E-commerce system quality assessment using a model based on ISO 9126 and Belief Networks

Abstract

As business transitions into the new economy, e-system successful use has become a strategic goal. Especially in business to consumer (e-commerce) applications, users highly evaluate the quality of their interactive shopping experience. However, quality is difficult to define and measure and most importantly, it is difficult to measure its impact on the end-user. Among the many research questions that arise, some of the most important concern the exact nature of the quality attributes that define an e-commerce system, and how one could model these attributes in order to increase its acceptance. Bearing in mind that e-commerce systems are actually user/data-intensive web-based software systems, this work performed a survey which resulted in a theoretical model that helps to measure such systems' dynamics through their decomposition into primary quality characteristics. The proposed model is based on Bayesian Networks and ISO 9126. Besides the emphasis on specific software quality attributes, it also provides a quality assessment process aiding developers to design and produce e-commerce systems of high quality. Using a Bayesian Network the model can be used to combine different types of evidences and provide reasoning from effect to cause and vice versa.