALITY ASSESSMENT MODEL OF THE ADAPTIVE GUIDANCEijseajournal
The need for adaptive guidance systems is now recognized for all software development processes. The new needs generated by the mobility context for software development led these guidance systems to both quality and ability adaptation to the possible variations of the development context. This paper deals with the adaptive guidance quality to satisfy the developer’s guidance needs. We propose a quality model to the adaptive guidance. This model offers a more detailed description of the quality factors of guidance service adaptation. This description aims to assess the quality level of each guidance adaptation factor and therefore the evaluation of the adaptive quality guidance service.
CRESUS-T: A COLLABORATIVE REQUIREMENTS ELICITATION SUPPORT TOOLijseajournal
Communicating an organisation's requirements in a semantically consistent and understandable manner
and then reflecting the potential impact of those requirements on the IT infrastructure presents a major
challenge among stakeholders. Initial research findings indicate a desire among business executives for a
tool that allows them to communicate organisational changes using natural language and a model of the IT
infrastructure that supports those changes. Building on a detailed analysis and evaluation of these findings,
the innovative CRESUS-T support tool was designed and implemented. The purpose of this research was to
investigate to what extent CRESUS-T both aids communication in the development of a shared
understanding and supports collaborative requirements elicitation to bring about organisational, and
associated IT infrastructural, change. In order to determine the extent shared understanding was fostered,
the support tool was evaluated in a case study of a business process for the roll out of the IT software
image at a third level educational institution. Statistical analysis showed that the CRESUS-T support tool
fostered shared understanding in the case study, through increased communication. Shared understanding
is also manifested in the creation of two knowledge representation artefacts namely, a requirements model
and the IT infrastructure model. The CRESUS-T support tool will be useful to requirements engineers and
business analysts that have to gather requirements asynchronously.
Online Intelligent Semantic Performance Based Solution: The Milestone towards...AM Publications
As we analyse the computer application undergraduate logical-based courses in an assorted
environment of online assignments and exams and offline lectures, and exhibit the impact on academic routine of
factors such as classroom attendance, web-based course complement, and homework. We present grades from both
ordinary front ends and where the latter method controls for unobserved variation among students. A system
tailored intelligent instructional evaluation will generate the students, teachers & administration concepts,
discussing the predisposition in estimation when the ordinary evaluation method is used, resulting from the fact
that it ignores unobserved assorted. It also reduces the administrator’s load and helps provide the flexibility to
teacher’s need for mass evaluation. The Online Intelligent Semantic Performance based Solution is web
applications that ascertain an association between the institutes and the students. Institutes enter on the site, the
concepts they want in the exam. The questions based on the relevant concept and the syllabus is displayed as a test
to the eligible students. The answers entered by the students are then evaluated and their score is calculated and
saved. This score then can be accessed by the institutes to determine the passes students or to evaluate their
performance. It has been successfully applied to the distance evaluation of basic operating skills of computer
science, such as the course of computer skills in Universities and the local examination for the under graduates in
faridabad, Haryana.
Development of E-learning Software Based Multiplatform ComponentsjournalBEEI
E-learning software is a product of information and communication technology used to help dynamic and flexible learning process between teacher and student. The software technology was first used in the development of e-learning software in the form of web applications. The advantages of this technology because of the ease in the development, installation, and distribution of data. Along with advances in mobile/wireless electronics technology, e-learning software is adapted to this technology known as mobile learning. The ability of this electronic device is the same as a single computer even though it is simpler than a single computer. The problem that arises when e-learning software operates on multiple platforms is that computer programs are made repeatedly depending on the platform being used. This situation will obviously affect the quality of e-learning software. To overcome these problems, in this study developed component-based software that is a modern paradigm for software development that produces reusable software components, high quality, and cost-effective. In software development, software components will be assembled in the software in need. The result of this research is high quality e-learning software based multiplatform component.
ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION WITH SHARED AUTHORING ENVIRONMENT IN ACAD...IJITE
Team work is an important training element of future software engineers. However, the evaluation of the
performance of collaboration among individuals is very subjective. Meanwhile, how to effectively
promote the collaboration in an academic setting is an even more challenging task. The lack of a common
standard or method for the assessment is a practical issue in software engineering projects. With the
rapid development of shared authoring environments, such as Wiki, more and more educational
institutions are studying the adaptability of such kind of collaborative platforms. In order to study the
applicability of adopting wiki-based shared authoring environments in software engineering education,
we have proposed three major research questions. By solving these problems, we try to answer some of
the most important questions in adopting shared authoring platforms in academic settings.
Interface on Usability Testing Indonesia Official Tourism WebsiteWaqas Tariq
Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of The Republic of Indonesia must meet the wide audience various needs and should reach people from all levels of society around the world to provide Indonesia tourism and travel information. This article will gives the details in the evolution of one important component of Indonesia Official Tourism Website as it has grown in functionality and usefulness over several years of use by a live, unrestricted community. We chose this website to see the website interface design and usability and to popularize Indonesia tourism and travel highlights. The analysis done by looking at the criteria specified for usability testing. Usability testing measures are the ease of use (effectiveness, efficiency, consistency and interface design), easy to learn, errors and syntax which is related to the human computer interaction. The purpose of this article is to test the usability level of the website, analyze the website interface design, and provide suggestions for improvements in Indonesia Official Tourism Website of analysis we have done before.
Best Practices for Improving User Interface Designijseajournal
A rich and effective computational system must have a friendly user interface with appealing usability features that provides excellent user experience. In order to develop interactive systems with the best user experience, an innovative iterative approach to user interface engineering is required because it is one of the most challenging areas given the diversity of knowledge, ideas, skills and creativity needed for building smart interfaces in order to succeed in today’s rapidly paced and tough, competitive marketplace. Many modeling aspects including analytical, intuitive, artistic, technical, graphical, mathematical, psychological and programming models need to be considered in the development process of an effective user interface. This research examines some of the past practices and recommends a set of guidelines for designing effective user interfaces. It also demonstrates how UML use case diagrams can be enhanced by relating user interface elements to use cases.
A METHOD FOR WEBSITE USABILITY EVALUATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSISIJwest
ABSTRACT
Graphical user interfaces design in software development process focuses on maximizing usability and the user's experience, in order to make the interaction for users easy, flexible and efficient. In this paper, we propose an approach for evaluating the usability satisfaction degree of a web-based system. The proposed method has been accomplished in two phases and implemented on an airlines website as a case study. In the first phase, a website usability test is implemented by a number of users, and then the results obtained are translated into charts for a final web-based system evaluation in the second phase. The results achieved
were satisfactory, since the places where the weaknesses and gaps in the website are identified and recommended solutions to avoid them are drawn. The authenticity of the results have been confirmed by comparing them with user opinions acquired from a questionnaire, which proves the precision in which the website is rated.
Hci and its effective use in design and development of good user interfaceeSAT Publishing House
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology
APPLICATION BASED SMART OPTIMIZED KEYBOARD FOR MOBILE APPScsandit
Mobile applications are becoming an emerging property in today’s world. Delivering high quality mobile applications by improving the quality of the user interface is a definitive guide in building successful mobile applications and will have a significant increase in the market for that application. This paper addresses some issues related to mobile user interface, current input system and user dictionary. After analysing these issues we have proposed a new system by making some improvements to the current input system and user dictionary. In order to improve the current system, we have taken some issues related to one of the most widely used data entry methods ‘Keyboard’ and proposed some improvements by introducing Smart Optimized Keyboard (STOKE). We have provided the results, which include performance, reduction in number of keystrokes, and screen space. This describes the significant change after adopting the proposed keyboard. In the end, we have proposed an optimized way of building up
the user dictionary, which assists the user in inserting the input very easily, rapidly and effectively. In a combine, these two will help in providing the best user experience to the users.
