The goal of this research was to conduct a usability study on Digital Innovation’s
(DISA) South African Music Archive Project (SAMAP) website. In order to achieve
this goal, it was very important to first (1) understand more fully the expectations of
potential users and then (2) to identify any mismatches between the proposed Dublin
Core system and users’ search techniques. Many researchers have pointed out that
a system that is not easy to use, does not match user requirements, and ignores
usability studies is likely to fail (Pearrow, 2000; del Galdo & Nielsen, 1996;
Shneiderman & Plaisant, 2005; Kuniavsky, 2003).
This study was conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College
Campus in Durban, South Africa. A qualitative research method was chosen for this
study within an eclectic-mixed methods-pragmatic paradigm which favours multiple
data collection research instruments to collect data. Data collected was mostly of a
qualitative nature and has been interrogated using NVivo™. The patterns that
emerged out of this study will establish a better understanding of multi-disciplinary
online music archives and website designs. A discussion of the findings and
recommendations are presented in the final chapter of this dissertation, but
essentially the study demonstrates the need to more fully understand user
requirements before development takes place. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/5687 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Kutumela, Lesiba. |
| Contributors | Murrell, Katharine. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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