Conference on Advances in

Usability Engineering
[ November 27 - 28, 2008 ]

Organized by
Department of Information Technology

Bansilal Ramnath Agarwal Charitable Trust’s

Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology,
Sr. no. 2/3/4, Kondhwa (Bk), Pune –411048
Ph: 91-20-26932300
www.viit.ac.in

VIIT CAUE-2008 i
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Vishwakarma Institute of Information
Technology, does not guarantee the accuracy
or completeness of any information
published here in.
Vishwakarma Institute of Information
Technology accept no responsibility for
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authors. Editorial board may or may not
agree with the matter printed inside.

Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology

Copyright © 2008, by Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology, Pune.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any

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Published by
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VIIT CAUE-2008 ii
 In association with

Gold sponsor

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Supported by

University of Pune

VIIT CAUE-2008 iii

VIIT CAUE-2008 iv
MESSAGE FROM DR. DO"ALD "ORMA" (BE"JAMI" FRA"KLI" LAUREATE)

GREETI"GS TO WORLD USABILITY DAY 2008, PU"E

We are all the beneficiaries of technology, whether for the home, work, or school. New water supplies, new
forms of medicine, new ways of learning and working. Even new ways of being entertained. The mobile
phone has revolutionized the way we keep in touch with families and friends and are essential to business.

But if we cannot understand these new technologies, they are of little use. In fact, they are of negative
value, for they cause anxiety, frustration, and even anger. The result may be disenchantment of all
technology, which also means the inability to benefit from the real advances technology can bring.

India is a powerful force in the development of modern technologies. Indian companies are major forces in
the world. Indians are often the leaders of modern technology companies. And India itself is a very
complex environment, with many different languages, cultures, and social infrastructures. For the world,
India provides a wonderful example both of the powerful potential and hope and of the massive difficulties
we face.

I am delighted that India plays a large role in “World usability day,” for with its large size and educated
citizens, India can lead the way for all countries. In India, with its different cultures, educational levels, and
languages, good design is essential if the benefits of technology are to reach everyone. Moreover, by
learning how best to serve its own citizens through technology, India will thereby lead the way for all
nations in the development of technology. The technology of the developed nations has become bloated
with needless features that raise the costs and frustrate people who try to use it. India is in a position to start
over again, to demonstrate that more value can be had by doing less, just as the Tata Nano car demonstrates
that one can have more with less.

I extend my greetings to all my colleagues in the effort to enhance people’s experiences with technology. I
am grateful to the Department of Information Technology at Vishwakarma Institute of Information
Technology (V.I.I.T.) for helping in the organization of World usability day and the full-fledged national
Conference on Advances in Usability Engineering (CAUE 2008): this is an extremely important
contribution.

VIIT CAUE-2008 v
So, to my many Indian friends, some now in India, some going to school I the United States, some residing
in the United States, I say "lead the way.” India will gain: the whole world will gain.

Don "orman
Professor, "orthwestern University
Co-Founder the "ielsen "orman group
Author of “The Design of Everyday Things,”
“Emotional Design and “Design of Future Things”
www.jnd.org

____________________________________________________________________

Brief Profile of Dr. Donald "orman

Don Norman is co-founder and a Principal of Nielsen Norman group. He is perhaps best known for his
many books on design theory, including the Design of Everyday Things, Emotional Design, and the Design
of Future Things. He is the Breed Professor of Design at Northwestern University, where he co-directs
MMM, the joint MBA-Engineering program in design and operations. He has received many awards,
including the CHI Lifetime Achievement Award, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Cognitive and Computer
Science, and two honorary degrees, one in design from Delft (Holland), and one in psychology from Padua
(Italy). He has been a VP of Apple Computer and an executive at HP.

VIIT CAUE-2008 vi
From Principal’s Desk

Advances in Information Technology have totally revolutionized the business concepts in all walks of life.
However, usability issues in our IT products and services need to be carefully reviewed, for minimizing
costs, while ensuring value to the users. The application of Information Technology is vital for the
country’s development for which dissemination of technical knowledge and the growth of education is a
prerequisite.

It is a matter of pride and satisfaction that on the auspicious occasion of World Usability Week, the
department of Information Technology of Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology, Pune, is
organizing the First National Conference on Advances in Usability Engineering on 27th and 28th Nov. 2008.

I hope that this conference will witness rich deliberations in support of its topic “Usability Engineering”. I
am fully confident that the confluence of experts in this field shall provide the right kind of direction to all
the interested in the field and shall come out with fruitful results and conclusions that are both meaningful
and implementable.

I would like to wish the conference all the success and hope that participants who have come from various
parts of the country would take back happy memories of their stay in the city and their interaction with
VIIT, Pune.

Prof. Dr. A.S.Tavildar

Principal, VIIT

VIIT CAUE-2008 vii

VIIT CAUE-2008 viii
Foreword
Our country has made a rapid progress in the area of development of advanced technology particularly
Information Technology. Technical education is one of the primary support structure for the growth and
development of any country. India is now entered a very challenging era of rapid industrialization. It is a
time to establish a perfect framework within which we must prepare ourselves to meet the global
challenges.

Department of Information Technology of VIIT is instrumental in organizing many workshops, seminars,

stort-term training programs. Department has an excellent repot with the industry with the help of which
this conference has been arranged this year. This is first paper based conference in the country in the area
of usability. On the occasion of World Usability Day, department has also organized a half day workshop
where photo essay competition, technical quiz and panel discussion is arranged. Majority of the IT
companies are helping us to make this event a grand success.

In view of such an ever growing field of usability, this conference is expected to bring out paradigm shift, a
total transformation of the mind set of all those involved in this field. The aim of the conference is provide
a forum for interaction and exchange of ideas among engineers, researchers and academicians who are
actively involved in this field. This helps them to go a long way in the development of various fields of
usability.

It is indeed a pride that industry experts have actively participated in this conference conducted by our
academic institution. We received excellent contributions from these experts, majority of which will be
presented in various conference sessions. The keynote address to all the sessions has been arranged by well
known industry experts, consultants and academicians in the area of usability. This will definitely benefit
all the delegates and participants. I am sure that their talks will enlighten in understanding the recent trends
and application area in usability engineering.

Finally I express my gratitude to the Principal Dr. A.S.Tavildar and all my management committee
members for their inspiration and support of all education and research activities at the institution and for
providing us with the physical and intellectual environment for having this prestigious national event.

I wish all success to the delegates, participants and all the members of various committees.

Prof. N.P.Pathak
Convener, CAUE-08
Assistant Professor & Head,
Department of Information Technology,
VIIT, Pune

VIIT CAUE-2008 ix
VIIT CAUE-2008 x
 Technical Overview
Conference on Advances in Usability Engineering (CAUE) 2008

Transition from informal gatherings to a formal conference

Usability practitioners in Pune have witnessed World Usability Day seminars during 2006 and 2007.
Learning from the experience of both these events, the need was felt to elevate its standard by adopting to a
typical conference format, with open invitation for research papers and peer review process for selection.
This approach is chosen so as to give a fair chance to beginners as well as experienced practitioners. This
dream has come true due to the initiative of Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology (VIIT) to
organize the national level Conference on Advances in Usability Engineering for our community. The bold
initiative of an academic institute like VIIT must be appreciated, as presently usability engineering is
gaining popularity mainly in the IT industry. Kudos to VIIT!

Gratitude to Dr. Donald "orman

This year’s World Usability Day at Pune has become very special due to CAUE. It has become even more
significant as both events are blessed by none other than Dr. Donald Norman, who was recently awarded
with Benjamin Franklin Medal for his seminal contributions to the knowledge of usability in everyday life.
I am very grateful to Dr. Norman for honouring my request and sending a very inspiring message for
usability practitioners in India on this momentous occasion.

Response to call for papers

Call for papers announced for CAUE has received 50 papers all together. We received about 22 research
papers from usability practitioners (44%), 15 papers from faculty members (30%) and 13 papers from
students (26%). The review committee has shown sufficient leniency in order to encourage the paper
authors and selected 28 papers for inclusion in the conference proceedings.

Response from Information Technology Industry

It is obvious that usability engineering is gaining greater support from IT industry, whereas educational
institutes are still catching up with the demands of industry. Usability practitioners from IT Service
companies have contributed large number of papers if compared with the contributions from product
companies.

Response from Academia

We received 28 papers from academia (15 papers from faculty members and 13 papers from students),
mainly from engineering and design institutes. We had expected more contributions from the faculty
members of newly established design institutes. Out of the papers received from faculty members, very few
of them directly focused on the theme of usability engineering and human-computer interaction. We were
unable to select some papers as they focused on different aspects of computing and not on the conference
theme. It is evident that more awareness about usability needs to be created in the academia.

We had specifically announced a thematic track on HCI in Education with the objective of understanding
the experience of faculty members from engineering and design institutes. We wanted to bring up the
challenges faced by them in teaching usability engineering and human-computer interaction. But
unfortunately, no papers are received on this theme. Presently, we can observe significant participation
from engineering and design departments. But this isn’t enough. People from humanities (psychology,
social science, linguistics, etc.) should also get involved in advancing the usability research.

13 papers are received from students of design and engineering institutes. The papers submitted by design
students have focused on specific experimentation involving users, assessment of user interface
technologies and product design. In future, we would like to receive more papers from the students of
engineering and humanities.

VIIT CAUE-2008 xi
Thematic distribution of papers
We have broadly defined 6 thematic tracks for papers namely-
• Offshore Usability
• Usability for Bridging the Digital Divide
• Usability Engineering
• User Experience Design for New Media
• User Experience Research
• HCI in Education

Although these themes are not very tightly bound, we found that most papers could fit under the themes of
Usability Engineering, User Experience Design for New Media and User Experience Research. India
enjoys a very significant share in offshore IT market. But we received very few papers on this theme. More
serious experimentations are necessary to identify the difficulties and possible solutions for usability in
offshore settings. We received no papers on the theme of HCI in Education. Experts specializing in
different areas are invited to speak at the conference to cover the themes where few papers or no papers are
received.

Technical diversity
The research papers have covered various aspects of usability related to wide ranging applications such as
m-commerce, e-governance, business portals, etc. Many papers have also focused on accessibility
interfaces that cover search engine optimization, menus for font selection, mobile interface for low literate,
home page design strategies, etc. Sufficient coverage to user interface guidelines, user centred design case
studies, evaluation of usability methods and standards is also ensured. Papers on Web 2.0, multi-touch
technology for mobile and object oriented system architecture offer technical insights of usability.
Motivational, persuasive and user driven approaches to design are also featured. Some unusual topics
related to factors affecting the performance of call centres and design of portable X-Ray system are helpful
in expanding the horizon of usability. Topics that elaborate process and methods like user experience
design strategies and design management are also included.

On the whole, the conference is offering coverage to diverse topics related to usability. There is major
scope for improvement in terms of scientific rigor of research, depth of experiments and quality of
documentation. However, we should be happy to have taken a step forward.

Conference on Advances in Usability Engineering is intended to help in capturing the state-of-the-art of

usability in India. CAUE team has resolved to publish the conference proceedings so as to trigger
incremental developments. Such manuscript will be immensely helpful to practitioners, researchers, faculty
members and students. I hope that it is made available in libraries and on Internet for future reference. I
hope that the success of CAUE will establish a new benchmark for the usability research in India. Looking
forward to many more chapters of CAUE in the years to come.

Dr. Dinesh Katre

CAUE 2008 Advisory / Review Committee

_______________________________________________________________________
Dinesh Katre is Group Head of Human Centred Design and Computing Group at C-DAC, Pune. He can be
contacted at dinesh@cdac.in. For more info. <www.hceye.org>

VIIT CAUE-2008 xii

VIIT CAUE-2008 xiii
 Conference Committees
Patron :
Shri.Rajkumarji Agarwal, Chief Trustee, B.R.A.C.T. Pune

Organizing Chairs :

Shri. Bharat Agarwal, Trustee, B.R.A.C.T. Pune.