AN EXPERT GAMIFICATION SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL SOFTWARE TEAMScsandit
Gamification is the concept of applying game elements in non-game context platforms to motivate people to participate in planned activities to achieve goals.
Gamification has been applied to academic fields including software engineering (SE) in recent years. Many gamification implementations in SE have been ad hoc and lacked standardized guidelines. This paper introduces a new concept of building an expert gamification system(EGS) to provide guidelines for the implementation of gamification for virtual and cross cultural software teams (VCCST). The system will extend the core of a regular expert system to include gamification tools, a supplementary database, and an expert knowledge source. The cross-cultural data for the EGS contains the Hofstede's cultural dimensions (HCD).
As more and more VCCST are formed in recent years, many issues have been raised in those teams stemming from miscommunication and cultural conflicts. This paper uses the EGS to help resolve the issues in VCCST.
Ease of Use and Its Effect on User Decision of Adopting New Method of Car Ren...IJERA Editor
The effective collaboration of multidisciplinary fields of software engineering and business will
eventually lead to a better understanding of UX and how to use such in our daily life .This paper
spots the light on the how can we improve the user experience of using a internet website to commit
and complete a business transaction of booking a vehicle through ease of use.
Considering User Participation in Light Of level and Stages of Self-Selectio...IJMER
Presenting the new definition of self-selection in Architectural Design Process (ADP) needs to
clarify the edges of this new concept versus the others, which exist in design area. Referring to conducting
content analysis in previous published studies, the general meaning of self-selection is a situation in which
user decide to do something for themselves rather than do something that has chosen for them. On the
other hand, different users’ and designers’ vision of self-selection make a connection with End User’s
Personalization (EUP) and User Centered Design (UCD). Both self-selection and user participation
indicate the user decision-making power. Consequently, for earning a high level of user satisfaction, users
should allow to contribute partially or totally, in certain decision-making processes, which have normally
considered as the typical responsibility of architects. This paper by gathering a close group dissection and
using brainstorming method, has attempted to argue the levels and stages of user participation in order to
discover and establish the level and stages of self-selection in ADP.
City i-Tick: The android based mobile application for students’ attendance at...journalBEEI
This paper presents City i-Tick, the android based mobile application for students’ attendance at a university. In this study, we developed mobile application for lecturers to take students’ attendance in City University, Petaling Jaya. Managing students’ attendance during lecture periods has become a difficult challenge. The research objectives for this study are to identify user requirement for City i-Tick, to design and develop City i-Tick, and to demonstrate the prototype of City i-Tick. The study is a narrative participatory design and exploits Design Thinking as the research methodology. City i-Tick was successfully validated by 14 lecturers and System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to determine the findings of the study. We found that City i-Tick is effective for lecturers in taking attendance because it is easy to use, easy to learn, and the users feel confident when using this application.
Dashboard settings design in SVARA using user-centred design methodTELKOMNIKA JOURNAL
SVARA is the first Social Media audio application in Indonesia developed by PT. Zamrud Teknologi Khatulistiwa. At present, this application does not have feature settings to display content and other basic settings on the user's side. This situation results in users not having the role to manage the appearance of the dashboard according to their preferences. Settings are done entirely by administrators using scripts and must take APIs with regular PHP scripts. And this is very troublesome. So to give a role to the view of user management, the application needs to be made a dashboard setting feature as a follow-up. Through this paper, the researchers propose designing this dashboard feature using the User-Centered Design (UCD) method. The design results show that this method has a positive correlation with user involvement support in the application development process.
The impact of gamification on students learning engagementIJECEIAES
Gamification is to use game elements in a non-game context to increase engagement between human and computer, on the other hand, to encourage in-demand for good behaviors in learning. This research tried to increase student engagements in learning by conducted Gamification technique especially in difficult subjects such as Programming Language courses. The previous work was shown that students dropped, failed, or withdrew from the course at rates of between 35% and 50%. Therefore the main objective of this study is to increase student engagements in learning programming subject, and also to measure the impact of game elements on student’s engagements. Finally, the findings have shown the score of game elements that have a good effect on student’s engagement in the experiment group.
QUALITY ASSESSMENT MODEL OF THE ADAPTIVE GUIDANCEijseajournal
The need for adaptive guidance systems is now recognized for all software development processes. The new needs generated by the mobility context for software development led these guidance systems to both quality and ability adaptation to the possible variations of the development context. This paper deals with the adaptive guidance quality to satisfy the developer’s guidance needs. We propose a quality model to the adaptive guidance. This model offers a more detailed description of the quality factors of guidance service adaptation. This description aims to assess the quality level of each guidance adaptation factor and therefore the evaluation of the adaptive quality guidance service.
CRESUS-T: A COLLABORATIVE REQUIREMENTS ELICITATION SUPPORT TOOLijseajournal
Communicating an organisation's requirements in a semantically consistent and understandable manner
and then reflecting the potential impact of those requirements on the IT infrastructure presents a major
challenge among stakeholders. Initial research findings indicate a desire among business executives for a
tool that allows them to communicate organisational changes using natural language and a model of the IT
infrastructure that supports those changes. Building on a detailed analysis and evaluation of these findings,
the innovative CRESUS-T support tool was designed and implemented. The purpose of this research was to
investigate to what extent CRESUS-T both aids communication in the development of a shared
understanding and supports collaborative requirements elicitation to bring about organisational, and
associated IT infrastructural, change. In order to determine the extent shared understanding was fostered,
the support tool was evaluated in a case study of a business process for the roll out of the IT software
image at a third level educational institution. Statistical analysis showed that the CRESUS-T support tool
fostered shared understanding in the case study, through increased communication. Shared understanding
is also manifested in the creation of two knowledge representation artefacts namely, a requirements model
and the IT infrastructure model. The CRESUS-T support tool will be useful to requirements engineers and
business analysts that have to gather requirements asynchronously.
Online Intelligent Semantic Performance Based Solution: The Milestone towards...AM Publications
As we analyse the computer application undergraduate logical-based courses in an assorted
environment of online assignments and exams and offline lectures, and exhibit the impact on academic routine of
factors such as classroom attendance, web-based course complement, and homework. We present grades from both
ordinary front ends and where the latter method controls for unobserved variation among students. A system
tailored intelligent instructional evaluation will generate the students, teachers & administration concepts,
discussing the predisposition in estimation when the ordinary evaluation method is used, resulting from the fact
that it ignores unobserved assorted. It also reduces the administrator’s load and helps provide the flexibility to
teacher’s need for mass evaluation. The Online Intelligent Semantic Performance based Solution is web
applications that ascertain an association between the institutes and the students. Institutes enter on the site, the
concepts they want in the exam. The questions based on the relevant concept and the syllabus is displayed as a test
to the eligible students. The answers entered by the students are then evaluated and their score is calculated and
saved. This score then can be accessed by the institutes to determine the passes students or to evaluate their
performance. It has been successfully applied to the distance evaluation of basic operating skills of computer
science, such as the course of computer skills in Universities and the local examination for the under graduates in
faridabad, Haryana.
