Increasing the usability of software by integrating usability engineering into the development cycle has become common practice. Although usability engineering is effective, it can be expensive, and organizations want to receive the best possible returns on their investments. Oftentimes, however, organizations spend large sums of money collecting usability problem data through activities such as usability testing, but do not receive acceptable returns on those investments during redesign. The primary reason is that there is an almost complete lack of methods and tools for usability problem data analysis to transform raw usability data into effective inputs for developers. In this thesis, we develop an infrastructure for usability problem data analysis to address the need for better returns on usability engineering investments. The infrastructure consists of four main components: a framework, a process, tools, and semantic analysis technology. Embedded within the infrastructure is the User Action Framework, a conceptual framework of usability concepts, which is used to organize usability data. The process addresses extraction of usability problems from raw usability data, diagnosis of problems according to usability concepts, and reporting of problems in a form that is usable by developers. The tools leverage the framework and guide practitioners through the process, while the semantic analysis technology supplements the capabilities of the tools to automate parts of the process. / Master of Science

<p>För att identifiera och klassificera problem relaterade till användbarhet i mjukvarubaserade produkter används metoder speciellt utformade för detta ändamål. En av dessa metoder är Heuristisk utvärdering, men kritik har framförts mot denna metod och dess förmåga att klassificera användbarhetsproblem. I detta arbete jämförs Heuristisk utvärdering med en annan metod, i ett försök att utreda om kritiken är korrekt. Denna metod är Usability Problem Taxonomy, en metod skapad för att klassificera samt analysera användbarhetsproblem. Syftet med denna jämförelse är att ta fasta på vilken av metoderna som är lämpligast att använda vid klassificering av användbarhetsproblem, något som bedöms genom att undersöka metoderna och deras förmåga att noggrant klassificera användbarhetsproblem. Resultatet av arbetet indikerar att Usability Problem Taxonomy stödjer en mer noggrann klassificering jämfört med Heuristisk utvärdering. Det är inte möjligt att på ett enkelt sätt uppskatta noggrannheten i den klassificering som utförs med Heuristisk utvärdering</p>

Usability evaluation results in several usability problems and the non-UE developer is often not a part of the evaluation as it might deter the participant from reporting all the errors and also, conducting usability evaluation is a usability engineer's responsibility. Thus the evaluator needs to create unambiguous usability problem reports, which will help the developer fix the usability problems. This research involves the development and evaluation of the Usability Problem Diagnosis tool, which supports problem diagnosis through analysis and storage in a common database shared between the evaluation and the development team. This tool uses the User Action Framework as an underlying knowledge base to support problem diagnosis. / Master of Science

För att identifiera och klassificera problem relaterade till användbarhet i mjukvarubaserade produkter används metoder speciellt utformade för detta ändamål. En av dessa metoder är Heuristisk utvärdering, men kritik har framförts mot denna metod och dess förmåga att klassificera användbarhetsproblem. I detta arbete jämförs Heuristisk utvärdering med en annan metod, i ett försök att utreda om kritiken är korrekt. Denna metod är Usability Problem Taxonomy, en metod skapad för att klassificera samt analysera användbarhetsproblem. Syftet med denna jämförelse är att ta fasta på vilken av metoderna som är lämpligast att använda vid klassificering av användbarhetsproblem, något som bedöms genom att undersöka metoderna och deras förmåga att noggrant klassificera användbarhetsproblem. Resultatet av arbetet indikerar att Usability Problem Taxonomy stödjer en mer noggrann klassificering jämfört med Heuristisk utvärdering. Det är inte möjligt att på ett enkelt sätt uppskatta noggrannheten i den klassificering som utförs med Heuristisk utvärdering

The usability of an application often plays an important role in determining its success. Accordingly, organizations that develop software have realized the need to integrate usability engineering into their development lifecycles. Although usability practitioners have successfully applied usability engineering processes to increase the usability of user-interaction designs, the literature suggests that usability practitioners experience a number of difficulties that negatively impact their effectiveness. These difficulties include identifying and recording critical usability data, understanding and relating usability data, and communicating usability information. These difficulties are particularly pronounced for novice usability practitioners. With this dissertation, I explored approaches to address these difficulties through tool support for novice usability practitioners. Through an analysis of features provided by existing tools with respect to documented difficulties, I determined a set of desirable tool features including usability problem instance records, usability problem diagnosis, and a structured process for combining and associating usability problem data. I developed a usability engineering tool, the Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting Tool (DCART), which contains these desirable tool features, and used it as a platform for studies of how these desirable features address the documented difficulties. The results of the studies suggest that appropriate tool support can improve the effectiveness with which novice usability practitioners perform usability evaluations. More specifically, tool support for usability problem instance records helped novice usability practitioners more reliably identify and better describe instances of usability problems experienced by participants. Additionally, tool support for a structured process for combining and associating usability data helped novice usability practitioners create usability evaluation reports that were of higher quality as rated by usability practitioners and developers. The results highlight key contributions of this dissertation, showing how tools can support usability practitioners. They demonstrate the value of a structured process for transforming raw usability data into usability information based on usability problem instances. Additionally, they show that appropriate tool support is a mechanism for further integrating usability engineering into the overall software development lifecycle; tool support addresses the documented need for more usability practitioners by helping novices perform more like experts. / Ph. D.