Prof. M. R. Khadilkar ., Vice- Chairman, V.I.I.T, Pune
Prof. S.M.Umrani, MMC-V.I.I.T., Pune.
Prof. Dr.A. S.Tavildar, Principal, V.I.I.T., Pune

Convener :
Prof. ". P. Pathak, Head, Department of I.T., V.I.I.T., Pune

Co-Convener :
Prof. A. Mishra, Department of I.T., V.I.I.T., Pune

Advisory Committee :

Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman, Dishnet Limited (ETH Inc)

Dr. Dinesh Katre, Group Head, HCID, C-DAC, Pune
Mr. Deepak Shikarpur, IT Expert
Mr. Shekar Sahasrabuddhe, CSI, Pune
Mr. Harshit Desai, Pure-IT, Pune
Dr. Vinay Vaidya, VP, KPIT-Cummins
Dr. Aditya Abhyankar, Dean R& D, V.I.I.T., Pune

Programme Committee :

Dr. Dinesh Katre, Group Head, HCID, C-DAC, Pune

Prof. Aniruddh Joshi, IDC, IIT Bombay
Mr. Samir Chabukswar, Head Usability Group, PSPL, Pune
Dr. Pradeep Yammiyavar, Department of Design, IIT Guwahati
Mr. Raman Saxena, Director, User Experience, Computer Associates, Hyderabad
Dr. "ilay Yajnik, NMIMS University, Mumbai
Mr. Amit Pande, Senior Manager, User Experience, Oracle India, Bangalore
Mr. Sameer Chavan, VP-User Experience, Naukri.com, New Delhi
Dr. Sanjay Tripathi, Senior Consultant, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Pune
Mr. Sarit Arora, Group leader, HFI, Bangalore
VIIT CAUE-2008 xiv
Prof. Y.D.Deshpande, Department of I.T., V.I.I.T., Pune

VIIT CAUE-2008 xv
Technical committee

Prof. Y. D. Deshpande
Ms. S. B. Balrawat
Mr. M. S. Walunjkar

Event Committee

Prof. S.R. Sakhare

Mrs. F. M. Inamdar
Mrs. S. B. Patil
Mr. H. S. Kamble

Registration Committee

Ms. P.P. Kharade

Mrs. S. R. Rathi
Mrs. S. R. Phutane
Mrs. P. H. Kulkarni

Sponsorship & Publicity Committee

Prof. (Ms.) J.V. Bagade

Mr. L.A. Kamble
Ms. A.M. Joshi
Mr. G.R. Firme

Logistics/Refreshment Committee

Mr. P.S. Wawage

Mr.A.". "ikam
Mr. V.D. Muley

Proceeding Committee

Prof. ". P. Pathak

Mr. M. S. Karyakarte

VIIT CAUE-2008 xvi

VIIT CAUE-2008 xvii
 Contents
Keynote Address 1
An Unevenly Distributed Future: Trends in User Experience Design
Whitney Quesenbery, WQusability

Invited Presentations 9

Towards Motivational Interfaces: A Designer’s Experience With The 11

Children Of Nomadic Tribes
Dr. M V Ananthakrishnan, Consultant Education & HCI

Usability in Management Education Curriculum 20

Dr.ilay Yajnik, Professor of Information Systems,School
of Business Management, MIMS University , JVPD Scheme , Vile
Parle (W) , Mumbai 400056

Usability and User Experience Simplified 22

Mr. Shivkumar Parthasarathy, : Head , Web Development ,
BigAdda.com

Measuring User Experience Through Metrics : 22

Dr. Aniruddha Joshi , Associate Professor, IDC, IIT Mumbai
.
HCI in India - Curriculum and projects in Usability Engineering at IITG 23
Dr. Pradeep Yammiyavar, Professor , Department of design,
IIT Guhawati

Next Generation Portals and Usability 23

Mr. Sachin Yambal, Lead, Portals & Content Management
(PCM) and User Experience (UE) Capabilities Accenture , India

Homepage designs- Business strategies Vs Usability goals 24

Mr. Sameer Chavan , VP-User Experience , aukri.com, ew
Delhi

Comparative usability study of thumb, index finger and stylus as 24

interaction tools for smart phones with special focus on the needs of
semi-literate and illiterate users in India,
Dr. Dinesh Katre, : Group Head, Human-Centred Design and
Computing ,C-DAC, Pune, India

Wisdom of Crowds: Users drive Design 25

eha Modgil, Design Director , Techved Design ,Mumbai
VIIT CAUE-2008 xviii
 Usability Professionals Survival Guide: From Engineering to Consulting 25
Mr. Abhijit Thosar, Head, Unified Experience Practice,
Capgemini India Pvt. Ltd.

Overlap Usability: An Approach to Offshore Usability Practice 26

Mr. Sameer Chabukswar, Head, Usability, Engineering Group,
Persistent Systems Limited.

Initiating and Sustaining a Corporate 'Usability in e-Governance' 26

Program
Jhumkee Iyengar (Consultant User In Design),
Anupam Saraf (CIO Pune) ,
Ranjit Gadgil (Lead India finalist and Programme Director
Janwani),
Chaitrali Dhole (Senior Usability Engineer, Persistent Systems)
Kedar Kadam (Usability Engineer, Persistent Systems)

Take the next steps to Persuasive Design 27

Hitesh Agrawal, Executive Director, Human Factors
International (HFI) Mumbai.

Theme I : Usability to Bridge the Digital Divide

Establishing a User Centered approach to evaluate Indian market for m- 31

commerce”
Kshitiz Singh, Pradeep Yammiyavar - Geodesic Ltd., Bangalore &
Department of Design, IIT Guwahati

Narrowing Digital Divide: 10 Usability Guidelines 40

Madhumita Gupta, Hemanth Anumandla - Usability Engineering
Team , MphasiS ,Bangalore.

Usability: A guarantee for successful e-governance in India 46

Kedar Kadam - Usability Engineering, Persistent Systems Limited,
Pune.

Mobile value Added Services - Usability Perspective 54

Manisha Belvalkar and Preeti Vartak, Usability Research, Pure
Information Technology P. Ltd., Vasantrao Deshmukh Road, Pune,
Maharashtra, IDIA

VIIT CAUE-2008 xix

 Theme II : Usability Engineering

Industrial Design and Usability: Indifferent Neighbors 65

Jhumkee Iyengar, ikhil Karwall - Consultant, User In Design
Pune, India

Usability Measurement: Some Observations for Object Oriented System 71

A. K. Malviya, Sanjay Kumar Dubey - Amity School of
Engineering & Technology,OIDA

UI Design for a portable X-Ray system – a case study using prototypes 77

& user data elicitation technique.
S.itish, Prof Pradeep Yammiyavar - Design Department, IIT
Guwahati

Font Selection Menus: Are they usable 86

Suchit Dubey, Subhrajit Das - Department of Design, IIT,
Guwahati

An Assessment of Factors Affecting Performance of Call Center 91

Advisors in India
Kiran Sabnis, and Dr. Sanjay Tripathi - User Interaction Design
Group, Tech Mahindra ,Pune

A strategic approach of “interactive web application” for HCI and 100

system usability issues
Prof. Kirti Mahajan, Dr. itin ayak, Bharati Vidyapeeth
University’s, Institute of Mgt. & Entrepreneurship Development, ,Pune

Rapid RIA Application Development Methodology: A Simplified 107

Approach of Enhancing User Experience through RIA
Dr. Sanjay Tripathi, Saurabh Agarawal, User Interaction
Design Group, Tech Mahindra

From Numbers to Dashboard 115

Sonali Bendre, Sinoj Mullangath, User Centered Design Group,
Symantec, ,Pune, IDIA

Theme III : User Experience Design for "ew Media

Designing A Speech Based Mobile Interface For The Low Literate” 127
Diya Gangopadhyay , Pradeep Yammiyavar - Department of
Design , IIT Guwahati..

VIIT CAUE-2008 xx
 The Effect of Multi-Touch Technology on User Interface Design” 138
Susheel Kewaley - Human Factors International, Mumbai

Understanding Web 2.0 : Design Approach To A Portal For E- 146

Publishing
Debayan Dhar, Pradeep Yammiyavar - Department of Design
IIT Guwahati.

Theme IV : User Experience Research

An Expert System based User Assistance for Software Suites 155
Vamsi Chaitanya.P, Ramachandra Kishore.V and Pradeep
Yammiyavar, CDG, Infosys Technologies , Bangalore and Department
of Design, IIT Guwahati

Strategic User Experience Design Framework and Evaluation 164

Methodology”
eha Saraswat, and Dr. Sanjay Tripathi - User Interaction
Design Group, Tech Mahindra

Enhanced User Experience Through Search Engine Optimization” 172

Mudit Mittal , Human Factors International , Mumbai

Search Engine Usability – Asia Pac Perspective 178

Harshit Desai and Manisha Belvalkar, Usability Research,
Pure Information Technology P. Ltd., Vasantrao Deshmukh Road, Pune,
Maharashtra, IDIA

Eye-tracking : What they see is what you get 183

Gautam Karnik, Sunil Ganesh and Abhijit Thosar, Unified
Experience Practice, Financial Services Strategic Business Unit,
Capgemini India Pvt. Ltd.A-1 Technology Park, MIDC, Talwade, Pune
412 004, IDIA

Theme V : Offshore Usability

Offshore Usability 191
ireesha Yallanki, Prachi Sakhardande, Usability Engineering
Practice , MphasiS, Mumbai.

In a RUT! Addressing Challenges of Remote Usability Testing 198

Sushmita Munshi - User Experience Capability , Accenture ,
Mumbai

VIIT CAUE-2008 xxi

 Challenges In Onsite- Offshore Usability” 203
Puskraj Mirajkar - Cognizant , Pune

Theme VI : Other Related Topics

Significance of Design Management in User Experience Design 211
Prasadd Bartakke - Persistent Systems Limited, Pune.

Connecting Practice around the World by Usability Standards 218

R.S. Apare, S..Gujar, M.A.Pund, V.V.Kimbahune - IT
Department, SKCOE, Pune.

E-Publishing Using Web 2.0: A Study Of User Activity And Their 227
Relationship To Web Interface Features
Moniraj Saikia, Pradeep Yammiyavar - Department of Design
IIT Guwahati

Use Of The Human Computer Interface Cycle In Multidisciplinary 233

Environments: Case Studies In Bioinformatics And Software
Engineering Education.
Mrs. Sheetal Rajneesh Vij , Mrs. Deepa Srikanth Adiga
Department of Computer Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of
Technology, Paud Road, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra,

A Study on Usability in e-Learning 242

Shantanu Kulkarni, Usability Analyst, Satyam Computer
Services Ltd

VIIT CAUE-2008 xxii

VIIT CAUE-2008
͇
Keynote Address
Whitney Quesenbery,
Chief Consultant, WQUsability,
USA
頴頴 蘟蘟虒蘟

1
VIIT CAUE-2008 2
 An Unevenly Distributed Future: Trends in User Experience
Design
Whitney Quesenbery, WQusability

It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew, a city explored from the
neutral heart outward, until after many years, it defined itself into a jumble of clearings
separated by stretches of the unknown, through which the narrowest of paths had been cut. -
V. S. aipaul

Since someone standing in front of you with a topic like “Trends in user experience design” can be expected to
make bold pronouncements, I will start with one:
I see a bright future for user experience design1.
When usability/user experience specialist2 is listed as a top career in a general business magazine, articles on the
importance of design appear in Business Week, and a US Senator can use the word usability, we are no longer just a
niche specialty.
But it is also true that the future is unevenly distributed, and will arrive sooner in some places than in others.
There is no doubt that after years of being ignored (at best) or disrespected (and worse), usability and user-centered
design are part of the mainstream of best practices. The core principles of putting people first and designing for use
by those people are clearly recognized.
But there is also no doubt that we have a long way to go. We still need active advocacy for both the principles and
practices of user experience. We still need better integration of user-centered design methods into broader design
and development processes. But we have most definitely moved forward from the days when technology and
business leaders could not even spell ‘usability’.
Our challenge today is to look forward. To forget the slings and arrows of the past and the weariness of the long
journey to this point. The world we live in now is not the same one that existed when the Usability Professionals’
Association was formed in 1992.
There are new technologies – most obviously the explosion of the Internet – which have brought profound changes
to many parts of the landscape. As the first e-commerce and web applications were launched, it was a commonplace
to say that “the Web changes everything.” Some of us, perhaps a bit jaded from the number of earlier technologies
that were going to “change everything, insisted that the Web was just another medium.
We were wrong.
What the Web changed was not just technology. It changed the relationship between people and computers.
Between companies and their customers. Between information and its consumers. Between governments and
citizens. It changed how we relate to each other. And, it changed what information we expect to have at our
fingertips.
This is a fundamental shift, bringing changes as subtle and profound as those brought about by the globalization of
the world’s economies. Like every other profession, we will have to learn what parts of our history are still valuable

1
I share this vision with the UXnet, from whose mission statement I borrowed the phrase.
2
US News and World Report, ‘Best Careers 2008’

VIIT CAUE-2008 3
lessons, and what we need to discard in favor of new ideas. As a relatively young field, we will have to adjust to
these global changes in our landscape as we are still discovering just who we are.
We can look at the trends in user experience from several different perspectives, including the science, the practice
and how we collaborate.
The future of the science: focusing on context
User experience borrowed its methods from many different fields – cognitive psychology, market research, library
science, design, ergonomics, to name just a few. This background gives us the strengths of those traditions and
research methodologies. But it has also meant that it is difficult for usability researchers to establish an independent
tradition and standard for their work. One of the reasons why UPA founded the Journal of Usability Studies was to
provide a place for academic researchers in our field to publish peer reviewed papers where they could be judged on
their own terms.
Research into user experience (including usability, human-computer interaction (HCI), ergonomics, and other
related disciplines) is finally starting to consider the full human context. Despite the goal of focusing on people,
much of the early work in the field actually centered on the computer half of the HCI equation. The problem, as Kim
Goodwin of Cooper Design put it, is that we need to design the right interface, not just design an interface right.
Her point was that too often, we come up with a product concept without considering the whole user context, so we
design a completely usable interface which is neither useful nor applicable. The UK’s annual review of local
government web sites, Better Connected3, sets a goal for those sites to be ‘useful, usable, and used’. We are not
looking for perfection in a vacuum, but ways to create products that work for real people in their real lives.
A paper at CHI 2007 summed up the challenge nicely, tracing the history of HCI research from a first focus on
optimizing the fit between man and machine, to a broader look at support for ‘situated action in the world’. One
challenge for researchers is that it is difficult to create empirical measures for research such a complex context. It
demands ‘continual reflection about goals, purposes, assumptions and legitimacy’4.
We should, however, see this as an opportunity, rather than a road block to valid research. Perhaps traditional
quantitative metrics and measures are not the only way to understand the user experience. We need to make room
for qualitative and ethnographic methods of collecting and describing the user experience as well. We need research
approaches that can help us tell that story in all its richness, fluidity and even ambiguity.
The future of the science: getting in at the beginning
The contextual landscape is not the only factor in user experience research. There is also the technological
landscape.
New technologies bring new ways of interacting. Multi-touch, gestures, voice, and even mind control5 are making
their way from the lab to commercially available products. Usability research can – and should - be part of the early
development of any new interaction technologies to ensure that it is both usable and accessible. The alternative is to
constantly play catch-up, trying to adapt technologies to be useful and usable after they have developed.
For an example we need look no farther than our phones. Obviously mobile phone had made many wonderful new
products possible. But it also leaves behind people who use hearing aids, or lack the dexterity for tiny controls, or
have trouble understanding modal interfaces. Instead considering the full range of user experience and human ability
while the technology was still young and flexible, we are now trying to retrofit it to meet accessibility requirements
– a much harder task.
Another example is the tags for forms in HTML. They are virtually unchanged since first created for HTML 1.0
despite their importance in almost any web commerce interaction. On first glance, these tags may seem like an
appropriate analysis of the elements of a form. But when you try to create a usable, accessible form, you find that
they simply do not work. There is no way to create the logical relationships that forms need to make sense except by

