Integrating Usability into use Cases: An Empirical Study of User-Centered Object Orientation

Abstract

Usability concerns for a planned web-based decision-support application were gathered through a survey of potential end users and then integrated into two sets of object-oriented specifications: the function-oriented and the use-case specifications. Correspondingly, software developers (N=6) as paid subjects participated in a two-condition between-subjects experiment: the function-oriented condition (N=3) vs the use-case condition (N=3). Each developer was instructed to implement the web-based decision-support application that complies with the given specifications. Developers' performance and preferences for using the given specifications were examined. Analysis of the six developed web applications indicates that user interface architecture is markedly influenced by the “orientation” of the specifications. Given a list of system functionalities, the three developers constructed three web applications in a way of mainly presenting the relevant information; whereas the three developers in the use-case condition programmed advanced interactive and adaptive user interface features to visualize the given use cases. The present laboratory study together with a usability test (in process) provides empirical support for applying the proposed integrated interface design methodology as a value-added design approach to better programming performance and improved user interface usability.