Usability Science. I: Foundations

Abstract

In this article, we describe and analyze the emergence of a scientific discipline, usability science, which bridges basic research in cognition and perception and the design of usable technology. An analogy between usability science and medical science (which bridges basic biological science and medical practice) is discussed, with lessons drawn from the way in which medical practice translates practical problems into basic research and fosters technology transfer from research to technology. The similarities and differences of usability science to selected applied and basic research disciplines-human factors and human-computer interaction (HCI) is also described. The underlying philosophical differences between basic cognitive research and usability science are described as Wundtian structuralism versus Jamesian pragmatism. Finally, issues that usability science is likely to continue to address-presentation of information, user navigation, interaction, learning, and methods-are described with selective reviews of work in graph reading, controlled movement, and method development and validation.

A model-based framework for classifying and diagnosing usability problems

“…-A lack of a sound theoretical framework to explain the phenomena observed -A lack of a set of empirically based and widely accepted criteria for defining usability problems -A lack of a standard approach to estimating values of key usability test parameters -A lack of effective strategies to manage systematically the user/evaluator effect -A lack of a thoroughly validated defect classification system for analyzing usability problems -A lack of widely applicable guidelines for selecting tasks for a scenario-based usability evaluation -A lack of a sophisticated statistical model to represent the relationships between usability and other quality attributes like reliability -A lack of a clear understanding about the role of culture in usability evaluation These problems seem to come from the fact that many of the usability studies have been oriented to resolve practical issues without paying much attention to the development of a well-grounded scientific and methodological basis that can bridge theoretical concepts about the interaction between users and systems and the development of usable IT systems (Gillan and Bias, 2001;Hornbaek 2006;Law 2004). From the list of these problems, we can understand how important it is to classify usability problems systematically and connect them to design process and activities in order to improve the usability of IT systems.…”

“…It emphasizes that usability factors should be clearly specified from the very early stage, and that usability should be a central concept of the development process. All of usability engineering activities should be coherently organized and connected to other development activities (Gillan and Bias 2001;Artman and Zällh 2005;Lin et al 2009). A critical activity to accomplish this is to classify usability problems in a systematic way and diagnose them in connection with design process and activities (Card 1998;Hassenzahl 2000;Howarth et al 2007;Vermeeren et al 2008;Bekker et al 2008).…”

Primacy of memory linkage in choice among valued objects

“…In his original classic work on the relations between objects and psychological processes, Norman (1988) pointed to the emphasis (indeed, overemphasis) by objects' designers on their appearances, as opposed to their uses. Since then, the issue of object usability has indeed been widely explored, especially in the area of human-computer interaction (e.g., Barnum, 2002;Gillan & Bias, 2001). Norman (2004) has argued, however, that it is essential to construct not a dichotomy but a trichotomy of objects and associated psychological processes.…”

The Role of Usability in Business-to-Business E-Commerce Systems: Predictors and Its Impact on User's Strain and Commercial Transactions

“…Usability: Concept, Antecedences, and Consequences. The concept of usability derives from the interdisciplinary field of Human-Computer Interaction [5,17,18] and has been defined as "extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use." Effectiveness describes the degree of accuracy and completeness to which the user is able to reach his task with an application.…”

“…Thus, an application can only work efficiently if it can be used effectively. Satisfaction accounts for users' acceptance and evaluation of an application [17].…”