Archives: JUS

Abstract A usability assessment entailing a paper prototype was conducted to examine menu selection theories on a small screen device by determining the effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction of a popular cellular phone’s menu system. Outcomes of this study suggest that users prefer a less extensive menu structure on a small screen device. The investigation also covered factors of category classification and item labeling influencing user performance in menu selection. Research findings suggest that proper modifications in these areas could significantly enhance the system’s usability and demonstrate the validity of paper-prototyping which is capable of detecting significant differences in usability measures among various model designs. Practitioner’s Take Away The effect of breadth/depth tradeoffs in navigation is much more obvious and …

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Abstract Knowledge gained from usability testing is often applied merely to the immediate product under test and then forgotten—at least at an organizational level. This article describes a usability knowledge management system (KMS) based on principles of pattern language and use-case writing that offers a way to turn lessons learned from usability testing into organizational knowledge that can be leveraged across different projects and different design teams. Practitioner’s Take Away Usability Knowledge Management System does not have to be complicated; it just has to be useful for informing design decisions. Patterns are a practical way to abstract usability findings so they can be generalized across other projects and other teams. Use-case and scenario names can provide useful metadata structures for …

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Welcome to the second issue of the Journal of Usability Studies. In this issue: The issue of cultural issues and their impact on product design and usability have been occupying Aaron Marcus’s mind for a while. Here, in his invited essay “Culture: Wanted? Alive or Dead?” he is suggesting that, in spite of the great significance of those issues, we barely began to unravel the potential implications of cultural differences on design and usability. Computer games, single and multi-user, local and on the internet, become pervasive and important in many domains: entertainment, edutainment, training, and strategy making. The first article, “Do usability expert evaluation and test provide novel and useful data for game development?” by Sauli Laitinen addresses some basic …

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Abstract A usability study was conducted to identify usability problems as well as recommendations for improvement for three travel sales websites. The study performed testing on twenty participants, between the ages of 19 and 65, recruited from the university campus consisting of students, faculty, and staff. The three websites tested were Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Travelocity.com. Each participant was given general instructions and a pre-survey to determine their demographics and level of Internet experience. The usability study tested participants on the task of finding the same itinerary on each travel website. The participant during testing was under observation of the experimenter that maintained an observation log. A post-survey along with a debriefing session was conducted to gather additional feedback. The average …

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Abstract Many usability practitioners conduct most of their usability evaluations to improve a product during its design and development. We call these "formative" evaluations to distinguish them from "summative" (validation) usability tests at the end of development. A standard for reporting summative usability test results has been adopted by international standards organizations. But that standard is not intended for the broader range of techniques and business contexts in formative work. This paper reports on a new industry project to identify best practices in reports of formative usability evaluations. The initial work focused on gathering examples of reports used in a variety of business contexts. We define elements in these reports and present some early guidelines on making design decisions for …

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