Development of E-learning Software Based Multiplatform ComponentsjournalBEEI
E-learning software is a product of information and communication technology used to help dynamic and flexible learning process between teacher and student. The software technology was first used in the development of e-learning software in the form of web applications. The advantages of this technology because of the ease in the development, installation, and distribution of data. Along with advances in mobile/wireless electronics technology, e-learning software is adapted to this technology known as mobile learning. The ability of this electronic device is the same as a single computer even though it is simpler than a single computer. The problem that arises when e-learning software operates on multiple platforms is that computer programs are made repeatedly depending on the platform being used. This situation will obviously affect the quality of e-learning software. To overcome these problems, in this study developed component-based software that is a modern paradigm for software development that produces reusable software components, high quality, and cost-effective. In software development, software components will be assembled in the software in need. The result of this research is high quality e-learning software based multiplatform component.
ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION WITH SHARED AUTHORING ENVIRONMENT IN ACAD...IJITE
Team work is an important training element of future software engineers. However, the evaluation of the
performance of collaboration among individuals is very subjective. Meanwhile, how to effectively
promote the collaboration in an academic setting is an even more challenging task. The lack of a common
standard or method for the assessment is a practical issue in software engineering projects. With the
rapid development of shared authoring environments, such as Wiki, more and more educational
institutions are studying the adaptability of such kind of collaborative platforms. In order to study the
applicability of adopting wiki-based shared authoring environments in software engineering education,
we have proposed three major research questions. By solving these problems, we try to answer some of
the most important questions in adopting shared authoring platforms in academic settings.
Interface on Usability Testing Indonesia Official Tourism WebsiteWaqas Tariq
Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of The Republic of Indonesia must meet the wide audience various needs and should reach people from all levels of society around the world to provide Indonesia tourism and travel information. This article will gives the details in the evolution of one important component of Indonesia Official Tourism Website as it has grown in functionality and usefulness over several years of use by a live, unrestricted community. We chose this website to see the website interface design and usability and to popularize Indonesia tourism and travel highlights. The analysis done by looking at the criteria specified for usability testing. Usability testing measures are the ease of use (effectiveness, efficiency, consistency and interface design), easy to learn, errors and syntax which is related to the human computer interaction. The purpose of this article is to test the usability level of the website, analyze the website interface design, and provide suggestions for improvements in Indonesia Official Tourism Website of analysis we have done before.
Best Practices for Improving User Interface Designijseajournal
A rich and effective computational system must have a friendly user interface with appealing usability features that provides excellent user experience. In order to develop interactive systems with the best user experience, an innovative iterative approach to user interface engineering is required because it is one of the most challenging areas given the diversity of knowledge, ideas, skills and creativity needed for building smart interfaces in order to succeed in today’s rapidly paced and tough, competitive marketplace. Many modeling aspects including analytical, intuitive, artistic, technical, graphical, mathematical, psychological and programming models need to be considered in the development process of an effective user interface. This research examines some of the past practices and recommends a set of guidelines for designing effective user interfaces. It also demonstrates how UML use case diagrams can be enhanced by relating user interface elements to use cases.
A METHOD FOR WEBSITE USABILITY EVALUATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSISIJwest
ABSTRACT
Graphical user interfaces design in software development process focuses on maximizing usability and the user's experience, in order to make the interaction for users easy, flexible and efficient. In this paper, we propose an approach for evaluating the usability satisfaction degree of a web-based system. The proposed method has been accomplished in two phases and implemented on an airlines website as a case study. In the first phase, a website usability test is implemented by a number of users, and then the results obtained are translated into charts for a final web-based system evaluation in the second phase. The results achieved
were satisfactory, since the places where the weaknesses and gaps in the website are identified and recommended solutions to avoid them are drawn. The authenticity of the results have been confirmed by comparing them with user opinions acquired from a questionnaire, which proves the precision in which the website is rated.
Hci and its effective use in design and development of good user interfaceeSAT Publishing House
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology
User Experience Evaluation for Automation Tools: An Industrial ExperienceIJCI JOURNAL
Evaluating the User Experience in some contexts is challenging, especially in automation applications, due to specific situations and requirements. This paper presents an experience of applying the UX evaluation method for an automation tool in the Android software industry to assist software engineers in identifying the UX problems faced by users. The work applies heuristic evaluation, survey, and user interview methods to find the UX problems, understand the respective reasons, validate the given information, and finally assess the UX. The evaluation identified critical problems related to error messages, system response to errors, and proper feedback about what software is doing. The found problems and discussions contributed to developing new UX evaluation methodologies.
USEFul: A Framework to Mainstream Web Site Usability through Automated Evalua...Waqas Tariq
A paradox has been observed whereby web site usability is proven to be an essential element in a web site, yet at the same time there exist an abundance of web pages with poor usability. This discrepancy is the result of limitations that are currently preventing web developers in the commercial sector from producing usable web sites. In this paper we propose a framework whose objective is to alleviate this problem by automating certain aspects of the usability evaluation process. Mainstreaming comes as a result of automation, therefore enabling a non-expert in the field of usability to conduct the evaluation. This results in reducing the costs associated with such evaluation. Additionally, the framework allows the flexibility of adding, modifying or deleting guidelines without altering the code that references them since the guidelines and the code are two separate components. A comparison of the evaluation results carried out using the framework against published evaluations of web sites carried out by web site usability professionals reveals that the framework is able to automatically identify the majority of usability violations. Due to the consistency with which it evaluates, it identified additional guideline-related violations that were not identified by the human evaluators.
THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE was innovatively created by Google engineers and it is ready for production in record time. The success of Google is to attributed the efficient search algorithm, and also to the underlying commodity hardware. As Google run number of application then Google’s goal became to build a vast storage network out of inexpensive commodity hardware. So Google create its own file system, named as THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE that is GFS. THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE is one of the largest file system in operation. Generally THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE is a scalable distributed file system of large distributed data intensive apps. In the design phase of THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE, in which the given stress includes component failures , files are huge and files are mutated by appending data. The entire file system is organized hierarchically in directories and identified by pathnames. The architecture comprises of multiple chunk servers, multiple clients and a single master. Files are divided into chunks, and that is the key design parameter. THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE also uses leases and mutation order in their design to achieve atomicity and consistency. As of there fault tolerance, THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE is highly available, replicas of chunk servers and master exists.
SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN THE PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTE...ijseajournal
Learner centred design (LCD) focuses on creating an e-learning system that can fulfil individual needs
through personalization, nevertheless there are still many technical challenges. Besides, losing balanced
focus on both of the learners and the instructors does not help to create a successful e-learning system.
User-centred design helps to improve the usability of a system as it integrates requirements and user
interface designs based on users’ needs. The findings of this research prove that even the users are
provided with the same LMS, not everyone has the same perceptions or tolerance levels of the seven design
factors that may cause frustrations to the users, and not everyone has the same satisfaction level of
navigation experience and interface design. It is important for the LMS developers to understand that the
variations between roles, genders, experiences and ages exist and should not be ignored when designing
the system.
