Benchmarking the Usability and Content Usefulness of Web Sites: Developing a Structured Evaluation Framework

Abstract

Although the benchmarking technique has been widely used in various aspects of organizations and businesses, there is no clear framework on how the technique can be applied for Web evaluation. This article presents a framework for measuring the usability and content usefulness of Web sites by using the benchmarking approach. It describes the purpose of evaluation, metrics to be used and processes through which Web benchmarking can be performed. Several methods were used in the development of the framework, which include content analysis of literature and expert review. A total of 46 criteria were identified to be used as the benchmarking metrics. The framework was tested for its applicability by evaluating four political Web sites in Malaysia. The results proved that the framework is easy to follow and implement, and would be particularly useful for those who intend to benchmark the overall usability and content usefulness of Web sites against competitors.