a set of evaluation techniques that are an evolution from prior function and code inspection methods used in software engineering for debugging and improving code. Evaluators examine usability related aspects of an application, trying to detect violations of established usability principles (Nielsen & Mack, 1994), and then provide feedback to designers about possible design improvements.
Published in Chapter:
The Usability Dimension in the Development of Web Applications
Maristella Matera (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), Francesca Rizzo (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), Rebeca Cortázar (University of Deusto, Spain), and Asier Perallos (University of Deusto, Spain)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-847-5.ch014
Abstract
Given the emergent need for usability, during last year’s traditional development processes have been extended for enabling the fulfillment of usability requirements. Usability Evaluation Methods (UEMs) have been therefore proposed at any stage of the development process, to verify the usability of incremental design artifacts, as well as of the final product. This chapter surveys the most emergent UEMs, to be adopted during the whole lifecycle of Web information systems for promoting usability. For each evaluation method, the main features, as well as the emerging advantages and drawbacks are illustrated. Some future trends, related to the need of evaluating the usability of UEMs are also discussed.