Software development field is becoming more
productive day by day with the wonderful model name Agile. Agile
is the main focus of research now a days. It is because of its
abilities of handling changes in efficient way through iterative and
incremental practices. Although it became famous because of its
capabilities still there are some issues in it, which is ignorance of
usability engineering in different phases of agile that is an
important aspect to understand the software. Usability has deep
roots in software quality and is a core construct of HCI. To develop
interactive and usable systems there is a need of such a model
which can integrate HCI with Agile. To address this issue. To solve
this issue we have proposed a model which will work with both
User Centered (main focus of HCI) and Agile by assembling
different practices from both fields which will result useable
products. It will enhance software life with user satisfaction by
giving them running software with usability.
THE IMPACT OF IN-HOUSE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES ON SYSTEM USABILITY IN ...IJMIT JOURNAL
In-house software development is a critical phenomenon for the production of efficient and effective
software in generating requisite job output. A few studies have devoted efforts towards establishing the
impact of in-house software development on software. Therefore, this paper is an effort towards
establishing the impact of in-house software development practices on system usability. In pursuit of this
paper, a sample of a sample size of 169, at 95% confidence level, with margin error of 5% was drawn from
bold software users, i.e. 300 employees who used the all software including those dealing with the main
stream activities. A total of 102 respondents actually responded to the questionnaires. The Online Sample
Calculator was used to draw the sample. Quantitative data were collected using semi-structured
questionnaires and processed using the SPSS. Descriptive statistics were applied in the analysis. Findings
of the study indicate that software development practices, specifically usability test and user involvement in
software designing and development had an impact on determining software usability for in-house
software. The paper concludes that software development practices shape the design of the software; hence
influence usability of the software produced. Recommended is therefore that software usability test and
user involvement in software designing and development be promoted for effective software production.
THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCEvivatechijri
THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE was innovatively created by Google engineers and it is ready for production in record time. The success of Google is to attributed the efficient search algorithm, and also to the underlying commodity hardware. As Google run number of application then Google’s goal became to build a vast storage network out of inexpensive commodity hardware. So Google create its own file system, named as THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE that is GFS. THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE is one of the largest file system in operation. Generally THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE is a scalable distributed file system of large distributed data intensive apps. In the design phase of THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE, in which the given stress includes component failures , files are huge and files are mutated by appending data. The entire file system is organized hierarchically in directories and identified by pathnames. The architecture comprises of multiple chunk servers, multiple clients and a single master. Files are divided into chunks, and that is the key design parameter. THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE also uses leases and mutation order in their design to achieve atomicity and consistency. As of there fault tolerance, THE USABILITY METRICS FOR USER EXPERIENCE is highly available, replicas of chunk servers and master exists.
The impact of usability in information technology projectsCSITiaesprime
Achieving success in information system and technology (IS/IT) projects is a complex and multifaceted endeavour that has proven difficult. The literature is replete with project failures, but identifying the critical success factors contributing to favourable outcomes remains challenging. The triad of Time-Cost-Quality is widely accepted as key to achieving project success. While time and cost can be quantified and measured, quality is a more complex construct that requires different metrics and measurement approaches. Utilizing the PRISMA Methodology, this study initiated a comprehensive search across literature databases and identified 142 relevant articles pertaining to the specified keywords. A subset of ten articles was deemed suitable for further examination through rigorous screening and eligibility assessments. Notably, a primary finding indicates that despite recognizing usability as a critical element, there is a tendency to neglect usability enhancements due to time and resource constraints. Regarding the influence of usability on project success, the active involvement of end-users emerges as a pivotal factor. Moreover, fostering the enhancement of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) knowledge within the development team is essential. Failure to provide good usability can lead to project failure, undermining user satisfaction and adoption of the technology.
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A STUDY OF THE INTERFACE USABILITY ISSUES OF MOBILE LEARNING APPLICATIONS FOR...IJITE
A conceptual framework for measuring the usability characteristics of mobile learning (m-Learning)
application has been developed. Furthermore, a software prototype for smartphones to assess usability
issues of m-Learning applications has also been designed and implemented. This prototype has been
developed, using Java language and the Android Software Development Kit, based on the recommended
guidelines of the proposed conceptual framework. The usability of the proposed model was compared to a
generally available similar mobile application (based on the Blackboard) by conducting a questionnairebased survey at Western University. The two models were evaluated in terms of ease of use, user
satisfaction, attractiveness, and learnability. The results of the questionnaire showed that the participants
considered the user interface based on our proposed framework more user-friendly as compared to the
Blackboard-based user interface.
A Study of The Interface Usability Issues of Mobile Learning Applications for...IJITE
A conceptual framework for measuring the usability characteristics of mobile learning (m-Learning)
application has been developed. Furthermore, a software prototype for smartphones to assess usability
issues of m-Learning applications has also been designed and implemented. This prototype has been
developed, using Java language and the Android Software Development Kit, based on the recommended
guidelines of the proposed conceptual framework. The usability of the proposed model was compared to a
generally available similar mobile application (based on the Blackboard) by conducting a questionnairebased survey at Western University. The two models were evaluated in terms of ease of use, user
satisfaction, attractiveness, and learnability. The results of the questionnaire showed that the participants
considered the user interface based on our proposed framework more user-friendly as compared to the
Blackboard-based user interface.
A study of the interface usability issues of mobile learning applications for...IJITE
A conceptual framework for measuring the usability characteristics of mobile learning (m-Learning) application has been developed. Furthermore, a software prototype for smartphones to assess usability issues of m-Learning applications has also been designed and implemented. This prototype has been developed, using Java language and the Android Software Development Kit, based on the recommended guidelines of the proposed conceptual framework. The usability of the proposed model was compared to a generally available similar mobile application (based on the Blackboard) by conducting a questionnairebased survey at Western University. The two models were evaluated in terms of ease of use, user
satisfaction, attractiveness, and learnability. The results of the questionnaire showed that the participants considered the user interface based on our proposed framework more user-friendly as compared to the Blackboard-based user interface.
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NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN CONDENSING HEAT EXCHANGERS...ssuser7dcef0
Power plants release a large amount of water vapor into the
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A HEURISTIC-BASED APPROACH FOR USABILITY EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC PORTALS
1. International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 9, No 3, June 2017
DOI:10.5121/ijcsit.2017.9302 15
A HEURISTIC-BASED APPROACH FOR USABILITY
EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC PORTALS
Hmood Al-Dossari
Information Systems Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
Human computer interaction (HCI) is concerned with the practice of usability, which is a measure that
evaluates the simplicity of using a system, software, or interface design for performing particular tasks.
Evaluation is a process by which designers gather information about a systems usability to improve its user
interfaces features. This research presents a study of a usability evaluation of EduGate, an online
academic portal of King Saud University. In this research the heuristic evaluation method was chosen to
evaluate the usability of the EduGate. Our results show that, the EduGate suffers from certain usability
problem and some recommendations were proposed to enhance the usability of the EduGate. A
questionnaire was then used to collect the feedback of real users (i.e. students) on the value of these
recommendations. The participants supported 80% of the proposed recommendations to improve the
usability of the EduGate.
KEYWORDS
Usability Evaluation, Usability Problems, Heuristic, Academic Portals.
1.INTRODUCTION
A portal is a web-based application that acts as a gateway to information and services from
multiple sources that facilitate users’ access to the content in one or more repositories [1]. The
development of the Internet and World Wide Web have led to many academic institutions
promote and encourage optimization of the Internet technology for information dissemination.