3
SOCITM, Better Connected 2007: a snapshot of local authority websites.
http://www.socitm.gov.uk/socitm/Library/Better+connected+2007.htm
4
Harrison, S., Tatar, D. and Sengers, P. “The Three Paradigms of HCI’, CHI 2007, San Jose, CA, USA
5
BBC News, ‘The future of interaction?’ 17 October 2008

VIIT CAUE-2008 4
relying on proximity relationships in the visual interface. The tags simply don’t think like a forms designer, so
almost all forms coding is a kludge, at best.
We need to be there at the beginning, involving designers, user researchers and iterative testing of the new ideas.
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has the right idea. Their grants to help develop innovations into new
businesses now requires usability testing at every step of the project, to be sure that the projects they fund have a
chance of succeeding in the real world.
The future of practice: finding the horizon
Let’s start with one of the most difficult questions: How important is rigor in our work? At the UPA 2008
conference, Steve Krug chaired a panel on this very. At one extreme, Randolph Bias represented the position that
usability must be done with rigor if it is to be done at all. At the other extreme, Krug argued that any usability is
better than no usability, and that in many situations, an informal ‘grab someone and try it out’ test is good enough.
The discussion was passionate: this is not a question that will be easily resolved. What seems clear to me is that we
must distinguish between different contexts and research questions.
We can think about this problem with concept I call the research horizon. This describes how far into the future are
we trying look with any project.
• Basic research has the longest research horizon. It might take 10 years to produce useful results, as
successive studies explore different aspects of a question. For example, when the Smart Money MarketMap6
was released in 2002, there was a lot of excitement about this new idea for visualizing a large dataset in a single
web page. But this was not a new idea. Ben Shneiderman and the researchers at the University of Maryland
Human Computer Interaction Lab started working on treemaps in 19927. They were trying to find a way to help
people find files on large hard drives (at the time, they defined this as 20 Megs or larger).
• Work aimed at setting corporate or industry standards looks 5 years into the future. It can take that many
years to get a formal standard approved, and the last thing you want is for the requirements to be outdated by
the time they go into effect. For example, in working on a new version of the US accessibility regulations, we
had to find ways to ensure that the requirements were specific enough to be useful, while broad enough to apply
to any new technologies that emerge during the life of the regulation.
• As the horizon gets shorter, product guidelines or general user research might look 1-2 years into the
future. Usability research to determine best practices must be applicable for several years, even as the human,
competitive, and technology environments change rapidly.
• The shortest time horizon is for diagnostic usability testing, during a design and development process.
These studies address questions for which an answer is needed right now.
Each of these contexts has its own requirements. We cannot apply the same level of rigor to a quick usability test
conducted as part of a iterative, user-centered design process that we do to a summative test at the end of a project,
or to a formal research project aimed at gaining an understanding of basic knowledge about human behavior.
We must learn to distinguish between different distances on the research horizon, and tailor our methods, and level
of rigor, to each one. And, we need to understand how broadly we can apply the results of any study.
The future of practice: specialists or generalists
New ideas like user experience have a life cycle. In the early days, the new idea is centered around a few gurus
strong enough to establish a foothold in a company, where they can do pioneering work. Their work may be broad
or deep, but the practice is centered around the person.
If the idea catches on, however, it has its first crisis: everyone wants some. The small guru-centered department gets
more work than it can handle, and must figure out how to grow. New people are hired, more projects taken on, and
everyone struggles to maintain the quality of the work. At the same time, operational pressures kick in. Product

6
http://www.smartmoney.com/map-of-the-market/ The Market Map is a visualization that shows the state of the US stock
market in a single page.
7
Shneiderman, B. ‘Treemaps for space-constrained visualization of hierarchies’ First posted 1998, updated 2008.
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemap-history/

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managers need answers now, not at the slow pace of research. Debates break out about whether the usability team
should be centralized in a single department or distributed to ‘live with their teams’. Within the field, tensions grow
over what we might call ‘quality vs. quantity’.
This is the moment we finds ourselves in right now. Demand for usability engineering services is growing, and we
must find a way through the tangles of issue to meet that demand.
One solution is that usability should disappear as a separate specialty, and become a function that everyone working
in user experience participates in as part of their job. In some places, this is already happening: Information
architects see user research - interviews, task analysis, card sorting – and usability testing at all stages of design as
part of the preparation for a new site. Market research firms have started to include usability testing as part of their
services. Interaction designers and even developers consider the user experience part of their brief.
Despite concerns from some quarters about the quality of the work, I see this as a positive trend. Perhaps usability is
too important to leave to specialists, with limited availability.
This does not mean that there is no role for usability specialists in user experience. In some companies, the
usability/user experience team spends most of its time teaching and mentoring, and helping the development teams
plan their user experience work.
We must stop insisting that all user research and usability testing is hard to do. The basics are easy: running a quick
diagnostic usability test, or a short task analysis interview. One of the most amazing things about usability testing is
how easy it is to see simple problems, if you just take the time to watch a few people work. The scope of these
results is limited, but that does not mean that they are not useful.
As an example, I’d like to share the story of UPA’s Voting and Usability Project efforts to help local election
officials (LEOs) test their ballots and other materials for each election. This is the ‘last mile’ in elections, from the
state to individual voters. We created something we call the LEO Usability Testing Kit8. It is an introduction to the
concepts of usability and a session plan for a test that can be run by people no specific training in usability or human
factors engineering and that doesn't require any special equipment or a laboratory.
Although election officials were very receptive, some in our field greeted it with horror. They felt that election
officials with little training would never be successful in running a ‘valid’ usability test, and that we could damage
the reputation of usability in general.
We did not claim that this sort of simple testing (12-15 participants in a basic observational protocol) would
guarantee that a ballot was usable. But we do believe that it is a useful technique in the election management toolkit.
The experience of watching people try to use a ballot will give the election officials a new perspective on the voting
experience. If they can find and fix even one problem, that is an improvement not just for one election but for every
one that comes after. Over time, they will gain a better understanding of usability for ballots and other election
materials and make fewer design errors. A elections office might run a dozen elections in a busy year. If they tested
with 10 voters each time, that adds up to over 100 participants in just one year, in just one jurisdiction. If that
happened across even a single state, the learning and the impact is multiplied.
This is just one small project, but it can be repeated in many industries and many other contexts. We constantly
bemoan the difficulty of seeing enough users or running enough usability tests. Why not enlist our colleagues to be
part of the user experience team?
The future of practice: choosing the right technique
When I am teaching usability workshops, young practitioners often ask me what the best usability technique is. I’d
love to be able to give them a simple answer, but the truth is that there is not one best way to do user research or
usability.
User experience is a toolkit of options, and we have to think carefully about our question, so we can decide the best
way to get an answer. One of the most exciting trends is that our toolkit is expanding.

8
The LEO Kit: Usability Testing for Local Election Officials.
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/civiclife/voting/leo_testing.html

VIIT CAUE-2008 6
 • Usability labs that used to be so expensive that only a few companies could afford them can now be
assembled out of a webcam, a microphone and a few pieces of software, and loaded onto a standard laptop. This
may be one of the technological advances that have changes usability more than anything else. Instead of a
scarce resource, the ability to record a user session is now easily available.
• Changes in technology have also made tools like eyetrackers available for use in practical research. Not
only are they (almost) within financial reach, but they are now so unobtrusive that they can be used for general
research. No more special helmets and racks to keep the participant’s head in one place.
• Card sorting and other techniques for eliciting user terminology and information organization have
matured, with software products and methodology variations.
• We have moved beyond basic satisfaction surveys to borrow techniques for eliciting emotional reaction
from both market research and psychological testing.
• We are learning how to conduct global usability tests, looking at a user experience across nationalities
and cultures.
• Anthropologists have brought ethnographic research and analysis techniques into the mix, and projects
from commercial products to civic projects are opening the design process to user participation.
It’s not just that we have so many more options. We are also learning to triangulate our research methods. When
different methodologies and metrics all produce similar insights, we can be more confident in the results.

A collaborative future: flexible, creative, innovative

Taken together, the trends we have discussed add up to a future in which we trade guru-specialists for multi-
disciplinary practitioners. We give up some of the control of the process of researching, designing and evaluating the
user experience, but trade it for broader participation and expanded teams. We relax the rigor of our methodologies,
but only when we can answer a question with a simpler technique.
We also are learning to work with a whole user experience team, including interaction designers, information
architects, visual designer and user researchers. We have to collaborate on the work, and communicate seamlessly
between the sub-disciplines.
All of these trends move us away from a monolithic view of just ‘one right way’ to do our work. This is a more
flexible and creative approach. It allows for innovation in our methodologies as well as fostering innovation in our
products. And it not only allows, but forces us to embrace a full range of work from rigorous research to the tactical
search for quick answers.
It’s a bright future.

Brief Profile of Whitney Quesenbery

Whitney Quesenbery is a user researcher and usability expert with a passion for clear communication. As the
principal consultant for Whitney Interactive Design (WQusability.com), she works with companies around the world
to develop usable web sites and applications. Her recent projects include work for The Open University (UK),
National Cancer Institute (US), IEEE, Amtrak (US) and Sage Software (US and Canada).
Whitney is a past-president of UPA, and a Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication. She serves on two
US Federal Advisory Committees, working to improve the usability and accessibility of voting systems and on an
updates of "Section 508", the US accessibility law

VIIT CAUE-2008 7
VIIT CAUE-2008 8
 Invited Presentations

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VIIT CAUE-2008 10
Towards Motivational Interfaces: A Designer’s Experience with the Children
of (omadic Tribes

Dr. M V Ananthakrishnan
701, Devgiri, IIT Bombay Staff CHS., r: S M Shetty High School, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai,
Mumbai 400 076, India

ABSTRACT

The desktop interface plays a very important part in facilitating the user in successfully and effectively exploiting
the capabilities of the computer… all leading to the emergence of disciplines like GUI, HCI and Usability
Engineering.
The ongoing research in one or more of the disciplines indicated above has slowly but steadily realised that factors
other than technology like psychology, sociology, culture, individual capabilities and limitations and economics are
more critical to the design. The world over continues to battle with these issues, but more stress is being laid on the
underprivileged, be it physical, psychological or pedagogical.
The present paper is a report of the work done by the author and his team (while with the Department of Computer
Science & Engineering, IIT Bombay) over a three-year period (2005-2007) with the children of nomadic tribes in
three settlements in Maharashtra. The research work covers:
(a) Study the learning patterns of the children
(b) Alignment with well-known learning strategies
(c) Identification of the motivational and distracting factors in successful learning
(d) Identification of the appropriate strategy i.e., ANCHORED INSTRUCTION
(e) Design and development of the application MEEIT (Marshalling the Environment for Educating
through Information Technology) in terms of
• The Application Interface
• The Metaphors and Icons
• The Interaction Styles

1 I(TRODUCTIO(
What is Usability?
It would be appropriate to quote from an article by Miller: “Usability has been defined by some as the extent to
which an application is learnable and allows users to accomplish specified goals efficiently, effectively and with a
high degree of satisfaction. An additional component that should be added to this definition is usefulness, i.e., a
highly usable application will not be embraced by users if it fails to contain content that is relevant and meaningful
to them”. (Miller, 2005)
Why Usability?
The failure of a typical e-commerce site, Boo.com (Miller, 2005), a clothing e-retailer in the US is a typical example
of poor usability. The problem with the website was that the “shoppers experience great difficulty navigating
through the site, locating items of interest and finalising purchases”. Boo.com closed down in six months following
an investment of US$120 million! Usability was the culprit in that

VIIT CAUE-2008 11
 (a) Intricate design and robust functionality will fail if visitors are unable to use the application to
achieve their objectives
(b) One cannot expect a user to visit the site again and again just to learn the application (Miller, 2005)

Why is Usability the culprit?

