Abstract
This paper aims to investigate the usefulness of three user testing methods (observation, and using both quantitative and qualitative data from a post-test questionnaire) in terms of their ability or inability to find specific usability problems on university websites. The results showed that observation was the best method, compared to the other two, in identifying large numbers of major and minor usability problems on university websites. The results also showed that employing qualitative data from a post-test questionnaire was a useful complementary method since this identified additional usability problems that were not identified by the observation method. However, the results showed that the quantitative data from the post-test questionnaire were inaccurate and ineffective in terms of identifying usability problems on such websites.
Highlights
The root of usability is in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), which is a broad field related to all the aspects and ways in which people interact with computers (Stone et al, 2005)
This research confirms the complementary value of two user testing evaluation methods: observation and qualitative data from the post-test questionnaires; each is capable of identifying usability problems which the other is unlikely to identify
This research provided empirical evidence regarding the inability of the quantitative data of the post-test questionnaire to complement the other methods and identify specific usability problems on university websites
Summary
The root of usability is in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), which is a broad field related to all the aspects and ways in which people interact with computers (Stone et al, 2005). Humans interact with computers through a user interface. The design of this user interface and, the usability of the interface is a core area in the field of HCI (Gray and Salzman, 1998). Nielsen (2003) stated that usability is not a single attribute; instead, usability is defined in terms of five characteristics: learnability, efficiency, memorability, errors and satisfaction. This definition indicates that usability is defined in terms of a set of attributes or design
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