Higher education institutions (e.g. universities) have developed their own web portals to attract
superior students. Manouselis et al. [2] called it educational web portal that serves as a gateway to
information and services of some learning or teaching relevance.
EduGate is a Student Portal at King Saud University that provides students with the web based
resources they need during their studies. It provides access to University services and
information. For example, the EduGate enables students to: view academic calendar, courses
registration and check their grades. One main issue need to be considered to provide an easy and
effective access to the EduGate is its usability. That is, the extent to which the EduGate can be
used by university students to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction. Figure 1 provides a snapshot of the EduGate (https://edugate.ksu.edu.sa).
Heuristic evaluation [3] is a usability engineering method for finding the usability problems in a
user interface design. It involves having a small set of evaluators examine the user interface to
judge its compliance with recognized usability principles (the "heuristics"). Evaluation is a
process by which designers gather information about a system's usability to improve its user
interface's features [4]. In this paper, we examine and evaluate the usability of the EduGate to
enable potential suggestions on how its usability can be improved. In particular, the objectives of
the study are:
2. International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 9, No 3, June 2017
16
1. To investigate the methods that can be used to evaluate the usability of the EduGate.
2. To identify major usability flaws in the EduGate.
3. To provide recommendations on how to improve the usability of the EduGate.
Figure 1: A snapshot of the GUI of the EduGate
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents a review of knowledge
obtained from previous studies related to the chosen research area. Section 3 investigates the
different methods that can be applied to examine and test the usability of an online academic
portal applications and the main characteristics of these methods have been highlighted. Section 4
introduces the research methodology and discusses the chosen approach to examine and evaluate
the EduGate. Section 5 states the discovered usability problems of the EduGate and provides
some recommendations to enhance the usability of the EduGate. Section 6 seeks to evaluate the
validity of the recommendations proposed in Section 5. Finally, Section 7 concludes the paper
and outlines the future work.
2.BACKGROUND AND RELATED WORK
2.1 Human Computer Interaction
Human computer interaction (HCI) is a field of study that focuses on improving computer
interfaces to make computer systems simple and easy to use. It can be said to be the combining of
human user and computer system with the intention of performing a task involving hardware and
software components [5]. The HCI occupies a specific point in the intersection between the social
and behavioral sciences, as well as between computer and information technology [6]. Improving
the interaction between users and computers is the basic goal of HCI. This is achieved by
developing appropriate systems that are user-friendly, efficient, and meet the needs of users [7].
Another fundamental goal of HCI is to improve the usability, utility, safety, effectiveness and
efficiency of systems that include computers [6].
Similarly, [8] described the HCI goal as ensuring a system is safe and usable, as well as
sufficiently functional. Hix and Hartson [5] claim that HCI should provide users with a high level
of usability. Developing computers to be user-friendly is one of the biggest challenges in HCI.
The development of user interfaces relies upon the cooperation of experts from different
disciplines, such as psychologists and computer scientists. While computer scientists attempt to
develop high-level programming language, psychologists help by providing information about
human capabilities such as human memory and decision making [9]. Interaction design can be
3. International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 9, No 3, June 2017
17
defined as designing interactive products to support the way people communicate and interact in
their everyday and working lives [10]. It is about enhancing the communicative experiences of
users in their interaction with computers. In general, people interact with products and computers
in four different ways [10]:
1. Direct manipulation, which refers to the physical interaction between people and the
computer screen; for example, the user may touch the screen to choose a print action.
2. Language-based, which refers to the communications using verbal words.
3. Demonstration, which displays users’ performance in their communications with the real
world.
4. Social interaction, where communication takes place implicitly by using body language in
the communication.
2.2 Usability
Usability is a fundamental factor of human computer interaction. This term was initially used to
describe effectiveness by [11], however it was later refined, with two measures: effectiveness and
ease of use. While the former measures user performance, the later evaluates interface. Ten
usability heuristics were then introduced by Nielsen in 1994 [12]. International standard
organization ISO 9241-11 [13] asserts that usability is the extent to which a product can be used
by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a
specified context of use. Baecker and Grudin [14] describe usability as a broad concept that
basically refers to how easy it is for users to learn a system, how efficiently they can use it once
they have learned to use it, and how pleasant it is to use. Nielsen [15] states that the word
usability refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process and outlines five
quality components to define usability in the following questions:
• Learnability: How easy is it for computer users to perform basic tasks in the first time
they encounter the design?
• Efficiency: How quickly can users perform tasks after learning to use the design?
• Memorability: How easily can users re-establish proficiency after a period of absence?
• Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can
they recover from the errors?
• Satisfaction: How satisfied are the users regarding the design?
In summary, usability is a fundamental measure of how users operate the product to achieve their
goals and essential in making systems easy to use and easy to learn [16].
2.3 User Interface
User interface (UI) is basically an electronic layout with which users directly interact with
computer. It consists of two components: input and output. While the former gives the user the
ability to enter data, the later produces the computer feedback. Some examples of input devices
are a keyboard, mouse and microphone. The output devices include, but are not limited to, screen
and printer. It is essential that the UI is designed to be usable by whoever is required to use it in
the completion of tasks; they must be able to easily interact with the computer. As described in
the previous section, there are a number of ways to determine whether or not a system is good, in
terms of product design. If the system is not easy to use, users will refrain from using it. Friedman
[17] highlights that designing a good UI is fundamental in meeting users' needs. The design and
development of an effective UI can be achieved by gathering information about user’s
requirements before designing and implementing the UI. Four approaches have been suggested
for designing UI [18]: craft, cognitive engineering, enhanced software engineering, and the
4. International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 9, No 3, June 2017
18
technologist approach. The craft approach considers the design as a piece of art. The cognitive
engineering approach uses psychological theory in the design. The enhanced engineering
approach encourages UIs designers to understand and consider the main objectives of HCI,
whereas the technologist approach uses tools to construct a layout which enables effective
interaction between users and application.
2.4 Previous Studies
An abundance of literature examines the usability of different applications. For example, Pinelle
and Wong [19] studied the usability of video games. They developed heuristics based on problem
categories, and then used these to discover problems with usability in video games. An inspection
method was adopted using some specialist (evaluators) in the usability inspections process for
video games. The evaluators listed several benefits of using heuristics and indicated that it is a
good method to test game interfaces. These benefits can assist designers in identifying significant
problems which are not always evident with others evaluation methods. Another benefit is that
they are relatively in- expensive, easy to use and do not require advanced planning [3]. Dringus
and Cohen [20] studied usability attributes in an online learning environment (e.g. navigability,
ease of use) to ensure the quality of the learning experience and of the learning environment that
serves as an interface for users. They pointed out that instructors can apply user experience in
locating specific usability problems in online courses. An adaptable heuristics checklist was used,
which included 13 heuristics categories. They stated that not all heuristics can be applied to
online courses, but instructors need to carefully select the items applicable to their particular
usability evaluation.
Wentz and Lazar [21] discussed the results of a usability evaluation on a desktop and web-based
email application used by blind users. Their evaluation involved 15 blind users who tested seven
common email applications. Each application was tested between 21 and 35 times and each user
evaluated at least two applications. The study concluded that there was scope for improvement.
The authors stated that the findings were not limited to blind users, but it should help employers
to find an appropriate type of application that fit their needs. They state that their findings would
assist employers as they make decisions about the types of email applications that they will use
within their organizations.