Miller (2005), once again, assigns the reasons to
(a) A poor understanding of usability on the part of decision-makers, its importance and criticality
(b) Greater focus on the technology used to develop the software rather than ensuring that users are able to
use the technology effectively.
This is a problem very much evident in the Indian Scenario. Till now, all software companies assumed that good
programmers were good designers, because, according to them, expertise GUI languages like Visual Basic, Visual
C++ etc was sufficient to flaunt as a GUI Designer! However, of late, a few software houses in India have started
inducting professional in design from the IID and the Design faculty of the IITs.

2 FACTORS I(FLUE(CI(G USABILITY

Culture
Vohringer-Kuhnt (IBM Research Study) made a study of 117 HCI students and professionals from 26 countries, all
serving IBM worldwide. It consisted of 49.6% males and 50.4% females, all of whom read from left to right. Only
55.6% of the group had contact with more than one culture. The definition of culture, with respect to HCI, was
taken from Honold (2000), and had two main assumptions viz.,
(a) Culture manifest itself in cultural models
(b) Cultural models differ in their significance to a culture
The analysis and study was carried on the basis of Hofstede’s tested model of culture (Hofstede, 1980). According
to Hofstede, the cultural variables are: Power Distance, Collectivism vs. Individualism, Femininity vs. Masculinity,
Uncertainty Avoidance and Long-term orientation vs. Short-term orientation.
The study was made on the relationships between the Hofstede’s variables and the three factors: Effectiveness,
Efficiency and Satisfaction, from the Global Software Usability Model (Figure 1).

Belief about
Software
effectiveness

Perception about Attitude

Culturally-specific
Software towards
variables
efficiency product usability

Attitude of
Satisfaction
in using

Figure 1: Global Software Usability Model (Source: Vohringer-Kuhnt)

VIIT CAUE-2008 12
The overall findings of the study showed that:
(a) No significant relations were found regarding the correlation between the culture-specific variables
and the components of usability
(b) Significant correlations were found between individualism/collectivism and the attitude towards the
overall usability of the product

Metaphors and Interface Design

Computer interfaces are invariably metaphoric, because by this people are able to quickly learn to use a system. As
such, metaphors bring knowledge of the real world to the computer.
Cross-cultural interface design has its own unique problems in that the real world changes dramatically from culture
to culture (Fernandes, 1994). The issues that need to be addressed are:
(a) Merely ‘translating’ a metaphor to the local culture might not be sufficient
(b) It might be necessary to redesign the metaphor
Griffiths et al (1994) claim that people would be more motivated to learn about information technology if they were
able to interact with the computer in their own language. Trainers in Japan found that at least 10% of the trainers
dropped out of the training session after being trained in English and those who stayed had relatively low levels of
comprehension (Carey, 1998). In short, therefore, the opinions of non-English users had to be essentially sought
when picking on metaphors as well as the subsequent metaphor design.
Designers often face the problem of designing interfaces for cultures markedly different from their own. This often
results in the design being significantly influenced by the designer’s own culture.
There is a striking lack of research studies on using methods such as observation. Direct observation (or case
studies) of users in their local environment and while working with an interface, is needed to provide a reliable
understanding of phenomena in the real world. The current paper is a record of this approach, one that led to the
evolution of a successful metaphor, icons and interface.
Needless to say, one should guard against the tendency to over-emphasise cultural characteristics that do not
necessarily drive design.

2.3 Icons and Interface Design

Usability depends heavily on the icons used to represent specific activities/groups. Therefore, the icons have to be
totally culture-specific…leading to challenges in designing appropriate icons. Evers et al (1999) talk of a small-scale
study on the investigation of the cultural aspects involved in making successful use of the website of a ‘virtual
campus’. The website studied was the DirectED campus centre (www.directed.edu.core.html), involving the use of
the map of the virtual campus. This site had students interacting from various cultures. The outcome…cultural
differences came to the fore in the interpretation of the icons used.
(a) The term “campus” was interpreted as meaning ‘university’ in the case of students from the USA,
whereas the same word was interpreted as spread over a larger area/geography
(b) The localised interpretation of the terms used in this virtual campus make interesting reading. The
terms studied include library, student-centred, student-placement, café/chat and bookstore. While ‘online’
and ‘campus-based’ made sense to the British students, the American term, ‘off-campus’, was totally alien
to the British students.
(c) The authors emphasise that, since the metaphor cannot be universal, more effort need to be put to
ensure that the interpretations are more explicit.

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 2.4 PETTM Design
This concept looks at factors beyond ‘Usability’. Called the PETTM Design (Persuasion, Emotion and Trust
Design), this has been developed by the Human Factors International Inc., under the leadership of its Founder
and CEO, Dr. Eric Schaffer (2008). His focus is a shift from ‘can do’ to ‘will do’. According to this concept
(a) The online experience must be enticing i.e., persuasive. It must involve people who are personally
interested/involved in the product(s) available on the website.
(b) The thinking processes that guide commercial choices are complex and emotional, not logical or
linear. According to Gladwell (Schaffer, 2005): “…market researchers are led astray by the naïve
assumption that people can successfully ‘describe’ why they have made certain judgements”. However, the
PETTM Design “asserts that it is possible to do this analysis in a methodical and scientific manner, informed
by research and validation”.
(c) According to Darryl Travis (Schaffer, 2008): “One very important aspect of the whole scientific
process is that we know the decision-making process does not work in the absence of an emotional signal.
Thus, it is imperative to establish trust. Only with trust will a customer be persuaded to move from ‘can do’
to ‘will do’.”

3 THE EXPERIME(T WITH THE CHILDRE( OF (OMADIC TRIBES

The Experiment
The experiment on the use of ICT for educating children of nomadic tribes in Maharashtra was carried out over a
two-year period (2005-2007) in four camps across the state (Table 1). In all, there were 100 children across the four
camps, in the age group of 5 to 17 years. The ratio of boys to girls was 2:1 with the average ages being 10 years for
boys and 11 years for the girls.

Location Tribe Profession

Ambernath (near Mumbai) Medhangijoshi Palmistry
Magarsanghvi Pardhi • Selling fancy goods (for women)
• Cheating, robbery (for men)
Ansarwada Gopal • Acrobatics
Umerga Masanjogi • Selling fancy goods
• Working near graveyards
Table 1: The Profile of the “Experimental” Tribes

The research study was carried out by a team from IIT Bombay, under the leadership of the author. The study was
financed by Media Lab Asia, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of
India.
3.2 Background of the Children prior to the Study
The teachers were wedded to the traditional teaching method of the “teacher saying” and the “students echoing in
unison” and this saw the students popping in and out of the class, because of monotony and no excitement. Further,
the bad personal hygiene and cleanliness practices were commonplace viz.,
a) not washing after answering nature’s calls
b) not washing prior to eating food
c) not washing prior to drinking water

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 d) not washing glasses/vessels before using them
e) indifference to animals entering the tents and fiddling with the food, water etc.
f) leaving food/water uncovered
g) not having a bath followed by wearing clean clothes
h) easing oneself anywhere and everywhere

Groping in the Dark

It took about six months of persuasive approaches to zero in on an effective solution to the problem…of creating
interest in the children to attend school, learn and progress. The approaches included enriched traditional classroom
methods, use of visual material, participatory methods and videos. The ‘discovery” of the Anchored Instruction
Methodology gave a new dimension to using ICT (Information & Communication Technologies). Anchored
Instruction is a major paradigm for technology-based learning that has been developed by the Cognition and
Technology Group at Vanderbilt (CTGV), under the leadership of John Bransford (1990). Anchored Instruction is
closely related to the “situated learning” framework and the “Cognitive Flexibility” theory in its emphasis on the use
of technology-based learning.
“Light at the end of the tunnel”: A variation of Anchored Instruction
The video recordings of the individual nomad camps and its environs were shown across the camps resulting in
a) Discovering the wealth of information available in one’s own backyard
b) Helping children learn through participative, exploratory and social experiences
c) Creating an environment of excitement and discovery conducive to learning
d) Providing information about other nomad camps and their lifestyles
e) Correlating with each other
f) Proving that the medium was a very effective in ensuring portability, consistency and repeatability across
locations and tribes

MEEIT – The final outcome

Figure 2: The MEEIT Package

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The individual videos were edited and compiled into an interactive video christened MEEIT, an acronym that stands
for “Marshalling the Environment to Educate through Information Technology” (Ananthakrishnan and Kulkarni,
2007). It uses a typical nomadic settlement as the metaphor and all questions/observations are centred on this
environment. Focus is on aspects like numbers, colours, shapes, personal hygiene and cleanliness.

4 THE MOTIVATIO(AL ASPECTS I( MEEIT: SOME EXAMPLES

4.1 The Metaphor
The children’s own environment, the one in Ambernath, was used as the metaphor throughout the MEEIT package.
This was zeroed in on because it would encourage the children to naturally associate the package with their own and
hence
(a) Encourage them to “involuntarily” recall their lessons as and when they loitered around their
surroundings.
(b) Prompt them to spread the knowledge to their relatives as and when they visited their camps

Figure 3: A typical nomad habitat (Ambernath, near Mumbai)

4.2 Writing Skills
The common writing slate and slate pencils /chalks are used by the children for writing or copying from the board.
The MEEIT package has the same slate icon/metaphor to guide the children to writing the alphabets. The writing
methodology can be repeated, every time on a clean slate, akin to a real classroom.

(a) The virtual slate (b) The Writing process in action

Figure 4: The Writing skills process in MEEIT

VIIT CAUE-2008 16
 4.3 Organising/Sorting
The children of the camp were actually asked to stand in a queue, as per their heights, following which they were
asked to organise themselves into two groups, one each for boys and girls. The same was then integrated into the
MEEIT package by using the actual pictures of the camp children to constitute the group of children. Any mistake
committed by a student was immediately indicated by a “X” mark, whereas a correct answer resulted in a “V” mark.
Here again the symbols were ones that were easily understood by the children.

Organising -Wrong Organising- Correct Sorting - Correct

Figure 5: Organising & Sorting
4.4 Mathematical Operations
Simple mathematical operations like ADDITION and SUBTRACTION were learnt through motivational
“interactive” interfaces representing weighing machines with displays. Pictures of children from amongst the nomad
children were used as icons representing children on the interface. Placing a “child” on the virtual machine
immediately indicates its weight. Placing more children would increase the total weight. This process would
interactively teach a child the process of addition and subtraction.

(a) The “virtual” Weighing (b) The “virtual” weight of O E (c) The “virtual” weight of TWO
Machine and children child children
Figure 6: The Virtual Weighing Machine used to teach Addition/Subtraction

4.5 Overview of other motivational features in MEEIT

The other features that acted as motivators in the use of the MEEIT package are shown in Table 2.

7o. Aspect/Feature Motivational Representation

1 (a) Colours of objects (e,g., plastic buckets in Colour squares, one for each of the
the camp) “bucket” colours e,g., GREEN and
RED in the camp
(b) Buckets of a colour, in larger numbers
2 Number of trees as seen in the picture 5 icons of the palm of the hand
respectively showing ONE, TWO,
THREE, FOUR and FIVE fingers

VIIT CAUE-2008 17
3 Number of hens seen in the picture Individual groups of sticks having
1,2,3,4 and 5 sticks respectively
4 Identification of bad hygiene Correct identification only leads to
lesson progress

Table 2: Some additional ‘Motivational’ features of MEEIT

5 RESULTS A(D FI(DI(GS

The approach adopted in developing and using the MEEIT Package saw the following benefits:
(a) The children were able to immediately associate themselves with the contents and the lessons drawn
thereof
(b) The retention and recall was near 100%, even after a break of six months
(c) There was a high degree of participation and discussion amongst the children prior to selecting an
answer to the questions
(d) The children were able to operate the laptop and MEEIT with utmost ease
(e) The girls performed better that the boys in the overall assessment (qualitative)
(f) The parents were more amenable to their children becoming literate…seen in lesser interruptions
during the class
(g) The womenfolk expressing a desire to become literate

6 ACK(OWLEDGEME(TS

The author wishes to thank Prof Krithi Ramamritham, Dean R&D, IIT Bombay; Media Lab Asia, MIT, Govt of
India; Vigyan Ashram, Pabal; BVVP, Pune; and the various nomadic tribes, for all the support and motivation.
Special thanks go out to all the IIT Team members who relentlessly followed the author in the study and sustained
the enthusiasm till the very end.
7 REFERE(CES

Ananthakrishnan MV, Kulkarni Y, ICT for the Education of Children of omadic Tribes: Lessons Learnt, IST
Africa 2007, Mozambique, 2007
Bransford J (1990), Anchored Instruction: Why we need it and how technology can help, Cognition, education and
multimedia, Hillsdale, Erlbaum Associates
Carey J (1998), Creating global software: A conspectus and review, Interacting with Computers, 9(4), 449-465
Griffiths D, Heppel S, Millwood R and Mladenova G (1994), Translating Software: What it means and what it costs
for small cultures and large cultures, Computers in Education, 22, 9-17
Hofstede G (1980), Culture’s Differences, Beverly Hills, Sage Publications
Honold P (2000), Interkulturelles Usability Engineering, Dusseldorf: VDI-Verlag
Miller M J (2005), Usability in e-learning, http://www.learningcircuits.org

