In today’s era online social networks are getting extensive popularity among internet users. People are using online social networks for different purposes like sharing information, chatting with friends, family and planning to hang out. It is then no surprise that online social network should be easy to use and easily understandable. Previously many researchers have evaluated different online social networks but there is no such study which addresses usability concerns about online social network with a focus on Facebook on an academic level (using students as subjects). The main rationale behind this study is to find out efficiency of different usability testing techniques from social network’s point of view, with a focus on Facebook, and issues related to usability. To conduct this research, we have adopted the combination of both qualitative and quantitative approach. Graduate students from BTH have participated in usability tests. Our findings are that although think aloud is more efficient then remote testing, but this difference is not very significant. We found from survey that different usability issues are in Facebook profile, media, Picture Tagging, Chatting etc. / We have identified different usability issues in Facebook such as issues in media, chatting, facebook profile, changing profile name etc. Here we can say that although think aloud protocol is more efficient then remote testing but this difference is not very significant. We have also suggested some extension in usability testing techniques. If participants of usability test do not verbalize while interacting with the system and keep their focus on performing the test. After completion of each task participants can express their thoughts and opinions what they did. Furthermore we sent our founded results to developer for validation purpose. Developers replied that the results of this research are satisfactory. / Tariq Alam Address: Folkparksvagen 18:19, 37240 Ronneby, Sweden E-mail: chochoswati@hotmail.com, Muhammad Ali Address: Folkparksvagen 18:19, 37240 Ronneby, Sweden E-mail: alijpjgujrat@yahoo.com

Designing usable Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) is a complex process and requires at least two things: knowledge of known GUI design principles and guidelines, and knowledge of structured methods for achieving usability. The purpose of writing this thesis was to investigate whether a GUI standard increases a program's usability or not. In many cases, people who take part in GUI decisions do not consider following a standard and the decisions are often based on what is best for them. Consequently, in most of the cases, programs turn out to be inconsistent and less usable. But following a GUI standard does not necessarily guarantee usability. To carry out the investigation, the GUI of a program was deliberately manipulated. Apart from the original one, two more versions were created; one strictly according to the Microsoft Standard, and one that among other things violated the standard. To be able to compare the three GUI versions, usability testing with four test users was conducted. The result of the entire investigation showed that a GUI standard increased the usability considerably. But the result also showed that the test users found the GUI, that in some aspects violated the standard, more pleasant to use, that is to say, users' satisfaction was higher. This indicates that standards ensure consistency, which provides a sense of stability and makes the GUI familiar and predictable. But GUIs should also be tailored for and validated against the users' requirements, and this is done with structured methods for achieving usability. As a GUI designer, your knowledge of the standards is the absolute minimum requirement for developing GUIs. By knowing and understanding the standards, you will also have the knowledge of how to violate the standards in order to achieve a higher degree of usability.

In the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), low fidelity prototypes are a well-established method with solidly defined advantages and disadvantages. Further development of different methods within this field is constantly evolving, and this paper describes the concept of one of these methods, low fidelity video prototypes. It gives a brief introduction to low fidelity video prototyping methods, advantages and disadvantages. The video prototype is compared to paper prototyping, which lies closest to it in the low-fi family. I explain my methods for developing a paper prototype, a video prototype based on this prototype, the testing of both prototypes, and the results of these tests. Video prototyping is more effective than paper prototyping in certain aspects because the tests themselves demand less people, and less time to walk through the test. It is easy to go through the task in the users own pace. It is a useful method on its own, and can also be effective as a complement to other low-fi prototypes. They are easier to test on larger groups and to share over distance. It is easy to produce, edit and refine video prototypes with modern animating tools.

The iPhone has thanks to its multitouch interface, size and connectivity change the way we communicate. To fully utilize this technology we can involve users in the development process to help make highly usable software applications. One way to do this we somehow need to get the users to use our systems. What techniques are there to do this? And will they fit our product? Are there any way we can involve the users in the development process of an iPhone application, in this thesis I investigate if this can be accomplished by conducting usability tests with users on an iPhone application. The usability testing gives an insight into how the users work with and adapts to the users interface. The questionnaires given to the participants gave insight into how the users considered the usability and usefulness of the application. This data gave the development much needed data on the application to make it better and more usable. Since earlier research into user involvement have shown a strong connection to usable software and usability testing could be integrated successfully into the development by the single programmer, the conclusion can be drawn that single developer that incorporates usability testing into the development process as a form of user involvement makes more usable software. The usability was tested on an iPhone application built for an American online classified ads website.