Laboratory usability tests can be a rich source of usability information for software design, but are expensive to run and involve time-consuming data analysis. Expert review of software is cheaper, but highly dependent on the experience of the expert. Techniques are needed that maintain user involvement while reducing both the cost of user involvement and the time required to analyze data. The User Action Framework (UAF) is a classification scheme for usability problems that facilitates data analysis and reusability of information learned from one project to another, but is also reliant on expert interpretation of usability data, and classification can be difficult when user-supplied problem descriptions are incomplete. This study explored end-user classification of self-reported critical incidents (usability issues) using the UAF, a technique that was hoped to reduce expert interpretation of usability problems. It also explored end-user critical incident reporting from a usability session recording, rather than reporting incidents as soon as they occur, a technique that could be used in future studies to compare effectiveness of usability methods. Results indicate that users are not good at diagnosing their own critical incidents due to the level of detail required for proper classification, although observations suggest that users were able to provide usability information that would not have been captured by an expert observer. The recording technique was successful, and is recommended for future studies to further explore differences in the kind of information that can be gathered from end-users and from experts during usability studies. / Master of Science

This study addresses a usability testing method and the development of a new testing procedure that includes eye-tracking. By correcting errors within the system before it reaches the end-user contributes to satisfied customers, high quality, and a useful system. Testing is all-important in identifying errors in the test procedure to be sure to capture issues in the system being tested. The aim of the thesis is to analyze and examine the testing methods used in the company and present how the development of a new testing method should be suitable for the company. The traditional testing method is compared with a new testing method that includes eye-tracking. The empirical material was generated by usability testing. Other methods such as background questionnaire, observation, interview, review thinking-aloud, and pilot test were also used. In the conclusion of the study, it was found that the traditional testing method met the criteria of how a usability test should be conducted. Another conclusion was that the new testing method helps to clearly see and identify usability problems that may be present in a system. / Denna studie behandlar en testmetod för användbarhet och vikten av att ta fram en ny utvecklad testmetod med hjälp av eye-tracking. Genom att korrigera fel inom systemet innan det når fram till slutanvändaren bidrar nöjda kunder, hög kvalitet och ett användbart system. Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera och utreda testmetoder som används i företaget samt kartlägga hur utvecklingen av en ny testmetod ska vara passande till verksamheten. Detta jämför jag med den nuvarande testmetoden med implementering av eye-tracking. Uppsatsens undersökningsfrågor är således: Hur kan företagets nuvarande testmetod förbättras? Hur lätt är det för företaget att använda den nya testmetoden? Är den nya testmetoden mer användbar för företaget jämfört med deras nuvarande metod? Det empiriska materialet har framställts genom användbarhetstester. Även andra metoder, såsom bakgrundsenkät, observation, intervju, retrospektiv granskning och pilottest har använts. I studiens slutsats har det framkommit att den nuvarande testmetoden uppnår kriterier på hur en användbarhetstest ska genomföras. Ytterligare slutsats har varit att den nya testmetoden bidrar med att tydligt se och identifiera användbarhetsproblem som kan finnas i ett system.

