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

World Wide Web has attained a significant role in the communication, information sharing and services delivery within some years. The web based applications now contains the information for different organizations, academics, medical and many more. Online business in the form of E-commerce is widely using the concepts of web based business very efficiently. Due to wide use of web applications, the usability and User Experience (UX) play important roles. The organizations often concentrate less on usability evaluation of web applications due to which the users encounter problems while using the product like page loading time, accessibility, font size etc. The bad usability influences the user experience. Usability evaluation of web application helps the companies to develop more user friendly and accessible products which also improve the market positions of their products. There are different Usability Evaluation Methods (UEMs) which can be used to evaluate the product. The appropriate UEM at appropriate time during product development ensures the high quality of product. Due to different definitions of usability and UX it is difficult to evaluate the usability and UX. Furthermore there are some organizational issues like time to market, evaluator's expertise, budget etc which restrict the deployment of UEMs in web development. This thesis study is focused on the identification of different definitions of Usability and UX. The relationship between Usability and UX is also investigated. Interviews are conducted in order to identify the factors which restrict the adoption of UEMs. The results of interview are analyzed by using Grounded Theory. Some recommendations are given on the basis of empirical study that how appropriate usability inspection method(s) can be adopted during the product development. / World Wide Web har uppnått en betydande roll i för kommunikation, informationsutbyte och tjänster leverans inom några år. Den web-baserade applikationer nu innehåller information för olika organisationer, akademiker, läkare och många fler. Online-verksamhet i form av e-handel är allmänt använda begreppen webbaserade business mycket effektivt. På grund av omfattande användning av webbapplikationer, användbarhet och User Experience (UX) spelar en viktig roll. Den organisationer koncentrera ofta mindre på användbarhet utvärdering av webbapplikationer beror på vilken användare stöter på problem när du använder produkter som är likadana sidan lastande tid, tillgänglighet, textstorlek etc. dåliga användbarhet påverkar användarupplevelsen. Användbarhet utvärdering av webbprogram hjälper företag att utveckla mer användarvänliga och lättillgängliga produkter som förbättrar också marknadspositioner produkter. Det finns olika Usability Evaluation Methods (UEMS) som kan användas för att utvärdera produkten. Den lämplig UEM vid lämplig tidpunkt under produktens utveckling säkerställer en hög kvalitet på produkten. Grund olika definitioner av användbarhet och UX det är svårt att utvärdera användbarheten och UX. Vidare finns Vissa organisatoriska frågor som tid till marknaden, Utvärderarens kompetens, budget etc. som begränsar utplacering av UEMS inom webbutveckling. Här avhandlingen Studien är inriktad på identifiering av olika definitioner av användbarhet och UX. Den Förhållandet mellan Användbarhet och UX är också undersökts. Intervjuerna är gjorda för att identifiera de faktorer som begränsar införandet av UEMS. Resultaten av intervjun analyseras med hjälp av Grounded Theory. Vissa rekommendationer ges på grundval av empiriska studie att hur lämpliga användbarhet kontrollmetod (s) kan antas under produktutvecklingen.

This study focuses on using cognitive principles in design, trying to resolve four problem areas (PA)found in the map layer panel of Umeå municipality’s webGIS. In a first step cognitive findings thatcould serve as principles for implementing design choices were identified. Four low fidelity (lo-fi)prototypes were created. The lo-fi prototypes were tested using think aloud tasks and asemi-structured interview. Six participants, three expert and three novice users were recruited.Participants’ opinions and thoughts were gathered to enable the development of a high fidelity (hi-fi)prototype. The hi-fi prototype was based both on the lo-fi test results and the identified cognitiveprinciples. The hi-fi prototype was again tested using think aloud tasks and a semi-structuredinterview. Three experts along with three novice participants were recruited. Opinions and thoughtsfrom the test were transcribed and categorized using combined deductive and inductive coding. Theresults of the analysis were used to answer our research question: does the use of cognitiveprinciples in designing the map layer panel of Umeå municipality's webGIS resolve the previouslyidentified usability issues? While two of the PAs seems to have been resolved in the new design, forthe other two there still seems to be some unresolved issues. It can be discussed if the unresolvedissues were due to lack of functionality of the prototype or inadequacy of the cognitive principles. / Denna studie har fokuserat på att använda kognitiva principer i design, för att försöka lösa de fyraproblemområden (PO) som finns i kartlagerpanelen i Umeå kommuns webGIS. En litteratursökninggjordes och identifierade kognitiva teorier som fungerade som principer för att genomföra designval.Fyra low fidelity (lo-fi) prototyper skapades. Lo-fi-prototyperna testades med hjälp av tänka-högtuppgifter och en semistrukturerad intervju. Sex deltagare, tre experter och tre nybörjare användes.Deltagarens åsikter och tankar samlades för att möjliggöra utvecklingen av en high fidelity (hi-fi)prototyp. Hi-fi-prototypen baserades på lo-fi-resultaten och de kognitiva principerna.Hi-fi-prototypen testades med tänka-högt uppgifter och en semistrukturerad intervju. Tre experterrekryterades tillsammans med tre nybörjare. Åsikter och tankar från testet transkriberades ochkategoriserades med hjälp av kombinerad deduktiv och induktiv kodning. Resultaten av analysenanvändes för att besvara vår forskningsfråga: löser användningen av kognitiva principer vidutformningen av kartlagerpanelen i Umeå kommuns webGIS de tidigare identifieradeanvändbarhetssvårigheter som identifierats? Huvudsakligen verkade det som att två problem ärlösta, när det gäller de andra två problemen verkade det fortfarande finnas svårigheter. Bland annat,diskuterades det om de olösta frågorna berodde på bristande funktionalitet i prototypen ellerotillräckliga kognitiva principer.