A systemic review on usability evaluation of game applications for mobile environment was
proposed in [22]. The authors investigated around 21 studies on usability of mobile game and
highlighted that efficiency, effectiveness, and learnability are the main factors of usability
measurement for mobile games. Also, it was found that both expert review and user testing have
discovered the most serious playability problems from the user interface.
In [23] the authors designed and implemented a model for a massive online courses (MOOC) on
teaching methodologies at Fayoum University, Egypt in cooperation with RWTH Aachen
University, Germany. To gauge the usability o f the course, they employed evaluation approach
based on Conole’s 12 dimensions rubrics, ISONORM 9241/110-S as a general usability
evaluation, and a custom effectiveness questionnaire reflecting the different MOOC stakeholder
perspectives. The results of the study revealed a general satisfaction with the MOOC in terms of
usability and effectiveness.
The focus of the study in [24] was the usability evaluation of the Punjab University Library
(PUL) website. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to understand the theoretical
and technical aspects of the study and data were collected through a questionnaire instrument
from 300 respondents and was analyzed by using SPSS. Findings of the study reveal that PUL
website proves favourable in two out of five criteria particularly in terms of ‘affect’ and
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‘efficiency’. The data show that affect and efficiency are more outcome oriented than the
technical aspects of ‘learnability’, ‘control’ and ‘helpfulness.’
An online-survey regarding the usability of computer aided manufacturing (CAM) was conducted
in [25] and - apart from general usability-effects of age and CAM expertise were analyzed. Main
usability barriers were program behaviour and controllability. For older and inexperienced users,
cognitive complexity (menu complexity and information density) was found to affect productivity
and satisfaction of CAM-software usage. For younger CAM experts, an improved system support
(feedback, search function) in solving CAM problems was identified as important requirement.
Recommendations for a user-centered CAM software usability optimization were derived.
The purpose of the study [26] was to test smart TV text entry that combines a touch pad and
virtual keyboard interaction. A prototype was created and tested against a simple remote control,
a touch pad, and a physical keyboard. Twenty college students were recruited to perform a
usability test with each of the four different input methods. Participants performed a text entry
task and a text edit task on each device. The results indicate that combining a virtual keyboard
with touch pad type functionality for text entry and editing can lead to faster text entry and faster
text editing.
3. USABILITY METHODS
This section describes and reviews the methods of usability measuring commonly employed in
the literature, which can broadly be categorized as follows: testing, inspection and inquiry [40].
These methods are summarized in Table 1 and detailed in the following sections.
3.1. Testing Method
In testing methods, a selected sample of users works on a real system to assess its usability.
Normally, monitoring and video recording are used to observe how the target systems interface
supports the users in accomplishing their tasks [28]. In this method, task completion time is
captured to allow for users’ attitude observation, thus providing the most quantitative data [29].
Testing methods include, but not limited to, the following:
3.1.1 Thinking-Aloud Protocol
In this method, participants express their feelings, thoughts and opinions in words during
interactions with the system [12]. More specifically, this technique for usability evaluation can be
conducted as follows.
1. The participants who will be involved in the usability testing are selected.
2. The tasks and scenarios to be tested in the usability session are determined and prepared.
3. The participants are asked to perform the selected tasks and vocalized their opinions,
feelings and thoughts about the system.
This method, however, is not suitable for novice users and too many answers are required from
the participants.
3.1.2 Question-Asking Protocol
The evaluator asks the participant questions during the evaluation session explicitly in this
method rather than implicitly such as in the previous method. That is, the participants are asked to
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freely express their thoughts and feelings without prompting from the evaluator [30]. To do so,
the participants are asked to perform specific tasks and then asked questions relating to their
experience and interaction with the system to allow the usability evaluator to understand their
mental model of the system. More specifically, the question-asking protocol method can be
applied as follows:
1. Selecting the participants that will be involved in the test.
2. Deterring the tasks and scenarios that will be used as a test case.
3. Asking the participant to perform a task using the software.
4. During the task, the participants will be asked to expose their thoughts, opinions, and
feeling about the target product or software.
However, this method creates a considerable amount of work for both users and evaluators during
usability test, i.e. the participants are burdened with tasks to perform. The evaluators are
simultaneously pressured by the amount of preparation and questioning required to be asked.
Novice users can be frustrated by answering many questions that they may not be well prepared
to answer.
3.1.3 Teaching Method
In teaching method, usability evaluator asks the participant to teach a new novice participant how
to use the system [31]. The evaluator does the following steps to conduct this method: However,
neither an expert, the participant who may have no experience about using the target system is in
charge to teach the new user (i.e. novice user). This is arguably irrational because the blind (i.e.
the participant) is not necessarily able to lead the blind (i.e. the novice user).
1. The participant who will be involved in the test is selected.
2. The target system is determined.
3. The participant is asked to perform a task using the target system.
4. The participant is asked by usability's evaluator to teach a new novice user how to
perform the selected task using the system.
5. The interactions between the participant and the novice user are observed and recorded.
3.2. Inspection
This technique is widely used in practice since it is both relatively efficient and effective. In this
technique, usability experts inspect systems interfaces during formative evaluation [32].
3.2.1 Heuristic Evaluation
The heuristic evaluation method is a form of usability engineering conducted to identify the
usability problems of user interface design in order to assess its degree of conformance with
predetermined usability principles [33, 34]. In this method, several evaluators work
independently to come up with potential usability problems by evaluating systems interface. It is
essential that the evaluators must work independently, thus not affecting each other. Meanwhile,
using several evaluators can be justified by the heuristic evaluation process because it is too
difficult for a single person as they would not be able to discover all of the usability problems
with an interface [32]. Heuristic evaluation is conducted as follows.
1. Determining usability experts
2. Designing heuristic guide (e.g. usability checklist).
3. Performing an independent evaluation and collecting individual evaluation result.
4. Analysing evaluations and producing usability problems [32].
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Nielsen and Molich [3] stated that this method is inexpensive and easy to do. However, multiple
evaluators are needed because the usability problems are less likely to be detected by a single
expert.
3.2.2 Cognitive Walkthrough
In this method, one or more usability experts walk through a set of tasks to test the systems
usability [35]. It aims to evaluate user interface to support "exploratory learning" i.e., first-time
use without formal training. It is strongly recommended to be conducted at early stage of design
(i.e. before empirical user testing is possible). The participants perform the walkthrough by
asking four questions for each task as following [35] [36]:
1. Will users attempt achieve the required effect? For example, if the task involves printing
a document and the first action is to select a printer, then the question is: will they be
aware that they need to select a printer first?
2. Will users observe the right button, menu, switch and so on to perform the action? For
example, the button on the right for selecting a printer is visible.
3. After users have found the control, will they realize that it creates the effect that they
need? For example, the right button may be shown but the user may not understand the
icon and so will not click on it.
4. Does the user obtain feedback and understand it? If the right action is performed, will the
user understand that they have performed the correct action?
Answering the previous four questions for each task will make the users recognize and discover
usability problems. However, when applying walkthrough method caution should be taken. There
are two common misunderstanding in conducting walkthrough method [35, 36]:
• Evaluators have no knowledge about how to perform the task.
• The walkthrough does not test real users on the system. This leads to produce fake
potential usability problems.