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Schaffer E (2008), Beyond Usability- A White Paper, HFI International, Fairfield, September 2008
Vohringer-Kuhnt, IBM Research Study, Draft Paper

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 Usability in Management Education Curriculum
By
Dr.Nilay Yajnik
Professor of Information Systems
School of Business Management
NMIMS University , JVPD Scheme , Vile Parle (W) , Mumbai 400056
Email:nilayy@nmims.edu

Why is it necessary for Management schools in India to include usability in their curriculum? Usability is
multidisciplinary. So it is important to have the end user – whether it is a customer or a supplier or an employee to
be a part of the usability design process.
As information appliances become all pervasive it becomes important for the users of technology to be able to use it
effectively. The biggest problem with technology is that non technologists suffer from technophobia and become
averse to using technology. Technology therefore has to be made simple enough for non technologists to be able to
use effectively. Management education in India today , while focusing on the core management areas such as
Marketing , Finance , Human Resources and Operations Management does not emphasize on the aspect of usability
in the curriculum. There is a growing need to develop curriculum on usability in the MBA program..
In the business environment of today , managers are increasingly using information technology for business
decisions and effective management. So whether the managers use ERP tools or CRM tools or Business
Intelligence tools , the managers’ need to focus on the business problem rather than spend an excessive amount of
time learning and navigating through the tool. It is therefore important for the designers of information appliances to
make it easy for the managers to use these appliances. However the responsibility of developing easy to use
interfaces is not of the IT professional alone. Interfaces have been poorly designed primarily because the end user
has not been involved in the design process and has been essentially taken for granted. Business schools in India
have not given much thought in their curriculum on the ease of use of technology for the users. Since information
technology strategy is today very closely linked with the business strategy of the organization it is critical that to
ensure business success , managers must work towards being able to reach out to their stakeholders easily through
technology. Many Universities in India do have courses on usability , but that is mainly in the computer science
courses and not in business management courses.
Internationally however there are a few leading business schools which do offer usability in their curriculum. One
such business school is the Copenhagen Business School in
Denmark.(http://uk.cbs.dk/cbs_international/international_students/prospective_exchange_students/graduate_course
s/catalogue_2008_2009/spring_2009_graduate_courses/computer_science/cmd_inu2d_integrated_usability)
Another leading school which has offered usability in their curriculum is Bentley University near Boston
which has incorporated aspects of usability in their MBA curriculum.
(http://www.bentley.edu/ms/mshfid.cfm)
(http://www.bentley.edu/ms-mba/index.cfm) . The California College of Arts has also recently started an MBA
program in which usability is an integral part of the curriculum
(http://www.designmba.org/blog/archives/2008/09/mba_in_design_strategy_informa_1.php)

But in India not enough focus has been given in Business Schools to include usability in the curriculum. This author
is of the opinion that usability should be given as much emphasis as some of the core MBA subjects such as Values
and Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility .If India has to continue its lead in the global information technology
scenario it is important that we train our future business managers on the importance of designing products and
services with the rural user in mind.

VIIT CAUE-2008 20
This author is of the view that a course on usability should be included in the second year of the two year MBA
program , after the students would have completed basic courses in marketing , finance , human resources and
operations management. The contents of the course should be focused around the need for usability in corporations
and applications of usability in the various functional areas of business should be a part of the course. The course
should be highly application oriented with an emphasis on the business value of usability engineering. Practical
projects should also be done by the students. In addition there should be guest lectures and interactions with
institutions focused on design so that the students get a broader perspective.
Usability is a neglected subject in management education. It is now high time that usability is included in the core
MBA curriculum so that the business managers of tomorrow understand the importance of creating products and
services which are easy for the user to use.

References:

http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-leadership/703954-1.html accessed on
October 9 , 2008 “Deep realities: the fit of usability in business.”
By Sharpe, Victoria M.

http://www.experientia.com/blog/california-college-of-the-arts-launches-mba-in-design-strategy/ accessed on
October 9 , 2008

VIIT CAUE-2008 21
Title: Usability and User Experience Simplified

Presenter :Mr. Shivkumar Parthasarathy

Designation : Head , Web Development , BigAdda.com

Abstract :

Over the years, the study of the relationship between humans and technology has been known by a variety of names,
viz. computer ergonomics, human computer interaction, usability and more recently, human-centered design and
user experience.

Usability is nothing but the "ability to use" something. A usable product is a product that is easy to use.

Making a usable product is fairly simple, have clear goals that you need to achieve, and you can analyze how to get
the best result.

During this session, the basics of usability will be discussed, and will also touch upon, how to provide a simplified
user experience and discuss the differences between usability and user experience.

The Indian youth networking site, Bigadda - the No.1 User Friendly Social Network will be used as an example, to
understand the steps followed during the development of Bigadda, with the focus on simple usability and how the
team succeeded in creating a simplified user experience.

Title : Measuring User Experience Through Metrics

Presenter : Prof. Aniruddha Joshi

Designation: Associate Professor, IDC, IIT Mumbai.

Abstract :

Measuring User Experience Through Metrics

User experience design (or something similar with a different name) has gained momentum in the Indian industry
over the past few years. Time has come to improve upon what we do, and unless we measure what we do, we may
not be able to improve upon it very much. In this talk I present a quick overview of metrics that I have come across
in my work and then present some work that I have been doing in collaboration with the IT industry. User
experience metric (UXM) is a product metric that measures the subjective and ephemeral notion of the user's
experience with a product. Index of integration (IoI) is a process metric that measures how integrated the HCI
activities were with the SE process. Both metrics have an organizational perspective and can be applied to a wide
range of products and projects. I also talk about some of our experiments with User Experience

Goals-setting Tool

(UXGT), something that is under development and will help compute UXM more accurately

VIIT CAUE-2008 22
Title : HCI in India - Curriculum and projects in Usability Engineering at IITG

Presenter : Dr. Pradeep Yammiyavar

Designation : Professor , Department of design, IIT Guhawati

Abstract :

With steady increase in computer applications across a wide spectrum of services, professionals other than computer
scientists such as cognitive psychologists, information technologists and designers have started contributing to the
emerging discipline’s knowledge base. Along with technology the human angle is gaining equal attention as is seen
from the increasing usesage of terms such as Human Computer interaction, Human centered Design etc. Such a
multi-disciplinary effort has given rise to the emerging body of knowledge and skills collectively called Usability
Engineering.This paper traces the basis of and experience of developing and incorporating educational curriculum
for a first of its kind undergraduate educational program specialized in Usability being offered since the past five
years at the IIT Guwahati.

It attempts to trace the amalgamation of knowledge & practices in a wide variety of contributing disciplines such as
Computer Science, Information Technology, Cognitive psychology, Engineering ergonomics, Interaction Design
and Visual Communication into the curricula for Usability Engineering. Through case studies of projects executed
by students, researchers and faculty the role of multidisciplinary inputs resulting in their interdisciplinary synthesis
during the training, is highlighted.

The paper attempts to draw attention of contributing disciplines to look beyond their narrow disciplinary boundaries
as is currently practiced in educational institutions and cites the success of the experiment in Usability Engineering
education tried out at IIT Guwahati- so as to build further on it.

Given the leadership role of India’s Information Technology sector for a long time to come the need for disciplines
like Design and Computer Science to encourage manpower development in this emerging new profession is pleaded
for. While Computer Science and Information Technology disciplines have enough on their platter, it is an
opportunity for the Design discipline in India to take the lead by embracing Usability Engineering.

Title : (ext Generation Portals and Usability

Presenter : Mr. Sachin Yambal

Designation : Lead, Portals & Content Management (PCM) and User Experience (UE) Capabilities Accenture
, India

Abstract :

Emerging trends point that in the future User Experience, rich user interfaces and portals will share a symbiotic
relationship. They will immerge as the triumvirate of business differentiators for organizations.

Sachin will introduce the concepts of next generation websites/portals, provide an overview of the current trends,
key drivers, and the challenges faced. He will touch upon several emerging technologies like Web 2.0, RIA,
Mashups, Ajax, eCommerce that will be the key differentiator for revolutionizing the online channels across
industries. What would these trends mean for User Experience practitioners?

VIIT CAUE-2008 23
Title : Homepage designs- Business strategies Vs Usability goals

Presenter : Mr. Sameer Chavan

Designation : VP-User Experience , (aukri.com, (ew Delhi

Abstract :

The presentation explores different strategies on designing a consumer websites homepages and research
methodologies. Homepage for B2C sites is their brand identity. There are a number of stakeholders involved in
home page design, and each of them wants a piece of the home page real estate. Homepage is not just about talking
what the site is all about, its also about selling the real estate.

When its a matter of designing homepage for new business sites, the design is an iterative process that evolves with
changing business requirements. More freedom is available to set a new mark. But when its a case of a redesign, you
have a benchmark and competition to compare with. Things are straight forward and can be evaluated statistically.
There are cases where you want user to return to homepage even after login or sometime there is no need to show
same homepage after login.

The homepage normally has a hero of the page, a value proposition, competitive edge, Ad Sales space and a host of
other components. Ideally, a home page should reflect and balance business objectives and user needs. But lot of
discussions and debates goes on which takes precedence.

The paper provides references to Info Edge website homepages. Paper discusses in detail how site business goals
were set Vs usability goals, layout exercise done, visual design strategies and evaluation methods. Pointers will be
given to design of homepages for job site, matrimony site and education site.

Title : Comparative usability study of thumb, index finger and stylus as interaction tools for smart phones
with special focus on the needs of semi-literate and illiterate users in India

Presenter :Dr. Dinesh Katre

Designation : Group Head, Human-Centred Design and Computing ,C-DAC, Pune, India

Abstract :

There is a tremendous potential for developing mobile-based productivity tools and occupation specific
applications for the semi-literate and illiterate users in India. Therefore a comparative usability study of thumb,
index finger and stylus as interaction tools for smart phones is conducted. In this study, one-handed thumb use on
the touchscreen of smart phone or touch phone is considered as an effective alternative than the use of stylus or
index finger, to free the other hand for supporting the occupational activity. In this context, usability research and
experimental tests are conducted to understand the role of fine motor control, usability of thumb as the interaction
apparatus and the ergonomic needs of users. Agile approach to experimental testing is explored for identifying
various usability issues centred around the use of thumb for touchscreen interaction. It means incremental change
in the test design or conceptualization of new test based on the findings and insights. The presentation also
touches upon cultural, racial and anthropometric aspects, which need due consideration while designing the
mobile interface. Design recommendations are evolved to enhance the effectiveness of one-handed thumb use on
smart phone, especially for the benefit of semi-literate and illiterate users.

VIIT CAUE-2008 24
Title : Wisdom of Crowds: Users drive Design

Presenter : (eha Modgil

Designation : Design Director , Techved Design ,Mumbai

Abstract :

World Wide Web has become world’s largest democracy. I refer to it as ‘An environment created of the people, for
the people and by the people. People are collaborating, contributing, influencing…

Tom stays in New Zealand and Harry is in Chicago. They don’t know each other and have never seen each other.
Nevertheless, they can influence each other’s buying decision…Sally loves to share music with Indu, never mind if
they have never met each other..Bill Gates may choose me to head his company next since my Linkedin profile has
lots of recommendations…

The world is getting neutronic and users of the internet are getting powerful. The combined strength of people akin
‘Wisdom of Crowds’ can drive a lot of product and design decisions. Let’s see how crowds have influenced various
decisions and are getting more powerful.

Title : Usability Professionals Survival Guide: From Engineering to Consulting

Presenter: Mr. Abhijit Thosar

Designation: Head, Unified Experience Practice, Capgemini India Pvt. Ltd.

Abstract :

As more and more companies are offshoring their product development efforts, the risk of poor quality products on
account of design (usability) getting isolated from development is real. The infusion of the practice of usability
engineering in software development projects in India is on the rise. Several attempts have been made to integrate
the classical User Centered Design (UCD) methodology with the with the software development methodologies. But
very few models exist that seamlessly integrate UCD activities across geographical boundaries. A solution to this is
essential because of the increasing collaboration between onshore - offshore design organizations. We propose an
approach – Overlap Usability- that would try to address the risk of lower quality product. We also share the
variations of this model from our experiences as applied to client companies at various levels of maturity in terms of
Usability adoption.

VIIT CAUE-2008 25
Title : Overlap Usability: An Approach to Offshore Usability Practice

Presenter: Mr. Sameer Chabukswar

Designation: Head, Usability, Engineering Group, Persistent Systems Limited.

Abstract :

As more and more companies are offshoring their product development efforts, the risk of poor quality products on
account of design (usability) getting isolated from development is real. The infusion of the practice of usability
engineering in software development projects in India is on the rise. Several attempts have been made to integrate
the classical User Centered Design (UCD) methodology with the with the software development methodologies. But
very few models exist that seamlessly integrate UCD activities across geographical boundaries. A solution to this is
essential because of the increasing collaboration between onshore - offshore design organizations. We propose an
approach – Overlap Usability- that would try to address the risk of lower quality product. We also share the
variations of this model from our experiences as applied to client companies at various levels of maturity in terms of
Usability adoption.