Context. The market for mobile applications is expanding rapidly. Companies that have web-based applications are required to supply their costumerswith mobile applications to not fall behind and lose their costumers. Portinga web-based application to a mobile platform is not only about decreasing thesize of the web-pages’ content. To succeed in porting a web-based applicationto a mobile platform the usability of the application must remain the sameand possibly be improved, otherwise the consequence is that users becomefrustrated and leave the mobile application. Objectives. The objectives of this thesis is to investigate how to structureand display the features of a school photo web-based application to a mobileapplication, and keep the usability. Methods. A literature study has been done to find guidelines for designingmobile applications. Three mobile application prototypes have been devel-oped. The prototypes have been tested with usability tests in a laboratoryexperiment to find usability problems if such exists, and to identify the mostusable alternative. The usability tests have been done with the target groupof the mobile application. Results. The most usable prototype was identified. Also, a list of recommen-dations are compiled from the experiment (such as, provide help text underthe icons to clarify the content of the icon), and specific improvements thatcan be done to the most usable prototype is also compiled. Conclusions. As a conclusion, the used guidelines and usability heuristicssupported the design of the prototypes and helped to get user-friendly inter-faces. Prototype III obtained the best results in the usability tests. The resultsalso showed that the Prototype III can be further improved. It has also beenfound that related applications such as Instagram, can be helpful in order toget usable and user-friendly interfaces.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / J. M. Shawn Hutchinson / Information dashboards are decision-support tools that pull data from multiple sources and display those data on a single screen. Information dashboards are becoming common in fields such as medicine, computer science, and business, given their perceived ability to facilitate faster and more accurate assessments by users. However, there is very little peer-reviewed research on information dashboards that support this assumption. This research focuses on applying the concept of an information dashboard visualization within the spatial sciences and evaluating the effectiveness of a geographic information dashboard, or GID, on improving user performance related to spatial thinking tasks. A review of literature from multiple disciplines highlights what is, and what is not, understood about dashboard visualizations. Borrowing from ideas such as Cognitive Fit Theory and past work in evaluating the effectiveness of map animations, an appropriate method for evaluating the GID is proposed. A Web-based GID and an alternative “tabbed” visualization were developed using the R Shiny package to support an analysis of grassland vegetation development for a site located in northeastern Kansas. A controlled experiment was conducted using a survey completed by volunteer student participants who responded to a series of benchmark tasks related to the interpretation of 6 related maps and graphs. Data for three dependent variables (task completion time, task response accuracy, and an integrative measure of performance accounting for both time and accuracy) were collected directly from the survey or post-survey grading of responses. Three independent variables and their impact on spatial task performance were analyzed, including the type of visualization, assessed spatial thinking ability, and cognitive task type. Results showed that participants using the GID completed the benchmark tasks faster and more accurately, but that a users’ spatial thinking ability had the most significant influence on performance regardless of visualization. Evidence was found to support the idea that the GID improved spatial thinking performance, especially for users with more experience in spatial reasoning, and that the GID format may improve user performance beyond what is expected based on an independent assessment of spatial thinking ability.

Testing a product on users before releasing it on the market can be very rewarding but also costly for companies. Therefore testing products on just the right number of users, that will be enough to include the benefits of the tests while keeping down the costs, would be most beneficial. A common advice means that five participants are enough to include in such tests. This advice is based on research mainly from testing computer-based interfaces on users. Though, how well this advice can be applied when testing physical products on users is less investigated. This thesis has investigated how many participants that are needed when testing physical products on users. A literature study and an analysis of data collected from physical products tested on users were conducted. The results show that using five participants when testing physical products on users cannot be counted on to be enough. The results also show that the number of participants to use, when testing physical products on users, vary.

Usability is a critical aspect of the success of any application. It can be the deciding factor for which an application is chosen and can have a dramatic effect on the productivity of users. Eye tracking has been successfully utilised as a usability evaluation tool, because of the strong link between where a person is looking and their cognitive activity. Currently, eye tracking usability evaluation is a time–intensive process, requiring extensive human expert analysis. It is therefore only feasible for small–scale usability testing. This study developed a method to reduce the time expert analysts spend interpreting eye tracking results, by automating part of the analysis process. This was accomplished by comparing the visual strategy of a benchmark user against the visual strategies of the remaining participants. A comparative study demonstrates how the resulting metrics highlight the same tasks with usability issues, as identified by an expert analyst. The method also produces visualisations to assist the expert in identifying problem areas on the user interface. Eye trackers are now available for various mobile devices, providing the opportunity to perform large–scale, remote eye tracking usability studies. The proposed approach makes it feasible to analyse these extensive eye tracking datasets and improve the usability of an application. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Computer Science / unrestricted

This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a computerized physician-parent decision support tool for a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), known as Physician and Parent Decision Support (PPADS). The NICU is a specialized hospital unit that treats very-ill neonates. Many difficult care decisions are made daily for this vulnerable population. The PPADS tool aims to augment current NICU decision-making by helping parents and physicians make more informed decisions, improving physician-parent communication, increasing parent decision-making satisfaction, decreasing conflict, and increasing decision efficiency. The development of the PPADS tool followed a five-step methodology: assessing the clinical environment, establishing the design criteria, developing the system design, implementing the system, and performing usability testing. Usability testing of the PPADS tool was performed on neonatologists and on parents of neonates who have graduated (survived) from a tertiary level NICU. The usability testing demonstrated the usefulness and ease of use of the tool.

This Master's Thesis addresses the topic of usability testing of web-based systems. It reviews existing testing methodologies and recommends a collection of test tools and approaches suitable for usability testing. This thesis introduces a new methodology called Tabie for scoring web system under test. The methodology combines both the ease of use of the user interface (syntactic testing) as as well as its content (semantical testing). This approach is well suited for workflows in marketing agencies where content tweaks and its evaluation is done on an ongoing basis in order to attract more viewers and potential customers. The Tabie methodology provides a quantitative and repeatable process, automating the tweak-evaluate iteration.