3.2.3 Pluralistic Walkthrough
In this method, a group of users, system developers and human factors engineers walk together
through a set of primary tasks to discover usability problems [37]. This is so that each member of
the group brings a certain perspective, expertise and a set of goals for the system design so
enables a greater number of usability problems to detected and maintained. Generally, more
people working to test the usability of a system will create a higher probability of any problems
being discovered. The efficient interaction between the team is essential to help discover and
resolve usability issues faster [12]. This method takes the following steps:
1. One person is nominated to act as group’s coordinator.
2. Targeted tasks, paper prototypes, screens shots etc. are presented to the group.
3. Each participant writes down comments on each user interface.
4. After demo, a discussion controlled by the coordinator will be followed to discover and
resolve usability issues.
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Table: Summary of reviewed usability methods
This method is attractive for two main reasons: firstly, there is a strong focus on real users in the
task analysis, leading to more problems identified at an early stage of system development.
Secondly, the discussion of identified problems in a multidisciplinary team will develop usable
and efficient solutions. However, one difficultly in the use of this method results from the vast
number and variety of participants required simultaneously, such as users, developers and
engineers.
3.3. Inquiry
In inquiry methods, instead of observing users working on some predefined tasks by the evaluator
such as in testing methods, the evaluator monitors users during their work in the real work
context [34]. The main focus of inquiry methods is to collect information about the likes, dislikes
and needs of the user in order to understand and consider their preferences in system design. One
reason to make inquiry methods attractive and useful is that they allow the evaluator to assess the
user, the tasks, and the working environment at the same time [38]. The common usability
inquiry methods are described below.
3.3.1. Field Observations
Here usability experts observe current and potential users in the workplace during normal using
of the system [12]. The usability experts attempt to answer two main questions:
1. What are users mental model? (e.g., their likes, dislikes and needs).
2. Are the users using the system in the expected way?
The general assumption of field observation is that usability evaluation is context-dependent and
it should be conducted to capture natural habitat of users to generate appropriate findings.
3.3.2. Focus Groups
The main idea of this method is to share the experience between group members by interacting
and discussing ideas [30]. This is conducted by producing a variety of ideas about the best way to
enhance user interfaces. In contrast to the field observation method, in which users’ preferences
are captured implicitly, the focus group method can be used to explicitly collect these preferences
during the discussion between the group members. While the field observation is primarily
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observation of use, the focus group asks questions about use (i.e. it is ethnographic). However, a
focus group is time consuming and relies on the honesty of group members. All aforementioned
issues as well as selecting appropriate moderator can lead to higher costs making this method a
costly endeavour [39].
3.3.3. Interviews
An interview method is similar to focus group, except in that instead of interviewing with a group
of users, the interview is normally taken place with one user at a time [29]. This method is
efficient when time constraints cannot be accommodated or when observing user behavior cannot
be carried out, particularly as it rarely occurs or is unpredictable [40]. Interviews are executed as
follows: the interviewer presents a question to the user, the user gives a reply, and the interviewer
records user’s answers by writing notes or using a recording device and later transcribing it.
However, in a similar way to a focus group, it relies on the trust of the participants.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Figure 2 outlines the main stages of our research methodology. The following sections also
describe each stage in details.
Figure 2: Stages of the Proposed Approach
4.1 Method Selection
In our research, heuristic evaluation method adopted for the following reasons:
• Heuristic evaluation is less expensive than other types of usability methods as it requires
fewer resources (e.g., from 3 to 5 experts) [33]. As this study is limited in terms of
resources, it is reasonable to select and use this method for usability evaluation of online
academic portal applications in this work.
• Heuristic does not require formal usability training for evaluators in their study [31, 33].
• Heuristic evaluation provides quick feedback about usability problems making the
method the natural choice for this research, due to limitations in time.
• Usability problems discovered by heuristic evaluation method are normally restricted to
user interface such as use of colours and consistency of terminology which makes this
method is suitable in evaluating online academic portal applications.
• It is generally agreed that there is a degree of overlap between problems identified by
heuristic evaluation method and other usability [20].
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4.2 Evaluation Design
Inspired by ten principles proposed by Nielsen [33], the heuristic checklist was designed to test
the usability of online academic portal applications. In the following, we describe the 10 heuristic
categories and corresponding questions that need to be answered by experts. Each heuristic
category has a set of criteria that will be used by evaluators (i.e. experts) in evaluating the
EduGate.
1. Visibility of system status. Visibility of system status refers to informing the users what
is going on in the system through appropriate feedback within reasonable time [15]. For
the visibility status of EduGate, we defined the following criteria:
• Is the selected icon labelled clearly and distinctive from the unselected icons?
(Criteria 1.1)
• Does head title clearly describe the page that is open? (Criteria 1.2)
• When the user moves the cursor over a box, is any visual feedback provided?
(Criteria 1.3)
• Is any feedback provided when the user presses the function keys (e.g. F1, F2, ...
F12)? (Criteria 1.4)
2. Match between system and the real world. The system should speak the users' language,
with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms.
Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order
[15]. To judge to what extent the EduGate match the real world of students, we defined
the following criteria:
• When prompts imply a necessary action, are the words in the message consistent with
that action? (Criteria 2.1)
• Is each page of EduGate described clearly for the students? (Criteria 2.2)
• Is the language used in the pop-up windows that display confirmation or error
messages clear and simple? (Criteria 2.3)
• Are the meanings of the boxes and icons understandable for both advanced and
novice users? (Criteria 2.4)
3. User control and freedom. Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need
a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go
through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo. We defined the following criteria
to examine if the EduGate support student control and freedom:
• Can progressed operations be cancelled by the students? (Criteria 3.1)
• When prompts imply a necessary action, are the words in the message consistent with
that action? (Criteria 3.2)
• Is the language used in the pop-up windows that display confirmation or error
messages clear and simple? (Criteria 3.3)
• Are the meanings of the boxes and icons understandable for both advanced and
novice users? (Criteria 3.4)
4. Consistency and standards. Users should not have to wonder whether different words,
situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions. To assess the
consistency and standards of EduGate, we defined the following criteria:
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• Are all icons correctly labelled and have the same length? (Criteria 4.1)
• Does each EduGate window have a different title? (Criteria 4.2)
• Is the page title justified? (Criteria 4.3)
• Does the "sign out, sign in" always appear in the top right of the page? (Criteria 4.4)
5. Error prevention. Even better than good error messages are a careful design which
prevents a problem from occurring in the first place.
• Is an alert sound used to inform users when an error occurs? (Criteria 5.1)
• Is the user informed of the severity of the error in the error message? (Criteria 5.2)
• Are any suggestions provided about possible reasons for the problem reason in the
error message? (Criteria 5.3)
• Do error messages suggest that users correct the error? (Criteria 5.4)
6. Recognition rather than recall. Make objects, actions, and options visible. The user
should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another.
Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever
appropriate.
• Is the EduGate prevent the students from making errors? (Criteria 6.1)
• Is an alert sound used to inform students when an error occurs? (Criteria 6.2)
• Are icons separated by at least one space? (Criteria 6.3)
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use. Accelerators - unseen by the novice user - may often
speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both
inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
• Are there any options in each page for students to course add, dropped or exist?