Title : Initiating and Sustaining a Corporate 'Usability in e-Governance' Program

Presenters : Jhumkee Iyengar (Consultant User In Design),

Anupam Saraf (CIO Pune) ,
Ranjit Gadgil (Lead India finalist and Programme Director Janwani) ,
Chaitrali Dhole (Senior Usability Engineer, Persistent Systems) ,
Kedar Kadam (Usability Engineer, Persistent Systems)

Abstract :

Usability is both powerful and critical yet utterly ignored when bringing technology into daily lives of citizens.
Presented here is a unique CSR initiative with usability as focus in a collaborative effort with government and
NGOs. This multi presenter session bringing perspectives of the collaborators will cover drivers, criteria, roles,
approaches, challenges, motivations and identification of benefits. 4 PMC department projects executed with due
diligence to usability processes will be showcased. Sustainability of the initiative balancing people needs with
technology potential and the CIO’s vision for eGov Pune in bringing technology into citizens’ lives will conclude
the presentation.

VIIT CAUE-2008 26
Title : Take the next steps to Persuasive Design

Presenters : Hitesh Agrawal

Designation: Executive Director, Human Factors International (HFI) Mumbai.

Abstract :

Usability is the first step in ensuring that a product or service is effective in meeting a user’s needs. It enables a
person to utilize and derive benefit from the offering. In short, it answers affirmatively the question “Can a user
make optimal use of this product/ service?”

Once this frontier is mastered, however, we find ourselves confronted with the next level – i.e. managing a user’s
experience. The question we now have to answer is “Will a user actually use this product/ service?”. This takes us
deep into the realm of decision making, where factors like trust, emotion and motivation are powerful drivers behind
user’s actions. We need to know how we design to offer a persuasive experience that resonates deeply with the
constellation of a consumer’s needs ore drives.

In this presentation, we discuss how we can design for Persuasion, Emotion and Trust, the three pillars of cutting
edge user experience management. Drawing on case studies and our experience as practitioners of this discipline, we
demonstrate how to take usable designs to new heights of user engagement and conversion.

VIIT CAUE-2008 27
VIIT CAUE-2008 28
 Theme I
Usability to Bridge the Digital
Divide

VIIT CAUE-2008 29
VIIT CAUE-2008 30
 Establishing A User Centered Approach To Evaluate Indian Market For M-
Commerce
Kshitiz Singh1and Pradeep Yammiyar2
1
Geodesic Ltd.,
Bangalore, INDIA
2
Department of Design,
IIT Guwahati, INDIA
1
ksh.designer@gmail.com, 2pradeep@iitg.ernet.in
1
www.geodesic.com , 2www. iitg.ernet.in/design
ABSTRACT
The extension of the use of a mobile phone into electronically transacted commerce seems to be a
natural phenomenon that was quite expected. Banking transactions, seat bookings and short message
services (SMS) done through mobile phones are a few examples of the rapidly growing m- commerce
phenomena the world over. This is also happening in India. However there are clear differences in the
very usages of a mobile phone between different User groups in Indian Market. Local culture seems to
influence not only local usage patterns but also has potential for innovation. This paper attempts to
understand some issues behind the rapid adaptation of the mobile phone through two case studies and
suggests user centered methodology to evaluate the Indian market for building a potential m-
commerce product. The case studies report two new applications designed and simulated on mobile
phones – one each at the micro and the macro level. The first case study shows the heuristics of
designing a macro commerce application for travelers’ information needs for people traveling across
the nation. The second study reports a design solution for a micro level transaction at a local store.
These case studies yield some of the heuristics for establishing a user centered methodology to
implement m-commerce applications on mobile phones.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
Mobile phone based commerce (m- commerce) offers a new paradigm of utilizing mobile phones for enhanced
transactional services that benefit the user and at the same time generate huge business volumes for the service
providers with additional benefits of low costs. There has been a number of past researches and implementation that
have established the effectiveness of using M-Commerce for business institutions. In 2005 the total global m-
commerce revenues were 22.2 USD millions and in 2009 the total global revenues is estimated to be 88 billions [1].
Although m-commerce was a concept which was beneficial to customer as well as to the wireless carriers and the
service providers, the service lacked its predicted acceptance levels in its early phase. This was mainly due to the
lack of compelling features in phone devices and networks for doing transactional processes. The interface on most
phones was inadequate for any real data entry and the wireless networks only recently have the capacity and
connectivity for the content that is associated with making a purchase. An evolution trend in handsets and wireless
networks that has taken place in the last four years is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Trends in Hand set technologies and growth. Source: Deutsch Bank Research, ROA Group. [1]

Category 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008(expected)

(in Millions)

Smartphone 18 57 88 120 156

3G handset 20 50 110 223 363

VIIT CAUE-2008 31
Mobile TV NA NA 19 39 55
handset

Total 38 107 217 382 574

Market Size 646 796 956 1070 1167

(all handsets)

Penetration Rate %

Smartphone 3.0 7.0 9.0 11.0 13.0

3G handset 3.0 6.0 12.0 21.0 31.0

Mobile TV NA NA 20 4.0 5.0

handset

Total 6.0 13.0. 23.0 36.0 49.0

Annual Growth %

Smartphone 0 217 54 36 30

3G handset 0 143 121 102 63

Mobile TV NA NA NA 105 41
handset

Total 38 107 217 382 574

Market Size NA 178 103 76 50

(all handsets)

The table clearly shows that Smart phones with user friendly features are predicted to lead the replacement demand
in high-end handsets. This trend is further justified by the fact that most global vendors are trying their best to add
smart phones to their product portfolios. As smart phone markets are expected to grow during 2007 with the
expansion of 3G, it will have a positive impact on data and transaction intensive services such as in m-commerce
applications.
In addition to this the wireless operators continue to offer new products and services that are suitable for mobile
users. All these factors have made it essential for a market to be evaluated beforehand. However unlike e-commerce
research studies, empirical explorations of m-commerce are beginning to attract attention in a country like India.
Several questions and uncertainties exist in a mobile user research strategy. One major problem in m-commerce
research is the lack of standards in terms, concepts, and theories. Since this is only the onset it is essential for an m-
commerce product to fulfill user expectations in terms of perceived needs, perceptions, cultural acceptance and
technology.

VIIT CAUE-2008 32
Various sub-segments of users making up the potential market segments exist. Some of them already traceable for
possible development into large scale m- commerce applications are as follows [2]:

• Mobile Ticketing
• Mobile Vouchers/Coupons/Loyalty Cards
• Content Purchase & Delivery
• Location Based Services
• Information Services
• Mobile Banking
• Mobile Brokerage
• Auctions
• Mobile Purchase
However it is pointed out here that the listing shown above indicates implementations at macro level segments.
Macro level segments are defined here as consisting of users from widely distributed geographical regions in India.
The users are from the upper income groups and belong to either metros or big cities. The services listed above are
aimed at a pan Indian user. The features of such services are optimized for volumes and are generalized in terms of
design. The features though tuned to the users’ needs are entirely under the control of the service provider. In
contrast there is a set of users which is defined here as micro level. This segment is middle class and lives in towns
and villages. This segment has limited use for the pan India macro level services available on a mobile phone. This
segment is rapidly increasing in number and has high potential. For a macro service provider the pan India user
statistics may look bigger and therefore attractive but when seen in terms of potential for number of transactions it is
posited in this paper that the micro level segment has much more potential.

2. CULTURAL IMPUTE I( M-COMMERCE

Although the demand for m-commerce products is increasing, the scope for global products is limited as different
cultures and consumers have diverse needs and expectations of the capabilities of their mobile devices. For example
in US users prefer large screen while in Japan users opt for confinement and small screens. Also according to a
recent research [3] done to study adoption and usage difference in Hong Kong and UK it was found that the
distributions are markedly different between Hong Kong and UK. UK mobile phone users have a wider experience
of m-commerce services. Only 23% of Hong Kong users have had experience of the two core services (voice and
SMS). In contrast, half the UK users have experience of six m-commerce services (two cores services plus four
additional).
According to Patricia Harris, Ruth Rettie & Cheung Chak Kwan [3], these differences arise mainly from two factors.
The major factor is the m-commerce infrastructure availability. It apart from focusing on the m-commerce
infrastructure availability for product implementation it is also essential to know the adoption and usage patterns of
the culture. This knowledge is essential for knowing the market potential of a product prior to its implementation.
Although India can be considered as a country marked by eastern traits, individual traits existing within different
regions in India and different social groups are very prominent. Hence it becomes very important to establish a
methodology for evaluating m-commerce market.
3. I(DIA A(D M-COMMERCE
Very few industries have witnessed the kind of growth telecom has seen in India. In the last five years the mobile
has literally been a part of the upward mobility of the average Indian. The tea vendor, the taxi driver, the farmer, the
housewife, just about everyone has a monthly budget to keep their mobile phone alive. Early 2006 approximately 98
million (TRAI March 2006[4]) people in India owned mobile phones. Late last year in a single month 2.9 million
new Indian mobile phone subscribers added: the GSM subscriber base grew by 2.11 million users (for a total of 65
million) and the CDMA platform added 0.8 million (for a total 20 million).

VIIT CAUE-2008 33
According to Internet and Mobile Association of India, the m-commerce market size is reported to be moving from
Rs 5000 cr. to Rs 9500 cr. by 2007. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) states that 30% of the land area
in India is covered by m-networks. The subscribed include 300 million (13%) of the Indian population.
Many big names like Tata, Reliance and Bharti are in the telecommunications arena. Also India is the second largest
mobile handset market in the world. Nokia, Qualcomm, Sony, Motorola have their establishments in India. Other
big companies are on their way to setting up base in India.
Paymate is a mobile payment gateway that is offering similar service to what Bharti plans to offer. Very recently,
Magicbricks, one of the leading real estate portals came up with their mobile real estate portal. There are also host of
other M-Commerce application providers in India. With the entry of Bharti in this arena, M-Commerce in India will
take much bigger proportions as they already have more than 50 million strong subscriber base who are readymade
customers for M-Commerce applications.
4. FI(DI(G ISSUES THAT MATTER I( DEVELOPI(G M-COMMERCE PRODUCTS I(
I(DIA
To understand the issues related to user behavior that are likely to influence design decisions in m-commerce
products in India a user survey was conducted covering 52 users. The focus group for this survey was selected based
on their huge market potential i.e. students, businessmen, office employees and others requiring services. Keeping in
mind the cultural diversity that exists in India the users with different cultural backgrounds were selected for the
survey. Out of 52 users, 10 users were also interviewed after they filled the questionnaires. Questions that were
asked in interview were related to the future plans regarding handsets and services they wish to use. Questionnaire
with the results that we got from the user survey is presented in the following table:
Table 2. Results of survey conducted.

Q 1 Which age group do you belong to?

Below 15 - 0 15-24 - 51 24-30 - 1 30-40 - 0 40 and above - 0

Q 2 What is your occupation?

Student - 40 Businessman- 0 Engineer - 2 Doctor - 1 Finance - 0

Q 3 Which mobile brand do you use?

Nokia - 37 Motorola - 7 Sony Ericsson-3 LG - 2 Others - 1

Q 4 Each day, how long do you keep your mobile with you?

Can’t say - 9 Less than 6 hours- 8 6-12 Hours – 19 More than 12- 16

Q5 What are the peak hours of your mobile usage in a day?

Before 8 AM – 0 8AM-10 AM – 1 10AM – 2PM – 0 2PM-5PM - 1 5 PM – 8 PM - 8

8PM – Midnight- 42

Q6 Which kind of display your handset has?

Colored - 39 Black and White - 13

VIIT CAUE-2008 34
Q7 Which mobile connections do you have?

Airtel - 40 Reliance - 7 BSNL - 1 Hutch - 3 Idea - 0

Q8 Rank the following services in order of your preferred usage(Our of 8):

Making receiving calls SMS./MMS – Games - 3.5 Camera - 3.85 GPRS- 4.52
: 1.63 2.63

Other VAS - 4.37

Q9 What are the various services that you use on your mobile phone?

SMS/MMS - 47 Sports news – 11 Entertainment- Games - 37 GPRS - 6

19

Caller tunes - 18 Dedicating songs- Polling and Competitions – 7 Other - 2

5 Voting - 12

Q 10 Are you comfortable using mobile features other that SMS/Calls features?

Yes - 45 No - 7

Q 11 Have you ever transferred applications on to a mobile from other mobile/computer?

Yes - 23 No - 31

Q 12 Have you downloaded wallpapers/ringtones from your service provider?

Yes - 15 No - 37

Q 13 What is the things you carry with you while traveling?

