HCI Design Project Usability Evaluation Plan - Research Paper Example

Project Usability Evaluation Plan Version mm/dd/yyyy Version: x.xx . Prepared for: Project Manager Project Manager Department Prepared by: Document Author’s Name, Title Document Author’s Department Revisions Version Primary Author(s) Description of Version Date Completed Initial Draft Student Name Initial draft of the usability evaluation plan 30/3/2015 First Draft Student Name First draft that incorporates the initial review meeting comments, distributed for final review. TBD Final 1.0 Student Name First complete draft, which is submitted for final review TBD Revision 1 TBD Revised draft, revised according to the change control process and maintained under change control TBD Revision 2 TBD Revised draft, revised according to the change control process and maintained under change control TBD Contents Revisions i Contents ii 1 Introduction 1 2 Usability Evaluation Considerations 5 3 Architecture 8 4 User Interface Design and Test Specification 10 References 16 1 Introduction The usability evaluation plan is a follow up on the project description and elaboration of the design interface. Included within this usability plan are evaluation plans for the heuristic evaluation, usability testing and the cognitive walk through. This document is to be used by the software designers to meet each milestone and deliver reliable and efficient software to meet the user needs. 1.1 System Overview The software system will be a sales system for an online based business enterprise similar to eBay and Amazon. The system’s goals is to simplify the customer’s experience as well as the employees productivity by providing tools to ease the acquisition of the desired products that would otherwise be done manually and collected physically. By doing so the system would offer the customers an exciting and convenient shopping experience while at the same time simplifying the work of the respective employees. More specifically, the system allows the customer to maintain and manage their own shopping list and their payment methods more efficiently. A client can simply make purchases from the comfort of his or her home and use their credit card to make payment. Goods are delivered once the payment has been verified by the accounts department. The system also helps the inventory clerks to maintain accurate inventory of all items available. Communication with the client and the company will be done via the online platform and through the email provided by the customer. Fill in forms and selection panes are used through each stage of product cycle from inventory to purchase. The customer also provides their details through fill in forms and makes selection of products to purchase through the selection panels. Most importantly, the system contains a relational database where the product details and the customer details are stored. 1.2 Design Usability Goals The main goal of the design usability is to meet the needs of the user in terms of interface use. Most users have different needs and preference when it comes to the use of the interface. The primary objective of the user interface design is to ensure that the interface serves its purpose in a user friendly manner. In evaluating the usability of a user interface the main goals of evaluation is to streamline the processes and workflows of an interface to meet the needs of the users. 1.3 Usability Evaluation Map Section Contents Description Section 1 Revision Provides details of document history, the drafts, and revisions to the final draft. Section 2 Introduction Introduction section provides an introduction to the document by explaining the purpose of the document, providing design map and references, and a brief overview of each section within the document. Section 3 Usability Evaluation considerations This section describes issues that need to be addressed or resolved prior to or while completing the usability evaluation as well as issues that may influence the usability evaluation process. Section 4 Architecture The architecture provides the top level design view of a system and provides a basis for more detailed design work. These are the top level components of the system we are building and their relationships. Section 5 User interface design and Specifications This section provides user interface design descriptions that directly support construction of user interface screens and identifies potential problem areas that are of concern for the usability test. 1.4 Supporting Materials References Sales management system –SRP-001: the software Design specification document. 1.5 Definitions and Acronyms This section provides a comprehensive list of terms that are used in the document in relation to the user interface. User : A  person  who  can  interact  with  the  software   can  be  an  employee  or  end  user  (customer). Interface: a platform particularly the front end that creates the interaction between the user and the system. FrontEnd: The interface that is used by the customer and the employees to carry out their activities in the system. Backend: contains the database storing the users data and the inventory. Inventory : A  detailed  list  of  goods  and  materials  that  are  in  stock. Database (DB): An organized (structured) body of related information. . 2 Usability Evaluation Considerations This section describes issues that need to be addressed or resolved prior to or while completing the usability evaluation as well as issues that may influence the usability evaluation process. 