USABILITY EVALUATION

Usability Evaluation



Usability Evaluation

Introduction

Several usability studies have been conducted in order to evaluate different security tools and security features in other applications. In some cases the articles describing these studies have even suggested improvements to the studied applications and tools. However, solutions that could be applied to a wide range of applications would be more beneficial for user interface (UI) designers and software developers. Therefore this paper concentrates on presenting common usability issues and solutions that could be used in several everyday applications. The impacts these solutions have on efficiency of use and user satisfaction are also considered.

Methodology

Based on the findings presented above it was decided to test the extent to which integrating security features with user goals and increasing the visibility of the features would affect their usability in everyday applications. In order to limit problems arising from general unfamiliarity, it was decided to base the study upon an application that was likely to be broadly familiar to participants. In addition, it was considered desirable to select a context in which security was available but not necessarily a main priority for users (i.e. such that they would not be inclined to make significant effort to employ it if they were hindered by the usability). From these criteria, Microsoft Word 2007 was selected as the basis for evaluation. Given that the presentation of security features within this application have previously been critiqued in earlier work from Furnell (2007), selecting the application for use in this study also provided an opportunity to address some of the concerns. In order to do this the UI regarding these features was modified with a Word 2007 add-in.

Usability tests

Ten users participated in the practical tests. Three of the participants rated themselvesas advanced IT users and the rest regarded themselves as intermediate users. All participants used ...