Date of Award

1992

Degree Name

M.A. in Psychology

Abstract

This study examined the effects of usability testing techniques of task structure, evaluator intervention and user experience on the subjective evaluation of software usability. Twenty three (23) experienced word processing software users and 23 novices participated in 2 two-hour sessions. In the first session, users learned to use a word processing software package. In the second session, users performed tasks using the software, and afterwards completed a usability questionnaire. During the sessions, half of the users participated in a structured testing scenario (Standard Laboratory), and the others in a loosely structured scenario (Guided Exploration). For one half of the users in each structure condition, an evaluator intervened when difficulties were observed; whereas, for the other half, no intervention occurred. The major finding was that there was an interaction of evaluator intervention and user experience for ease-of-use of difficult word processing features, ease of learning, overall evaluation, and user confidence. Experienced users gave significantly higher ratings under non-intervention than under intervention. Ratings of novice users, however, were in the opposite direction but not significant. The interaction seems to be rooted in users' frame of reference. Novices have little or no experience, and thus, attribute their difficulties to their own lack of experience. Whereas, experienced users base their comparison on prior experiences. The results indicate that testing techniques affect users' perceptions significantly. Also, the results suggest that user experience level plays an important role in users' evaluation of software usability.

Keywords

Computer software Human factors, Human-computer interaction, Task analysis

Rights Statement

Copyright © 1992, author

Download

Share

COinS