Laptop - 8 Mobile - 44

VIIT CAUE-2008 35
4. CASE STUDIES
As discussed earlier, owing to the vast diversity that exists, our hypothesis was that apart from macro level m-
commerce product there also exist a potential for a product to be designed for micro level implementation. Different
regions in India have different characteristics that affect the methodology for evaluating users for the
implementation of m-commerce products. Even within a region there exist different social groups with differing
lifestyles, needs and purchasing power. To strengthen our argument about the adaptation to these two different
levels namely micro and macro, we conceptualized two design products at the Department of Design, IIT Guwahati.
The first product addressed a macro level segment namely Indian tourism. The second product was a home
delivery ordering application for mother dairy – a Delhi based grocery provider. This addressed the micro level
segment. Both have been presented as case studies.
4.1 Mobile application for Travelers in India

Sys_dia_after_shrink

4.1.1 Target user segments. After discussions we identified three different user segments from across India who in
our view had the highest potential for becoming prime users of the application. These were:
1. Students from one region who travel frequently to other region across India for academic and leisure
2. Professionals on a business trip
3. Leisure travelers

VIIT CAUE-2008 36
The aim was to encompass those tasks that will go into determining the needs or conditions to be met for the
product, taking account of the possibly conflicting requirements of the various users. The objective of this study was
to develop a mobile application which caters to the need of the travelers in India for providing a medium for travel
information while on the move.
4.1.2 Strategies adopted. The product was decided as an addition to the current travel information system available
through web. The aim of this application was to provide suitable travel information “on the go”. It means this is an
additional resource which provides travel information that is “urgently” required.
The application was designed for Symbian based Nokia phones capable of running Flash Lite 2.0 application. The
reason for doing this was to give macro-level acceptability as many people in India are using similar handsets. The
design of the application was decided on the basis of level of urgency different type of information demanded.
Information that is required in an urgent situation was put in an easily accessible position in the user interface than
the information not required in urgent situation.
The way the system work was decided taking into account both the internet requirement and the technical limitation
of the mobile handsets that are generally used in India. Considering the cost of GPRS in roaming, the system was
proposed to be packet based where each packet would contain major information about a city. Since in is difficult
and expensive to get a mobile internet connection for travelers and also as internet was essential for downloading
packet data, a the application was designed such that user can download the packet of the city he is visiting when he
is in hometown and later use it offline when he is traveling.
4.2 Mobile application for Home delivery of Mother Dairy products

4.2.1 Target user segments. In this application we identified four user segments:
1. All families living in metropolitans especially those where both the parents are earning and are often busy on
their phones with their clients. Users are the parents by providing them with an opportunity to make a quick
order
2. Singles living in Metropolitan cities who are employed and earning a descent income
3. Students in Universities located in big cities as it is seen in IIT that it is very difficult for them to move out
4. Employees of a company
Following were the objectives for the product:

VIIT CAUE-2008 37
 1. Solving the problem of home delivery associated with most of the food enterprises: This problem arises due to
the large size of metropolitans. With increase in number of locations these firms are often confused that how to
sort different orders according to different locations as this sorting is done by people who are not fully known to
all the locations in the entire city.
2. Reducing the cost of calls that one made for ordering the food: One order of less orders is this factor. People
hesitate to make a call that costs them for a not non negotiable amount of money for ordering a product.
3. Reducing the time of communication: Customers are often fed up when it takes much time to explain the order
over the phone. This particularly happens when the customer and the seller are over line and they both are from a
different cultural populace.
4.2.2 Strategies adopted. The application was designed for taking home delivery orders as and when essential.
Since home delivery is a current real problem, demand for these types of products exists. Hence the application was
designed to be implemented on Nokia S60 devices running Flash Lite 2.0.
Considering the life in metropolitan cities in India that is often characterized by round the clock work routine, the
ability to be used at any time in the day was a major issue in the application. However the requirement generally
arises in the morning when there is a need for getting milk and other regular products. In morning the usage of
mobile is low hence fast working of the application was given major attention in the User Interface.
Since the plan was to implement in metropolitan cities where almost all wireless carrier providers are equally used
the plan was to make is application available by mother dairy as a download on their website. The product was made
SMS based not only to meet the current technical requirements but also to accommodate multiple usages of the
service cheaper and faster.
5. I(FERE(CES
From the user survey and the two case studies specifically designed for this research we infer the following
heuristics that could be useful for establishing a methodology for identifying, designing & developing new m-
commerce products:
• Although the travel application was targeted at larger user group(macro) than the home delivery order
application(micro) the number of transactions that a user would make during a day with the later is much more
than that of travel application. Hence total transactions (number of users * number of transactions during a day)
in the second case was found out to be greater than total transactions using travel application. Hence it could be
easily inferred that the methodology should include a way to identify the total number of transactions as it may
turn to be unexpected in a varied country like India.
• Users perceived macro level m-commerce products (like IRCTC railways booking) to be meant exclusively for
higher income groups with professional or higher educational qualifications. In actuality too the travel
application only supported those clients who have a GPRS connection in their phones or a good phone with
computer connectivity. Most users lack these features in mobile phone which results in missing of large users in
India. GPRS connectivity is only available in major states of India but remote states like Assam have no services
at all. Hence it is essential to identify the type of connection that would happen between the server and the client.
• A good option of implement value added services is through wireless carriers but the trend of choice of
wireless carriers varies widely. In Delhi Airtel is the leader with 2.6 million connections followed by Hutch with
2.1 million mobile users whereas in Mumbai BPL mobile is the major player with 3.4 million subscribers
followed by MTNL with 1.2 million users. Southern regions are dominated by Aircel. So decision regarding
implementing the client using a GPRS or a service provider should be taken after researching the wireless carrier
usage in the targeted region.
• Implementing as a value added service through wireless carriers also has an added advantage that users do
need to know very less about installing the application which can be of great benefit to the user as many of them
do not know much beyond downloading ringtones from their service providers.
• To allow a macro level service provider to also cater the needs at micro level could also be one of the feasible
options but due to geographical vastness of India it would create a very huge database for the system to manage.
For example in the travel application (case study 1) we added a functionality of finding the hangouts in a city.
But later we found out that number of hangouts in an Indian city is so huge that it was unpractical to think of

VIIT CAUE-2008 38
 including for offline views. Ultimately we had to reduce this functionality to a suggestion based system which
would suggest best hangouts based on reviews. So in a product targeted at macro segment a thorough study of
Indian market is necessary in order to identify technical specifications for the infrastructure needed.
• Although in the user survey we found out that Java running mobile phones are dominating the current market
in India, only a few users had purchased Flash Lite compatible handsets and others were planning for the same.
• The result of the questionnaire showed to us that 50 of the 52 users reported the peak time of the mobile usage
to be after 5 PM. Hence for second case study which can be proposed to be used at any time of the day it was
essential to keep fast navigation of the system a top priority which resulted in creating a separate option for
ordering regular products placed in the main menu itself. It can be inferred that study of usage timings is
necessary for determining the priorities of functionalities.
• Micro level products receive greater mental credibility from the users than macro level products as they are
specifically designed to cater their needs. This is important particularly in India as people still consider mobile
and other internet based transactions to be less secured.
• Most users do not use computers or other mobiles for transferring data because of technical limitations (mainly
slow data cable speed) or their limited knowledge about transferring applications. In such cases an m-commerce
product has more scope in India when it is provided by a wireless carrier. Hence a brief study of the technical
knowledge of the users also affects the decision of mode of implementation of m-commerce product.
6. DISCUSSIO(S
This paper attempted to establish a methodology for effective implementation of m-commerce product in India. Due
to large cultural difference between India and western countries, implementing a macro level m-commerce product
in India would mean excluding a major segment of Indian population. However most major products launched in
India have been implemented at Macro level only. The case studies presented in this paper provide inferences which
prove that although macro level framework is focused on larger user segments the frequency of transactions that
would be received by a micro level product makes it a better option of generating revenues. The fact that India itself
is a diverse country with many sub cultures should be taken into account by any one intending to develop new m
commerce products. Case studies presented in this paper may be a good starting point for companies to realize that a
user centered methodology is required in order to identify and implement a successful m-commerce product.
Although the importance of cultural factors in India is shown in the paper some companies may still prefer to launch
their products in India at Macro level. Such products must be accompanied by good advertising to make user believe
about the credibility of the product at the micro level living conditions and also make them believe that the product
is made for them and not for the elite, upper income class of Indian society. It also must take into account the
technical limitations and lack of knowledge of the user. It clearly indicates that developing a new product for a
micro level is better and safer choice than trying to adapt an existing macro level product to micro level Indian
segments by making a few tweaks in its design.
7. REFERE(CES
Jeong Ho Yoon (2007), Global Handset Trends 2006-2007, Research of Asia (ROA) group, RO-0011.
Wikipedia article on M-Commerce (2008), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-commerce, Accessed on 10th April 2008

Patricia Harris, Ruth Rettie & Cheung Chak Kwan (2005), Adoption and Usage of m-Commerce: A Cross-
Cultural Comparison of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 6, pp.
210-224.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (March 2006)

Dianne Cyr, Milena Head, Alex Ivanov (2006), “Design aesthetics leading to m-loyalty in mobile
commerce”, Information & Management, Vol. 43, Issue 8, p950-963.

Per E. Pedersen, Leif B. Methlie & Helge Thorbjørnsen, “Understanding mobile commerce end-user adoption: a
triangulation perspective and suggestions for and exploratory service evaluation, Proceedings of the 35th Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences.

VIIT CAUE-2008 39
 (arrowing Digital Divide: 10 Usability Guidelines
Madhumita Gupta1, Hemanth Anumandla2
1,2
Usability Engineering Team
MphasiS an EDS company
Bagmane Technology Park, Byrasandra, C.V. Raman Nagar,Bangalore, INDIA
1
madhumita.gupta@mphasis.com, 2hemanth.anumandla@mphasis.com
1,2
www.mphasis.com
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the role usability could play to bridge the growing digital divide faced by users.
Next, it provides a checklist of 10 quick ways for website developers and designers to create interfaces
that meet the requirements of basic universal usability.
Finally, a collection of resources and web links on these topics have been provided to receive an
enhanced insight into narrowing digital divide.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
1.1 Digital divide: What does it mean?
The term digital divide refers to the gap between the users / people with effective access to digital and information
technology and the people without it. It includes the imbalances in physical access to technology as well as in
resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen. In other words, it is the unequal access by
some members of the society to information and communications technology, and the unequal acquisition of the
related skills.
In simple terms,
“It is about making information and communications services available and usable for every citizen”
1.2 Problems and Challenges
Some of the problems faced because of digital divide:
• Absence of friendly medium of communication: The information provided by most of the governments
through electronic media is not usable by it’s intended audience as this communication is not made available in a
language that they can understand. It is often highly technical non-user friendly and largely multi-lingual without the
due regard to localization.
• (on-Accessible Compliance: Most of the web applications/portals cannot be accessed by persons with
disabilities as they do not support the use of assistive technologies/tools such as customization of GUI, screen
readers, screen magnifiers, and the likes.
• Restricted access due to low Bandwidth: People with low network band width are not able to access the sites
which use heavy graphics and animations.
1.3 A brief history
The term ‘digital divide’ initially referred to gaps in ownership of computers between groups, during which time the
increase of ownership was limited to certain ethnic groups. The term came into regular usage in the mid-1990s,
though the term had previously appeared in several news articles and political speeches as early as 1995 in some of
the important usability forums in the United States.
As Internet access came to be seen as a central aspect of computing, the term's usage shifted to encompass gaps in
not just computer ownerships but also access to the Internet. Recently, users / people started using this term to refer
to gaps in broadband network access. Thus, this term can not only intend to mean unequal access to computer
hardware, but also inequalities between groups of people in the ability to use information technology completely.

VIIT CAUE-2008 40
1.4 External Factors
International studies indicate that a range of social factors influences the existence of a digital divides.
Age: Younger people of age less than 45 are more likely to have access to computer and Internet as compared to
older people. The age also affects the learning capabilities. Thus senior citizens will have special usability
requirements such as increasing font and customizing the UI for enhanced friendliness as compared to the younger
users.
Income: Income slabs play a significant role to determine access to digital information. Higher the income, the more
likely an individual is to have access to computer and Internet.
Education: Educational qualifications are also important in determining access to the Internet and predicting
Internet access. People with lower education are less likely to be connected online. People with lower education
often find it difficult to comprehend the contents of web/applications which are written at a level that requires higher
degrees.
Geography: Geographic location also affects connectivity. People living in metropolitan and urban areas are more
likely to be connected online than people living in rural areas.
1. 5 Digital Divide and Usability
In addition to the above mentioned social factors, another important aspect is predicted to alienate a huge group of
population from Internet’s potential is usability. The usability guru Jakob 7ielson has defined it as the Usability
Divide.
By definition it is the inability of people to use a computer due to complications in technology. It also includes many
others who are unable to achieve the modern world's full benefits because most of the available services are too
difficult for them to understand.
In addition to the factors which are causing digital divide, the interaction designers, information architects and
usability engineers who make incorrect assumptions about target users, their diversity and gaps in knowledge, also
contribute to the usability divide.
2. U(IVERSAL USABILITY - A(SWER TO DIGITAL DIVIDE
Universal usability is one of the solutions currently been discussed to narrow digital divide by allowing digital
information to be accessible to every citizens.
By definition, universal usability refers to the design of information and communications products and services that
are usable for every citizen. The concept has been advocated by Professor Ben Shneiderman, a computer scientist at
the University of Maryland, College Park. He also provided a more practical definition of universal usability –
“having more than 90% of all households as successful users of information and communications services at least
once a week.” In literature, the concept of universal usability (“usable by all”) is closely related to the concepts of
universal accessibility (“accessible by all”) and universal design (“design for all”).
2.1 Who will be benefited?
The fundamental principal of universal usability as defined by Sarah Horton, author of Access by Design: A Guide to
Universal Usability for Web Designers, is to design simply and build well so that maximum diversity of the user
population can access the information. It is important to note that universal usability is not only about providing
accessibility to users with disabilities but also to cater to the needs of a multitude of users with varying backgrounds,
categories, demographics, etc.

