Multi-Language Toolkit for the System Usability Scale

Abstract

The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a widely used instrument that measures the subjective usability of products and systems. Although past research has demonstrated the psychometric reliability and criterion-related validity of the SUS in specific languages, the approach and methodology of validating the translations has been somewhat inconsistent. This paper addresses this issue by systematically translating and validating the SUS across multiple languages. Native speakers of Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, and Spanish evaluated five common everyday products using the translated SUS. Evidence of consistent scale reliability and validity was found in the Chinese, French, German and Spanish SUS, with Cronbach’s alpha often greater than .80, as well as large statistically significant correlations between the SUS and a one-item adjective rating self-report of overall usability (r =.54-.74). Validity of the SUS across languages was also demonstrated by finding reliable differences in mean SUS scores between products. Overall, these translated SUS measures can be used with confidence in practice to measure the usability of everyday products and systems.