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Usability concerns in GIS development for a wider user-base : A qualitative usability research in Swedish municipal infrastructure

We now live in a society where communicating is done mostly through computer-technology based mediums. In Swedish municipal infrastructure a lot of the communication-data consists of geospatial data-collections. This data is generated with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) which usage in Sweden has increased rapidly. This has lead to a competition between developers in designing their systems for a wider user-base. A transition between designs that has its focus on a small target group and designs intended for a wide range of different users puts the developers in a challenge where usability is one of the big concerns. In this thesis we, have adopted a qualitative research approach with contextual observations and usability testing, in order to identify the crucial usability concerns when designing GIS for a wider user-base. Results show that the most crucial usability concerns are related to system feedback and the GIS not being compatible with other GIS data formats. The research has been concentrated within municipalities in Sweden and results presented in this thesis are rough, but true indications. More research is needed to get detailed accuracy of the usability concerns. We hope that this thesis will aid developers of GIS in their design-phase and to be part of a foundation to future GIS-standards.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:bth-2269
Date January 2008
CreatorsSvanberg, Daniel, Winkvist, Fredrik
PublisherBlekinge Tekniska Högskola, Avdelningen för för interaktion och systemdesign, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Avdelningen för för interaktion och systemdesign
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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