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Experienced paediatric cochlear implant users showed a significant improvement in speech perception in listening in noise when upgraded to the Nucleus 6 sound processor primarily due to the introduction of a noise reduction technology, and all children accepted the default program. These findings suggest that school-aged children may benefit from upgrading to the Nucleus 6 sound processor using the default program.

Among the variety of heuristics evaluation methods available, four paramount approaches have emerged: Nielsen's ten usability heuristics, Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design, Tognazzini's First Principles of Interaction Design, and a set of principles based on Edward Tufte's visual display work. To simplify access to a comprehensive set of heuristics, this paper describes an approach to integrate existing approaches (i.e., identify overlap, combine conceptually related heuristics) in a single table hereafter referred to as the Multiple Heuristics Evaluation Table (MHET). This approach also seeks to update these approaches by addressing existing gaps and providing concrete examples that illustrate the application of concepts. Furthermore, the authors identify three decision factors that support meaningful communication among stakeholders (e.g., product managers, engineers) and apply them to the MHET heuristics. Finally, this paper discusses the practical implications and limitations of the MHET.

Abstract. Usability evaluation has received extensive attention in both academic and applied arenas. Despite this, there have been few formal attempts to integrate past research and best practices in an effort to develop a newly updated and adaptable approach. This poster provides an overview of the types of results yielded by a novel usability assessment approach (i.e., Experienced-based Questionnaire for Usability Assessments Targeting Elaborations [EQUATE]) when applied to a post mission reporting tool. The goal of this study was to develop software to automate performance tracking for anti-submarine aircraft, digitize performance and training information, and automate the display of post mission summaries. Although some of these technologies exist, the prototype tested during this research was the first, of which the authors are aware, to provide a single point of access for data entry, analysis and reporting. Due to the potential benefits across a variety of naval aviation platforms, the program's usability goals focused on identifying means to optimize the tool by gathering novice user feedback. Traditional methods for end-user feedback have tended to focus on user performance and satisfaction, rather than providing prescriptive inputs to identifying and rectifying issues. The results of this study provided usability input for post mission reporting, as well as identified and narrowed the heuristic dimensions used for final validation.

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