2.1 Assumptions The system consist of a user interface that relies on a database that must be linked together to provide a complete system. The interface is designed to operate on a graphical user interface platform such as Microsoft Visual Studio. The integration between the database and the user interface will come at a later stage hence; this may result in few changes to the usability evaluation plan. It is assumed that the users of the system have some computing knowledge and skills to allow them to use the interface. On the other hand, setbacks are expected in the usability evaluation process that may eventually result in slight changes to the usability evaluation plan. 2.2 Constraints The system operates on any windows platform since the interface is developed using Microsoft Visual studio. The back end is a relational database developed on Microsoft office Access. Consequently, it may be a challenge to run the GUI on other platforms that are not Microsoft based. Users must also have some computing knowledge to use the software. The system does not have any specific hardware requirements on the user’s side. The system will run on any hardware platform. However, on the company’s side, the storage requirements will be high to be able to store the huge backend database. 2.3 Usability Evaluation Methodology The usability evaluation will employ two criteria; usability testing and Heuristic evaluation. The usability testing will involve employment of users to test the effectiveness of the interface before it is released for final use. The two criteria will be effectively and easily achieved by using questionnaires. The best methodology to achieve the desired goals of the evaluation is the use of the system Usability Scale. According to Jeff Sauro the following items will be included in the questionnaire; 1. I think that I would like to use this system frequently. 2. I found the system unnecessarily complex. 3. I thought the system was easy to use. 4. I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this system. 5. I found the various functions in this system were well integrated. 6. I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system. 7. I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly. 8. I found the system very cumbersome to use. 9. I felt very confident using the system. 10. I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this system. The responses will be structured in the following format for each question in the questionnaire; To score the SUS, Jeff proposes a scoring method described below For odd items: subtract one from the user response For even-numbered items: subtract the user responses from 5 All values from 0 to 4 (with four being the most positive response) are scaled to 100 Add up the converted responses for each user and multiply that total by 2.5. This converts the range of possible values from 0 to 100 instead of from 0 to 40. This methodology is a valid and reliable way of ensuring that the results are collected and analyzed more accurately. 2.4 Risks and Volatile Areas N/A . 3 Architecture The architecture provides the top level design view of a system and provides a basis for more detailed design work. These are the top level components of the system you are building and their relationships. 3.1 Overview The system is structurally decomposed into three sections that include the sales, inventory and transaction. This decomposition is based on the nature of data and information needed for each subcomponent and the entities responsible for these components. The system is further decomposed into functional units that include client registration, definition of products, editing products, search product, make purchases, delivery and payment. Each function is completed by different entities in the system including the client, sales personnel, inventory clerk and the accountant. The products must be defined and details kept accurate, a client must register to avail the details that will be used for the final transaction. The software is developed on a windows platform where communication between users and the application is through a browser. 3.2 Rationale The architecture chosen is reliable and can easily be used by an end user with little computing knowledge. It is important to note that the interface is designed for the organization as well as the general public with diverse computing skills. The windows platform is common to most users and very easy to implement in the organization. 3.3 Component Details N/A 4 User Interface Design and Test Specification This section provides user interface design descriptions that directly support construction of user interface screens and identifies potential problem areas that are of concern for the usability test. 4.1 Application Control The user interface screens will have a blue theme with common controls for minimization, maximizing, and close buttons. The menu will have file, edit, and exit options to the left of the window. The main window will be made of various objects such as textboxes, labels, data grids among others to allow display and entering of data into the system. Each interface must have the company logo on the top right hand of the screen. 4.2 Screen 1: Splash screen The splash screen will be initiated once the program is launched. It mainly contains the company information including, Name, Logo, Vision, Mission and the contact details. It will also have a progress bar to indicate the progress while the system loads. The color will be light blue and covers half of the device display. Once the progress bar is complete (100%), the next window which is the login interface is loaded. 4.3 Screen 2: System Login The system login screen provides an interface through which all the users both the customer and the employees log in. The screen is blue in color with labels for user name and password, there is a textbox for entering the required credentials before clicking a command button that will login the user into the system 4.4 Screen 3: The Main Menu Once the user is logged in they are taken t the main menu from where they can choose the actions they wish to perform. The menu is organized in a vertical format where links to the various sections of the application is provided. These include; Customer Registration Product Definition Product Search Purchasing 4.5 Screen 4: Customer Registration The screen provides an interface through which the customer is registered through the web portal. The client provides their personal identification details, contact information and billing details. The information needed include customer_Name, Address, Phone_No, Email Address, City, Card_No among other details. Again the labels for these details are arranged vertically in a form and information is submitted by clicking the command button named Register. The information can also be edited or registration cancelled. Once information is submitted, the client is issued with an ID and data is stored in the database. 