Supporting problem identification in usability evaluations

Abstract

Identification of usability problems is a key element in a usability evaluation of an interactive system. This paper presents and discusses results from an empirical study of problem identification. The study includes an experiment, where it was examined to what extent a conceptual tool can support problem identification in a usability evaluation. A group of novice evaluators was divided into two, and one of the groups received a conceptual tool and a related presentation of ideas and examples. Both groups conducted a usability evaluation based on the same recording of a user applying a web-based system to solve a series of tasks. It is concluded that the conceptual tool and training in using the tool improve the problem identification performance of a group of inexperienced usability evaluators.