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.

Vi har utvärderat IMIS med hjälp av användbarhetstester tillsammans med hemtjänstpersonal verksamma på fältet. Målet med utvärderingen har varit att redovisa eventuella problem av användbarhetskaraktär och utifrån dessa ge förslag på förbättringar inför en vidareutveckling av systemet. Syftet med vårt arbete har varit att bidra med ökad kunskap när det gäller användbarheten för IT-verktyg inom hemtjänsten. IMIS (Integrated Mobile Information System) är ett interaktivt informationssystem, som studenter från IT-programmet vid Blekinge Tekniska högskola har utvecklat. Systemet är en prototyp ämnad att utvecklas vidare för bruk inom hemtjänsten. Det är tänkt att fungera som ett hjälpmedel för att underlätta samordning och kommunikation mellan vårdpersonal, göra information om vårdtagarna lättillgänglig för vårdgivarna, samt kunna ge en helhetsbild av vårdtagarna och deras personliga nätverk. Hemtjänst innebär att den som inte kan klara sig på egen hand på grund av sjukdom, handikapp eller åldersförändringar kan få hjälp i det egna hemmet med bl.a. städning och personlig omvårdnad av kommunalt anställda vårdbiträden. De senaste 20 åren har datoriseringen ökat markant och persondatorer har numera blivit en förbrukningsvara för en stor del av befolkningen. Nya produkter och system ställer dock ofta till med problem för användarna eftersom de inte alltid är anpassade till de tilltänkta användarnas färdigheter och behov. Mobila kommunikationslösningar inom hemtjänsten är ett relativt nytt koncept. Det unika med dessa lösningar är att de i första hand riktar sig till de som arbetar ute hos vårdtagarna. Från en communicator, som är en kombinerad trådlös telefon och handdator, kopplar personalen upp sig mot Internet där alla med behörighet kan ta del av informationen i samma stund som den skrivs, var de än befinner sig. Användbarhet kan definieras och göras mätbart på många olika sätt. Vi har valt att utgå från den internationella standarden för användbarhet ISO 9241-11, där vi fokuserar på ändamålsenlighet och tillfredsställelse. För att genomföra våra tester har vi använt metoden kooperativ utvärdering som är en vidareutveckling av metoden thinking-aloud. Metoden går i korta drag ut på att användare kommenterar högt under tiden de arbetar med uppgifter. Det är en empirisk och formativ utvärderingsmetod av mindre formell karaktär där observatören deltar i utvärderingen. Vi har även använt frågeformulär både före, under och efter de praktiska testerna. Testerna genomfördes tillsammans med sju fast anställda vårdbiträden inom hemtjänsten i Karlshamns kommun. De flesta av deltagarna hade ingen eller mycket liten datorvana. Alla testpersoner var dock positiva till systemet och ingen tyckte att systemet verkade speciellt svårt att använda. Efter att ha provat verktyget, tyckte de flesta att det var lättare än de hade fått intryck av från början. Sex av deltagarna trodde att de kunde ha nytta av de funktioner de hade fått prova på i arbetet, och de skulle även rekommendera att kommunen köpte in systemet till hemtjänsten. Alla tyckte att systemet var tilltalande och effektivt. Endast tre av deltagarna klarade av alla uppgifterna inom utsatt tid. Dessa tre hade alla lite eller medel datorvana. Det största problemet relaterat till systemet var deltagarnas förvirring i samband med att huvudfönstret inte laddades om när de klickade på en länk i menyn, vilket innebar att innehåll i huvudfönster och meny inte alltid stämde överens. Tillsammans med de teoretiska studierna har användbarhetstesterna gett oss ökad insikt om användbarheten för IT-verktyg inom hemtjänsten. / irene.alpadie@karlshamn.mail.telia.com

The focus of this thesis is usability of an everyday used product; the cell phone seen from a Human – Computer Interaction perspective. The purpose with the thesis is to create an understanding of how cell phones are used by persons in natural /public settings and in everyday activities. Further the purpose is to describe users’ experiences of using cell phones. In this study, ethnography was used as method. The theoretical framework is the contextual usability perspective. The cell phone is used in many contexts and in different ways. We can make the conclusion from what the study shows, that the cell phone is outermost used and need for social issues. From a subjectivity perspective on usability, we can see that the cell phone is a product which needs and goals are highly subjective to the user. From a flexibility perspective on usability, we see that the cell phone is used in different contexts and therefore must be flexible in use. From a subjectivity perspective on usability, we see that it is a product that exists and is used in a social environment. A design suggestion that correspond to these aspects is the module cell phone. We can also make the conclusion that goals, needs and use are inseparable and constitute prerequisites for each other.

