Evaluating Usability of Serious Games for Therapeutic Purpose: A Study of ASAH-i

Abstract

Usability has been determined to be connected to achieving predetermined practical goals by identifying usability problems during the development cycle of a product or system. In order for the next and future versions of the systems to be enhanced and improved, usability flaws and errors must first be identified. On the same stroke, identifying flaws encountered by the end users will indirectly steer other developers from committing the same mistakes. This paper reveals findings from a usability assessment conducted on the serious game, which was developed for therapeutic purpose known as ASAH-i, which was custom-made to develop and encourage the perception and cognitive skills for children with speech and language delay (CSLD). Two groups of users were formed, namely, test group and control group. Twelve participants were selected which include six CSLD as participants for test group and another six normal children for the control group. In a controlled environment, observation and think-aloud methods were applied to analyse ASAH-i. The data gathered were then evaluated accordingly to the task success, time of the user assignment accomplishment, error rates, and satisfaction in regards to the utilisation of ASAH-i. The result proved that there is no profound disputes between the two corresponding groups, where almost all participants for both groups can play ASAH-i prototype effectively since no major usability issues were found. With regards to competency or efficiency, the result reveals that the control group can play ASAH-i prototype more competently and efficiently than the test group. However, it is interesting to note that both group members also succeeded to play ASAH-i with very little mistakes. This factor yields a strong base that provides towards the group members’ contentment and enjoyment, in which most group members in both teams were very much happy and satisfied with ASAH-i. With this fact in mind, we propose an endorsement or recommendation study which includes details and emphasises on future development to enhance the usability of ASAH-i.