Applying a Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis Approach Based on User Preferences to Rank Usability Attributes in E-tourism Websites

Abstract

A user-centered approach in the development lifecycle of e- commerce websites is nowadays a crucial factor in the success of any on-line business. The purpose of this paper is twofold: a) to identify the factors that affect e-commerce website usability and b) to analyze the role of those factors in increasing the effectiveness of ecommerce web sites. Furthermore, it presents the application of a Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis (MUSA) method to rank usability attributes in websites based on their competitiveness importance. A case study in eight e-tourism web-sites is presented as a demonstration of this work, the outcome of which will help usability specialists and e-commerce website developers to determine specific usability attributes that are more crucial to the overall usability and user satisfaction of a website. The results of the proposed approach suggest that for each e-commerce website certain usability attributes are likely to be more crucial to the success of the ecommerce website than others. Therefore, identifying the relevant usability attributes in advance through customers' feedback can be a great advantage to website developers if they want to have an edge over other competitors.