The digitization in public transport is aimed at all citizens, which means that everyone should be able to use IT-based services in a simple way and obtain available information. The purpose of this study is to identify the usability issues that can occur on “My pages” of county-wide bus service. The purpose is to find out the improvements that can be made to the efficiency and user experience on My pages based on the comments of the test participants.  The research questions in this study are: What usability problems can be identified on My pages? What efficiency improvements can be made on My pages based on test participant feedback and how is the user experience perceived by test participants? The methods used during this study are usability testing using eye-tracking equipment, observation, thinking aloud, and structured interview that includes background questions about the participants.  The results are based on the data collection through the test participants. Eight usability issues were identified, and eight improvement points were revealed. Eye-tracking equipment combined with gaze-plots and observation can be used to see how a usability problem arises. Test participants comments when thinking aloud and interviewing give a better understanding of testing behavior.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and study the usability issues within Technical Data Management Systems (TDMS). The research has been conducted as a single case study at the gardening and landscape maintenance company Husqvarna. The inductive research led to conducting 10 interviews, 2 expert focus groups and a observational study. An artefact was produced during the research to emulate a potential system. During the research, the researchers identified ten heuristic usability issues within TDMS. Fur- thermore the functional and non-functional needs of Husqvarna have been identified. The artefact was created, based on existing usability guidelines, addressing the usability issues and the needs of Husqvarna. The artefact was used to answer if the applied guidelines have solved the identified usability issues. The conclusion was set, that the applied guidelines had solved the identified issues. With the research being conducted with a single case study, the result may lack generalisability. Future researchers are encouraged to conduct a multiple case study to further identify issues within the research area.

Nos últimos anos, a demanda por aplicações Web vem crescendo rapidamente para atender às necessidades das pessoas e empresas. Essas aplicações têm proporcionado benefícios que vão desde melhorias no processo de comunicação e maior velocidade ao realizar tarefas até a redução de custos. No entanto, inúmeros problemas relacionados à usabilidade de interfaces, a exemplo da alta complexidade e baixa eficácia de uso têm dificultado e, em muitos casos, inviabilizado a utilização de aplicações Web. Esse fato é preocupante, pois a usabilidade é apontada pelos usuários como o atributo de qualidade de software mais importante e por constatar que muitas organizações ainda não empregam os recursos de suporte à usabilidade sob vários motivos, tais como: desconhecimento de técnicas, métodos e ferramentas; restrição de orçamento; e dificuldade de seleção e uso sistemático desses recursos. Desenvolver interfaces com maior qualidade de uso é um desafio que tem se tornado crítico para o sucesso das aplicações Web junto às empresas e aos usuários. Pesquisas foram realizadas, mas há lacunas quanto ao fornecimento de soluções integradas de suporte à usabilidade nas diversas fases de um projeto de aplicação Web. Diante dessa necessidade, este trabalho propõe o Framework UEF-WEB de apoio à Engenharia de Usabilidade. Este framework, composto por fases, atividades, recursos e artefatos, tem por objetivo principal auxiliar as organizações a introduzir, de maneira sistematizada, recursos de usabilidade no processo de planejamento, desenvolvimento e avaliação de interfaces de aplicações Web, com vistas à ampliação da qualidade de uso das interfaces construídas.

In distance education, students and teachers are at different places and interact with each other with the help of different technologies. Broadcast television, two-way video conferencing, asynchronous learning mode, virtual learning environment (VLE) and content based multimedia computer based trainings (CB-MCBTs) are some of the technologies used to provide distance education. Content Based Multimedia Computer Based Trainings (CB-MCBT) is a computerized learning environment. The acceptance of computerized learning environment is based on its usability. And usability in any computerized learning environment is supportive to learners and it increases their learning experiences of learners. Authors of this research have evaluated usability of CBMCBTs, specifically CB-MCBTs designed by AIOU. Usability evaluation has been performed to find out usability issues in CB-MCBTs, and figured out requirements of learners regarding CB-MCBTs. To figure out usability issues in CBMCBTs authors have used inquiry technique with focus group and questionnaire. Authors have proposed usability criteria to evaluate usability of CB-MCBTs. Each element of proposed criteria is based on principle of user interface design, and three main usability aspects: effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. Development of CB-MCBTs in AIOU is nice and unique effort in the field of computer based trainings. However if these CB-MCBTs are designed to support distance education, then AIOU should focus on the availability of CB-MCBTs to the students, feedbacks within CB-MCBT and feedback from university to students and completeness of these CB-MCBTs regarding features and facilities required by the students. This research also gives recommendation to AIOU for improvements in CB-MCBTs. These recommendations are helpful to fix usability issues in CB-MCBTs and to make these CB-MCBTs according to the requirements of learners.