In today's society, a large part of Sweden's population owns a smartphone. Since the release ofthe iPhone in 2007, the phenomena of using smartphones to shop has increased every yearand is now larger than ever. Not surprisingly, developing and maintaining websites for otherdevices than a desktop, such as smartphones and tables, is now a top priority among theworld's companies. However, it has been argued that many retailers fail at providing asatisfactory user experience on the mobile web, and many customers are unsatisfied with theirmobile experiences. Previous research has investigated user experiences from a customerpoint-of-view. The aim of this thesis is to examine usability issues regarding the mobile webfrom an enterprise point-of-view, with the help of four main areas within usability. The areasare: content, site performance, navigation and accessibility. They were identified in previousresearch, which includes both a customer and an enterprise perspective in the theoreticalchapter. This research was initiated to confirm these areas as challenges from an enterpriseperspective in Sweden. Additionally, the aim of the thesis is also to gain insight in why theareas are challenging to manage for an enterprise today.This research was conducted by performing a case study at a Swedish telecom company, withfour employees participating in interviews. The data collection resulted in valuable insights,confirming that the identified main areas present challenges for the chosen company todifferent degrees. The most challenging issues were proven to be content and siteperformance, where fitting content on small screens and making sure the site speed issatisfactory from a customer perspective were seen as especially difficult aspects.Additionally, the analysis mapping theoretical and empirical findings includes suggestions ofwhy the identified main areas are seen as issues from the enterprise point-of-view. This studyproves there are challenges enterprises face, which hinders them to provide satisfactory userexperiences on the mobile web. The research confirms the main areas as challenges as well aspresenting why they are tricky to manage. Lastly, this thesis might have the possibility to actas a base for further research, such as managing the different main areas more efficiently,since it was not the aim of this thesis to offer that kind of insight.Keywords;

Web usability and User Experience (UX) play a vital role in the success and failure of web applications. However, the usability and UX measurement during the software development life cycle provide many challenges. Based on a systematic literature review, this thesis discusses the current usability and user experience evaluation and measurement methods and the defined measures as well as their applicability during the software development life cycle. The challenges of using those methods also identified. In order to elaborate more on the challenges, we conducted informal interviews within a software company. Based on the findings, we defined a usability and user experience measurement and evaluation roadmap for web applications development companies. The roadmap contains a set of usability evaluation and measurement methods as well as measures that we found suitable to be used during the early stages (requirement, design, and development) of web application development lifecycle. To validate the applicability of the defined roadmap, a case study was performed on a real time market oriented real estate web application. The results and the discussions of the findings as well as the future research directions are presented. / Användbarhet och User Experience (UX) spelar en avgörande roll i framgång och misslyckande av webbapplikationer. Dock användbarhet och UX mätning under programvarans livscykel ge många utmaningar. Baserat på en systematisk litteraturstudie, denna uppsats diskuterar aktuella användbarhet och användarupplevelse utvärdering och mätmetoder och angivna åtgärder samt som deras tillämplighet under mjukvaruutveckling liv cykel. Utmaningarna i att använda dessa metoder identifierades också. För att utarbeta mer på de utmaningar, vi genomfört informella intervjuer inom ett mjukvaruföretag. Baserat på resultaten, definierade vi en användbarhet och användarcentrerad erfarenheter mätning och utvärdering färdplan för webben tillämpningar utvecklingsbolag. Färdplanen innehåller en uppsättning av användbarhet utvärdering och mätmetoder som samt de åtgärder som vi fann lämpliga att använda under tidigt skede (krav, design och utveckling) i webb applikationsutveckling livscykel. Att godkänna tillämpning av de definierade färdplanen, en fallstudie som utförts på ett realtid marknadsorienterad verklig egendom webbapplikation. Resultaten och diskussionerna i resultaten samt de framtida inriktningar forskning presenteras. / +46 707446847, +46 704423894