(Criteria 7.1)
• Is the most important action or icon used as the first in each menu? (Criteria 7.2)
• Is the size of each icon suitable? (Criteria 7.3)
• Is each icon function clear with brief and descriptive images? (Criteria 7.4)
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design. Dialogues should not contain information which is
irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with
the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
• Does the EduGate system provide small arrow icons to enable users to move between
"next page" and "previous page"? (Criteria 8.1)
• Does the system consider the differences between novice and expert users, and
support them appropriately through provision of multiple levels of error message
detail? (Criteria 8.2)
• Does the system allow users to change language option from the main page without
needing to move to the settings page? (Criteria 8.3)
• Does the system offer users the option of either clicking on boxes or using a
keyboard shortcut? (Criteria 8.4)
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors. Error messages should be
expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively
suggest a solution.
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• Does the system clearly differentiate text, lines images and background through clear
use of colour and brightness? (Criteria 9.1)
• Are the icons and boxes clearly separated by white space? (Criteria 9.2)
• Is there a proportion between icons and background, meaning that icons stand out
more clearly? (Criteria 9.3)
• Is it possible to recognize the icon's function from icons title, image or shape?
(Criteria 9.4)
10. Help and documentation. Even though it is better if the system can be used without
documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such
information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be
carried out, and not be too large.
• Is the EduGate provide sufficient assistance to the students? (Criteria 10.1)
• Is the helping messages appear to the student on appropriate time? (Criteria 10.2)
• Is the helping messages words clear and understandable by the students? (Criteria
10.3)
• Can the helping messages be offered when the students need them? (Criteria 10.4)
4.3 Conducting Evaluation
To evaluate the usability of the EduGate, the criteria designed in the previous section have been
aggregated in a single form to represent a checklist that needs to be checked by the usability
experts. The EduGate application was assessed by three experts in order to detect any potential
usability problems. In selecting experts, it is ensured that they should satisfy a set of
requirements. For example, some evaluators have PhD degree and they previously either studied
HCI course or taught it. Fortunately, all selected evaluators have good experience and so are
familiar with the use of the online academic portal applications.
4.4 Analysis and Result
To determine if a given academic portal application conforms to a given criterion, a voting
system is used. Since the EduGate application was assessed by three experts it is easy to
determine if the target criteria represent a potential usability problem or not. If at least two
evaluators chose the No option, the EduGate application is classified to have usability problem
with respect to the criteria under assessment. The detailed result is reported in the following
section.
4. USABILITY PROBLEMS OF EDUGATE
In order to evaluate the usability of the EduGate, the criteria designed in Section 4 have been
aggregated in a single form to represent a checklist that needs to be checked by the usability
experts. The EduGate was assessed by three experts in order to detect any potential usability
problems. Fortunately, all selected evaluators have good experience and so are familiar with the
use of the EduGate. To determine if the EduGate conforms to a given criterion, a voting
technique is used [41]. Since the usability of EduGate was assessed by three experts it is easy to
determine if the target criteria represent a potential usability problem or not. If at least two
evaluators chose the "No" option, the EduGate is classified to have usability problem with respect
to the criteria under assessment. Table 2 summarized the discovered usability problems of the
EduGate. To improve the usability of the EduGate there follows a set of recommendations.
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The recommendations are motivated from analyzing the results of usability heuristic obtained
from the three experts. To address the usability problems, 10 recommendations follow:
• Recommendation 1. To speed up the interaction between the student and EduGate
application, it is recommended that the EduGate system to cater to both novice and
advanced users by using keyboard function keys to perform some common actions. For
example, to use F1 for course registration and F5 for view academic calendar.
• Recommendation 2. To give the students more flexibility, it is recommended to give the
students the possibility of cancelling a given action during its running. For example,
cancel course registration before the completion of all registration steps.
• Recommendation 3. It is quite useful if the EduGate system can alert students if they
about to make an error. For example, it is suggested that the EduGate system shows a
confirmation message to the student when pressing drop course.
• Recommendation 4. To provide sufficient assistance to the students, it is recommended
that the EduGate offer some suggestions to help students solving the occurred problems
and errors.
• Recommendation 5. For flexibility and efficiency of use the EduGate, it is
recommended that the importance icons and menus are ordered based on the frequently
used to allow students choosing them faster. For example, putting course drop after
registration icons and courses' result at the end of the menu because it is used only once
(i.e. at the end of semester).
• Recommendation 6. To offer more flexibility and freedom to students, it should consider
the difference between novice and expert users. To do so, it is useful to use keyboard
shortcut to perform some common actions. For example, to register a new course, it is
recommended to use only (N) instead of Ctrl+N as a shortcut.
• Recommendation 7. To help the students recognize and diagnose, it is suggested that
small icons and boxes be separated by clear white space.
• Recommendation 8. To provide sufficient assistance to the students, it is recommended
that the EduGate give more detailed feedback. For example, instead give the students "the
course has been successfully registered", "Introduction to programming course has been
successfully registered".
• Recommendation 9. To provide clear and understandable helping messages, it is
recommended that a simple words and detailed description be given to the student when
for example the cursor hovers over icons or folders.
• Recommendation 10. It is recommended that the helping messages can be offered every
time the students need them.
Table 2: Usability problems of EduGate
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5. EVALUATION
This section seeks to evaluate the validity of the recommendations proposed in Section 5.0. It
begins by briefly describing the method by which data was collected from real EduGate users (i.e.
the students at King Saud University). After this, the process of data collection will be described
in detail, from preparing the questionnaire to obtaining the result from the users. After this, the
results are presented.
6.1. Data Collection
A questionnaire was designed to test how effectively the recommendations might improve the
usability of EduGate. The questionnaire consisted of ten questions, one question for each
recommendation.
Figurer 3: Validity of suggested recommendations
Because of this, closed questions were chosen in this questionnaire, because they are quick and
easy to answer, which is more likely to encourage participation in a questionnaire [42]. These
types of questions also ensured that each of the respondents (i.e. students) would concentrate on
the key issues of interest to this study. After preparing the questionnaire, it was published on
Qualtrics.com, a free online survey software, making it accessible by EduGate users. Each
participant was asked to answer ten questions, each of five answers on the Likert scale. The
questionnaire was delivered to evaluate the recommendations made by this study in terms of their
ability to improve the usability of the EduGate. The questionnaire was answered by 328 users and
the results are produced and shown in Figure 3.
6.2. Results and Findings
The result reported in Figure 3 provides strong support for the popularity of our recommendations
to improve the usability of the EduGate. On average, 81% of the participants have been agreed
with the ten recommendations. That means the majority of students considered the proposed
recommendations to be very important to make the EduGate more efficient and easier to use.
While the participants have been agreed with providing the EduGate's users clear, understandable
and on time helping messages, they prefer the messages to be short. Only 68% of the participants
have agreed with the important of giving the users more detailed feedback, perhaps because the
long feedback may make the message ambiguous and not understandable. In general, the results
provide clear evidence about the validity of the proposed recommendations to enhance the
usability of the EduGate.
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7. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we have investigated and examined the usability of the EduGate. The heuristic
evaluation method was used to inspect the usability problems of the EduGate. Ten usability
problems were detected after the evaluation by three experts using the 10 principles proposed by
Nielsen. Recommendations have been suggested to improve the usability of the EduGate and
these recommendations have been evaluated by using the method of questionnaire to gather the
views of students about study findings. One possible future area of investigation is to apply other
usability methods to evaluate the usability of the EduGate. For example, testing and inquiry
methods may be used, such as the asking-question protocol method [30], in which some
participants could be asked to perform specific tasks and then ask them some questions relating to
their interaction with the EduGate to allow the usability evaluator to understand their experience
and their mental model of the system.
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