4.6 Screen 5: Product Definition Product definition is done by the inventory clerk who fills in a form with the product details. The form is designed similar to the customer registration form. The information is stored in the database. The details for product registration include; product name, description, category, price and a picture that is used in the product catalogue. 4.7 Screen 6: Product Search Product search is done by the customer. The screen provides a catalogue of products that include a brief description, the price and a picture of the product. They are arranged in categories and the customer can search the catalogue for their desired products. Once they have identified their products the client will be prompted to add these products to shopping list which will be displayed as a data grid. 4.8 Screen 7: Purchasing Here the items selected by the customer in the shopping list are billed to his/her credit card. The payment is done through a credit card or PayPal before the items are delivered to the client. 4.9 Screens Involved in the Usability Test All the screens in the user interface will be involved in the usability test. Specifically the screen flow is as follows: i. Screen 1: Splash Screen The concerns and problems likely to arise with regard to usability of this screen are the graphics and color. Additionally, the waiting time as the system loads could be a challenge to many users. ii. Screen 2: System Login The system login screen entails entering a username and password for users that have already been registered to use the system. It is common phenomenon that the users may forget their passwords and usernames. Consequently, the users will have problems logging in to the system. Another common usability challenge is use of Caps for password strings that could confuse the users. iii. Screen 3: The Main Menu The screen may not have major problems or concerns as it is straight forward and contains a launching pad to other sections of the programs. Here it is just a matter of click and go. iv. Screen 4: Customer Registration Customers are registered by filling in basic details in a form. Some may find it difficult to fill the forms particularly those with less details and those that are not sure about what is required. v. Screen 5: Product Definition Product definition is done by experienced staffs that have details of all products. However concerns will be inserting the right product image and description that is unique and captures all elements of the product. vi. Screen 6: Product Search The screen offers a catalogue of products available in the system for the customer to peruse through. The concern in this interface is the visibility of all products and their descriptions respectively. The interface is mainly made of pictures and small descriptions of products that could be confusing if not clearly differentiated. vii. Screen 7: Purchasing When purchasing the product credit card details are needed and other customer details to effect the transaction. This requires utmost confidentiality and customer authorization. Consequently, it is one of the most sensitive screens in the entire interface. Concerns include provision of security measures and accuracy to safeguard user credentials such as credit card number among others. 4.10 Test Scenario The usability test will involve various tasks in different screens of the user interface to enable us to determine the usability of the interface. Screen 1: Splash screen: This will be evaluated through observation of user’s behavior as the wait for the system to load. The observation is recorded based on the number of users irritated by the wait. The users will also be asked to state whether the wait time is long, short or average and how they felt about the wait. Screen 2: System Login Users will be requested to enter their respective user names and passwords to log in to the system. Here the number of failures will be recorded as well as successes. The users will be asked to change the passwords three times and later use the first password to gauge their ability to memorize their passwords. Screen 3: The main menu Since the interface has no major concerns, the users will be requested to provide feedback regarding the appearance and ease of navigating the main menu. Screen 4: Customer Registration Users are required to fill in the registration form and submit their details. The number of successful registrations is recorded and the time taken to fill out the forms is also recorded. Users will also record the experience they had while doing this exercise. Screen 5: Product definition Selected staff members will be required to define new products by entering the details into the screen. Again the number of successful definitions and the time taken to define the products is recorded. Screen 6: Product Search The product search is effected by the user. The product catalogue is displayed for their searches. Here the users are required to search for a particular number of products and their successful searches are recorded as well as the number of failures by different users of the interface. Users are also required to fill a questionnaire about their experience while using the interface to search for the products. Screen 7: purchases Users will be required to make purchases for the selected products and supply the dummy payment details to facilitate transaction. The users will also provide feedback regarding how the transactions are completed. References Heim, S. (2008). The Resonant Interface : HCI Foundations for Interaction Design. Carlifornia: Pearson/Addison Wesley. Sauro, J. (2011). Measuring usability with the system usability scale (SUS). Read More