Context. Usability work in software engineering is a measure of quality and it contributes to the overall acceptability of systems. However it is also the most neglected process in the software industry. While there are established guidelines and methods in usability, they are not used in the industry to the full extent. Objectives. In this case study I examine the level of usability and usability issues with the context of use in an M-Commerce solution. Also, I address the distance between development and the current and potential expert users of the wallet platform solution. Methods. In this exploratory research, a number of article sources such as IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and Springer Link are used. Studies are selected after reading titles, abstracts and keywords, then chosen if relevant to the subject. The methods used in this study were literature review, case study and experiment. Results. A usability test was performed on a specific user interface, in order to detect potential usability issues that might have been overlooked in the development cycle. As an experiment, the test was performed with proxy users and verified with the actual users. A recommendation list based on the test results was produced for possible improvements in the interface. Conclusions. As a conclusion, a modified usability testing method is proposed. Also I conclude that performing usability testing based on the context of use and the ISO 9241-11 standard, brings value to Ericsson’s current and potential customers as well as to the solution itself. The results from the two groups used for testing were very similar and the proxy user group is thus a good alternative to actual users. With the engagement of a team that is working with the customers dispersed over the world, the context of use can be brought to the development department.

Commerce through Internet gets more usual and has become a part of everyday activities and the users get more experienced. Today e-commerce is not only used to go through with pur-chases online, it is also about decision making before going to a physical store to purchase the product. But even if e-commerce is an established concept there is still shown that customers tend to cancel purchases in due to that the e-commerce site is hard to use. The purpose of this research is to review earlier researchers’ contributions and through this study add theoretical contribution that widens the understanding what enables e-commerce to succeed today in rela-tion to information provision. Questions been asked is 1) what is it 2015 that determines if an e-commerce venture succeeds or not? And 2) what usability parameters are of influential sig-nificance? To answer this it was conducted semi-structured interviews on the company Wip-core that develops e-commerce solutions, the interviewees where employees of different pro-fessions both in business and informatics. The result of this research shows what it is today that determines if an e-commerce venture will succeed or not. The result also points out pa-rameters of an influential significance concerning success factors, also the influence depend-ing on variation between industries and products being sold and what the specific target groups are. The target group that could be interested in this research is companies who con-duct sales through an e-commerce site and who wants to know what influence usability may have on the sales force and companies who has usability as an already existing business con-cept, i.e. other companies developing e-commerce systems. This research can also be of inter-est for companies who has their whole or a part of their business online, because hopefully it leads to an increased self-awareness and a critical examination within the own company but also an external awareness of how influential usability on e-commerce sites may be.

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.

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.

Abstract Many software-intensive products and systems on the market today reveal a poor level of usability despite the availability of knowledge about how to develop good usability, namely user-centred design. Improving the status of user-centred design has proved to be a challenge in product development. An effective step to start out on the road to such improvements is to carry out a current state analysis. Our research problem was to learn how to perform an effective current state analysis, i.e. an assessment, of user-centred design processes to provide a basis for improvement action. As the main part of our research, we carried out five experimental assessments in industrial settings during the years 2000 and 2001. The main result of the research is a novel assessment approach. The objective of the approach is to provide a basis for improvement of the performance of user-centred design in individual product development projects. The particular features of the approach are a new user-centred design process model, a three-dimensional process performance model and implementation of the assessment in the form of a workshop with extensive participation by the project members. The user-centred design process model is method-independent, and consists of six processes that are defined through outcomes. The performance of processes is assessed from the viewpoints of quantity, quality, and integration. Our theoretical examinations show that different assessment categories can be identified depending on the different foci and purposes of an assessment. Moreover, it may even be appropriate to have different assessment approaches for different categories. In the category of our focus and purpose, i.e. 'assessment of user-centred design processes for performance improvement', the focus of an assessment should be in the substance rather than in the management of UCD processes. An assessment approach should be regarded as an artefact and it should be subject to ongoing refinement. An assessment should be an intervention that provides both an effective training session and a meaningful experience to the participants. Clarity in both the concepts and the results seems to take precedence over having standard reference models. In addition, we created a preliminary theory of usability capability. It identifies three dimensions of usability capability: user-centred design infrastructure, performance of user-centred design in product development projects and usability in business strategy. We also propose some new assessment artefacts for other assessment categories and contrast our research experience with established research frameworks.