Establishing metrics for the evaluation of touch screen kiosks

Abstract

Public touch screen information systems or kiosks have become a popular way of delivering consumer information and much of the user activity is automatically recorded in electronic log files. Fortunately for the information professional, log files are a significant source for understanding the information seeking behaviour of consumers., Surprisingly, however, there has been no discussion in the literature on what metrics are available for their evaluation. This paper seeks to address this problem and examines the metrics that can be generated from touch screen kiosk logs. The research reported here forms part of a Department of Health funded study, which is evaluating the use and impact of 70 health kiosks located in medical and other locations throughout the UK [1]. The way that kiosks function and the contents of their log files are described. Metrics are discussed in the context of the data generated from a touch screen health kiosk in Wakefield. Aggregate use, user numbers and descriptive statistics generated on age, gender and pages viewed are examined. An examination of the distribution of time-based variables, such as session time, found them to be highly skewed; in consequence, robust estimates were generated and compared. A metric for depth of session was developed by grouping users according to their patterns of use and a method for assessing kiosk ‘utilisation’ is proposed.