Implementering av digitala vårdlösningar har en stor betydelse för samhället men anses också vara en stor utmaning för vårdpersonalen. Syftet med studien är att undersöka eventuella användarbarhetsproblem och teknikstress som kan upplevas bland vårdpersonalen i Arvika och Eda kommun då SecureMailbox ersätter deras nuvarande meddelandetjänst faxen. Ytterligare ett syfte är att samla in rekommendationer utifrån vårdpersonalens upplevelse av systemet. Uppsatsens undersökningsfrågor är således Hur lätt upplever användarna att det var att börja använda systemet?, Vilka är användbarhetsproblemen som finns i SecureMailbox? samt När vårdpersonalen använder gränssnittet, när och var uppstår eventuell teknikstress? Uppsatsens teoretiska referensram är baserad på tidigare studier och litteratur vilka behandlar informations- och kommunikationsteknik i samband med e-hälsa, användbarhet i relation till digitala lösningar inom vården och teknikstress kopplat till detta. Det empiriska materialet har framställts genom användbarhetstester. Även andra metoder, såsom enkät, bakgrundsenkät, observation, intervju, tänka högt och pilottest har använts. De empiriska källorna utgjordes av vårdpersonal som berörs av ersättandet av faxen genom SecureMailbox i Arvika och Eda kommun. I studiens slutsats har det framkommit att upplevelsen av systemets användbarhet är överlag positiv men att identifierade problem gör att vårdpersonalen inte klarade att utföra några av de tilldelade uppgifterna. Utöver detta visar studien att teknikstress uppstod när vårdpersonalen saknade tillräckligt med kunskap för att utföra sina uppgifter. / Implementation of digital healthcare solutions is of great importance in society, but is also considered a major challenge for healthcare professionals. The purpose of the study is to investigate usability problems and technology stress that can be experienced by the healthcare professionals in Arvika and Eda municipality as SecureMailbox replaces their current messaging service, the fax. An additional purpose is to collect recommendations based on the experience of the healthcare professionals of the system. The research questions in this bachelor thesis are thus: How easy do users feel that it was to start using the system?, What are the usability problems found in SecureMailbox? as well as When the healthcare staff uses the interface. when and where does the technology stress occur?. The thesis’s theoretical frame of reference is based on previous studies and literature dealing with information and communication technology in connection with e-health, also usefulness in relation to digital solutions in healthcare and technology stress linked to this is presented. The empirical material has been produced through usability tests. Other methods, such as survey, background questionnaire, observation, interview, think aloud and pilot test have been used. The empirical sources consisted of healthcare personnel who are affected by the replacement of the fax through SecureMailbox in Arvika and Eda municipality. The study's conclusion is that the experience of usability is generally positive but that problems identified in this study are the cause for the health care professionals not being able to perform some of the assigned tasks. In addition, the study shows that technostress occurred when the healthcare professionals lacked sufficient knowledge to carry out their tasks.

This study investigates the Usability of the podcast service User Interface (UI) of the iOS app Aftonbladet. The method used originates from a heuristic evaluation technique where semi- structured interviews were conducted with users of the podcast service to explore the usability and to find usability problems. The conducted interviews determined that there existed usability problems with the UI and thus, usability heuristics have been violated in the UI.   Nielsen’s Ten Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design and Nielsen’s Severity Ratings for Usability Problems are applied to the interview answers for evaluating the usability of the podcast service UI.   The heuristics that are interpreted as being of critical importance are:   Heuristic 3. User Control and Freedom  Heuristic 4. Consistency and Standards  Heuristic 5. Error Prevention  Heuristic 6. Recognition rather than Recall  Heuristic 7. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use  Heuristic 8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design  Heuristic 10. Help and Documentation    Three out of the ten heuristics were not of critical importance:    Heuristic 1. Visibility of System Status  Heuristic 2. Match Between System and Real World  Heuristic 9. Help Users Recognize, Recover and Diagnose from Errors

Availability of internet to a wide audiences has revolutionized how business is performed. Businesses now use e-commerce to trade products and services. The growth of e-commerce has been dramatically rapid among developed countries. Therefore, the adoption of e-commerce platforms is studied in these countries. Meanwhile less attentions has been given to developing countries. Developing countries can take advantage of lessons learned in the developed countries. One of the major success factors of e-commerce platforms in developed countries is improving the usability of e-commerce platform by considering user’s preferences. User preferences can be defined as feelings and attitudes of users for the interface and functional design of the ecommerce platform. This influences user’s decision and behavior. Considering the users preferences within an e-commerce platform enhances user’s satisfaction and increases user’s loyalty to the platform. To evaluate the user preferences a selection of usability factors are usually studied. Avicenna Research Institute (ARI) is currently considering the development of an e-commerce platform. For this ARI is investigating ways to consider users preferences in the design. This study aims to satisfy this goal. In this study previous research are analyzed, user’s preferences are identified, common used e-commerce platforms are investigated, and ARI’s perspective is included in the analysis. Using these information a set of recommendations on how to improve the usability of an e-commerce platform is given. For this task based approaches are used in form of participatory heuristic evaluation and observations. Interview is used to obtain ARI’s perspective on usability. The study has identified ten usability factors affecting the usability of the e-commerce platform based on user’s preferences. These include consistency, learnability, navigability, simplicity, readability, content relevance, supportability, interactivity, credibility, and telepresence. In addition a set of eighty evaluation criteria are presented to evaluate these factors. Using a qualitative approach, the study has analyzed all these factors in a multiple-case study. The analysis includes input from the users in form of observations, comments and questionnaire. This is combined with input from ARI in form of interviews. Finally the study concludes by providing a path for future research.