VIIT CAUE-2008 41
Table1: Illustration of users affected by usability divide

User Categories Examples

Users with disabilities Blind and low vision users

(limited ability)
Color vision confusion

Cognitively disabled

Auditory impaired

Mobility impaired

Special user groups Children

Elderly

Users with low education

Users with language barriers

Cultural differences

Technology constraints Users with slow connections

Users with low screen resolution

Users with text based browsers

Users using speech recognition for web access via phone

Experiences Novice users

Intermediate users

Experts

2.2. Universal Usability: 10 Guidelines to Follow

Since the nature of the problem is multidimensional, no “one” usability guideline is sufficient. There are
numerous ongoing efforts to each of the universal usability challenges. Here is a consolidated list of guidelines
one should follow while designing universally usable sites.
1. Information comprehensiveness: Information should be accessible to users without vision, without
hearing, without reading, without color perception and without causing seizures. Information includes
content, status and action controls.
Design guidelines:

Ensure accessibility to all essential information including graphics, multimedia
presentations etc via text alone.

Provide access to information via multiple channels like web, phone etc.

Ensure that font sizes and color contrast can be configured in the website.

Ensure that information is quickly locatable within small screen sizes by providing
efficient methods for search and navigation.

VIIT CAUE-2008 42

Provide prerecorded audio for multimedia presentation.
2. Navigability: Provide at least one mode of navigation to all the features without forcing the users to
point, use vision, use speech, respond quickly, use simultaneous actions and use biological parts like
fingerprints, iris, touch etc.
Design guidelines:

Allow users to navigate by using keyboards only.

Allow users to go back or start over while navigating to reduce anxiety of failure.

Avoid placing frequently used functions deep in a menu structure since it requires more
operations and frustrates the users.
3. Minimum articulated needs: Allow users to understand content without having high educational
background, language competency and good memory.
Design guidelines:

Minimize users memory loads, and make the web portal/ application self evident.

Provide a brief introduction of the website in plain language about the purpose of the
website, what can be learned and what are the prerequisite knowledge necessary to use the
website.

Provide a link to the sitemap within the homepage to access desired information.

Provide a definition to unusual terms when first introduced in the content.

Expand acronyms or create a glossary of terms.
4. Operability: Allow users to operate the system without requiring to use vision, hearing, pointing and
prior understanding of the content.
Design guidelines:

Provide auditory response to inform users about changes in state, confirmations or
activation of controls.

The website should look same across all levels to reduce cognitive load.

Provide visual information that is redundant with audible information.

Allow users to configure frequency and volume of audible cues.

Do not design interactions to depend upon the assumption that a user will hear audio
information.
5. Accessibility: Design websites to be compatible with assistive technologies commonly used by
people.
Design guidelines:

Follow accessibility guidelines as specified by Section 508 and W3C recommendations.

Use standard API functions between users and applications so that assistive software can
monitor the state and behavior of applications partly by tracking the use of API functions.

Make use of accessibility support tags (e.g. title (to provide extra information, label (to
associate a form element with it’s label), accesskey (to create shortcuts to form elements) and
alt tags (to give a textual representation of the image)), in HTML.
6. Multiple interfacing: To cater to users with multiple expertise, allow the system to be multi modal or
adaptive based on the user knowledge.
Design guidelines:

Provide keyboard accelerators for expert users.

Allow users to tailor system input and output modalities to their capabilities and
preferences.

VIIT CAUE-2008 43

Provide different search modes (e.g., basic (with support of most used features),
advanced (with full features), and expert (to better support query language users)) to cover
different levels of experience.

Support Unicode to support multiple languages.

Provide voice enabled form filling or content reading for illiterate users.

Design the top level of the interface to include only the basic, simple features in the top
level of menu hiding the more advanced features that are harder to use within deep menus or
"advanced" sections of menu or dialogs.

Provide a help facility to assist novice users without getting in the way of the experts.
7. Contextualization: Provide relevant information to users based on their context of usage. Let users
know what they need to know.
Design guidelines:

Allow for localization by tailoring the content to the specific requirements and needs of
the local audience. Elements to consider include: currency, time and date formatting,
measurements, writing style, and color and image selection.

Use self-explanatory icons or images to help users identify links, navigation structure and
interactions.

Provide content based on the user’s context of use by tracking the search keywords or
types of websites visited.

Allow users to perform quick searches.
8. Aesthetic design: Simplicity induces feeling of trust and security. To build trust and privacy create
aesthetic designs however be sensitive to cultural differences, age differences and geographical
differences. Promoting beauty influences the decision to trust and willingness to use a system.
Design guidelines:

Avoid using colors as the primary carriers of information.

Ensure visual design is simple enough to reduce visual strain.

Keep page layout simple with shallow menu structure.

Ensure that links are well highlighted with appropriate alternate tags.

Use simple languages.
9. Multilingual support: Allow information to be displayed in native languages of your target audience.
This is especially important for e-government and public service sites where the target audience is the
local citizens. To ensure transparency and establish civic engagement at national and local levels, these
sites should be accessible irrespective of educational background.
Design guidelines:

Provide translations to the interface and online help of applications in different
languages.

Ensure that the fonts and their sizes are available in all systems and render correctly
depending on the direction of the language: left-to-right (e.g. English), right-to-left (e.g.
Hebrew), vertical (e.g. Japanese), or bi-directional (e.g. Arabic)).

Create provision for text expansion or contraction on translation by creating fluid
designs. Use tabs to reduce content per frame and use cascading style sheets to incorporate
alternative layout styles.
10. Interoperability: Design for fast loading lightweight compact websites to allow users with low
bandwidth and low resolution to have optimized user experience.
Design guidelines:

VIIT CAUE-2008 44

Allow users to choose the number of search results to be retrieved so that response time
can vary based on network bandwidth.

Provide a text-only version of the interface so that systems using only text based
browsers can effectively use the site.

Design websites which are fast loading, fast displaying and fast navigating by reducing
the page size, restricted use of java and applet programs, using smaller tables and frames,
providing information about downloadable file sizes and testing page performance with slow
connections.

Ensure that pages are readable within small screens by keeping pages small, writing less
text and organizing multi-columns.
3. DIGITAL DIVIDE: WHERE ARE WE HEADI(G TOWARDS?
Given the fact that several organizations and government are working towards bridging digital divide, it is important
to ensure that the digital information is usable to those who have access to it. The technology is improving rapidly,
but the fruits should not be borne only by a certain section of users. Attaining the benefits of universal access to
web-based and other information, communications, entertainment, and government services will require a more
intense commitment to lowering costs, coupled with human-computer interaction research and usability engineering.
At the same time, the interaction designers and the usability engineers should make all efforts to make the
applications and portals accessible by all by following the universal usability principles/guidelines.
The specific guidelines described in this paper may not be complete but it can be a starting point towards universal
usability to narrow digital divide.
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge Dr.Chiranjib Sur and Ms. Tulika Vasisht for fruitful
discussions.
4. REFERE(CES
Gregg Vanderheiden, Fundamental Principles and Priority Setting for Universal Usability, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Kristiina Karvonen, The Beauty of Simplicity, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University of Technology
Gary Perlman, The FirstSearch User Interface Architecture: Universal Access for any User, in many Languages,
on any Platform, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
Ben Shneiderman, Bridging the Digital Divide with Universal Usability, , University of Maryland for ACM
Interactions (March/April 2001) Draft: December 31, 2000
Mobile web to bridge digital divide: http://www.w3.org/2007/04/sb_ist/all.htm#(2)
ACM Conference on Universal Usability (November 2000);http://www.sigchi.org/cuu/
Ron Baecker, Sasha Jovicic, Joanna McGrenere, Gale Moore, Reducing the Gap Between What Users Know and
What They Need to Know, University of Toronto Kellogg Booth: University of British Columbia
David Sloan, Peter Gregor, Murray Rowan, Paul Booth, Accessible Accessibility, University of Dundee
http://www.otal.umd.edu/uupractice
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/digital-divide.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_usability
http://www.otal.umd.edu/uupractice/
http://universalusability.org/

VIIT CAUE-2008 45
Usability: High value proposition for successful e-governance in India.
Kedar Kadam1
1
Usability Engineering, Persistent Systems Limited,
Pune, INDIA
1
kedar_kadam@persistent.co.in / kedarmkadam@gmail.com
1
wwwpersistent.co.in
ABSTRACT
In this paper an approach of using Usability Engineering principles towards the success of e-
governance projects is given. This approach is supported by a case study applied successfully in
completing projects for Pune Municipal Corporation.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
Definition: E-governance is the application of information & communication technologies to transform the
efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational & transactional exchanges with in
government, between govt. & govt. agencies of ational, State, Municipal & Local levels, citizen & businesses, and
to empower citizens through access & use of information.
E-governance as a tool is very powerful to bring IT to the common people and also to streamline all transactions that
take place within the government. Over the past 10 years there has been a steep rise in the computerization of many
departments in the local, state and national level government. However the success rate of the projects is not that
impressive. E-governance projects are fraught with risks and the success rate across the world is not very
encouraging. According to a study and as quoted by Aman Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary to Chief Minister of
Chhattisgarh & CEO, CHiPS; on an average, only 15% of e-governance projects are successful all over the world. If
this is a success rate worldwide, one can only imagine the figure of success in a diverse & populous country like
India.
With the increase in Internet, citizens are learning to explore this new mode of communication. Its potential for
reduced bureaucracy is attractive for all. If these e-governance systems are found difficult to use, it creates a feeling
of mistrust and doubt among citizens.
Usable e-governance systems would result in huge savings for the nation in terms of manpower required for
government activities and also in terms of time invested by citizens for transacting. It can bring in satisfaction for its
users, both citizens & government employees. It can also induce required transparency, thus benefiting the country
at large.
2. SECTIO(S
2.1 Issues in implementing successful e-governance projects in India
On the Government side:

Lack of IT literacy and awareness
The general practice is to obtain the data from the stack of files as and when required. Most of the time, the
computers provided are used for word processing and general internet browsing. The people responsible to provide
information are found to be non cooperative and sometimes simply incompetent. They lack expertise in collecting,
storing & updating information. Hence, the information received from them many times is found to be inadequate
and unreliable.
There is general lack of awareness among government employees regarding benefits of e-governance as well as the
process involved in implementing successful government projects.

Attitude of Government Departments
The attitude and work practices followed in the government are different than those in the industry. Traditionally,
government employees are seen to have an amount of arrogance because of the designations they hold. They are also

VIIT CAUE-2008 46
found to lack knowledge about their responsibility towards the citizens. The feeling that “We can bend any rule” and
“nothing can happen to me” is prevalent across governments. Lack of planning and disrespect of others time &
commitments is also very common. The attitude prevalent over the decades is very difficult to change.

Lack of coordination between departments
There is a lack of central information, which can be updated and used by all departments. Hence synchronization
between departments and offices becomes very difficult. Developing software architecture with half knowledge or
by making assumptions that will then impact another department does not assure a perfect workable system. As a
result the developed system may not completely address the requirements of an e-governance project.

Resistance to re-engineering of departmental processes
It is observed that many departments are person dependent instead of being process dependent. Many functions are
totally dependent on a single person responsible for that work. Sometimes decisions depend upon the judgment of
the person in charge. In such cases the procedures or protocols are sometimes compromised. In actuality, almost all
procedures are found to be flexible, sometimes to suit the citizens but mostly to suit the employees themselves. With
a history of ad hocism it is difficult for a government to function like a professional industrial setup where all
systems & protocols and strictly followed. Due to such flexible processes it is difficult for any e-governance solution
to achieve its intended results.
So in many cases e-governance projects require restructuring in administrative processes and re-engineering of
procedures. This invites resistance from almost all departments and across all levels as it directly affects their
comfort level.

Interference
There is heavy interference by politicians and political parties in the functioning of departments. With the intention
of supporting citizens, the legislative side often interferes in many administrative side activities. Sometimes
employees are burdened with additional work forced on them by the government. Such pressures & inadequate pay,
coupled with the customary attitude builds a strong foundation for reluctance to anything new. Computerization is
seen as additional burden.
On the citizen’s side:

Lack of IT Literacy, government knowledge and awareness
Only a small section of the population is knowledgeable enough to use the e-governance systems effectively and
efficiently. Citizens are also found to lack knowledge about the law, the government department’s role &
responsibilities and their rights as citizens. Awareness about e-governance initiatives taken by the government is
also low.

Attitude of Citizens
The feeling of trust and belief in the government is missing. Due to corruption prevalent in all levels of the system
the government has low credibility. Citizens have pre conceived notions about the ineffective functioning of the
government machinery. The lack of transparency and corruption has inculcated “You can bend any rule,” attitude,
thus involving citizens also in corruption practices. This negative feeling towards the government is a barrier to
technological progress.

Lack of initiative
A small number of citizens take initiative in changing the system. There are very few people who feel responsibility
for the mess around. Citizens working towards the betterment of society are very few. Negative perception about the
government makes them resent all government initiated activities even though they are initiated for betterment of
city and citizens at large.
2.2 Short summary of issues:
In short as discussed above, the e-governance systems are unsuccessful because:

Attitude of citizens & the government employees towards each other is negative

Planning and holistic outlook is poor

VIIT CAUE-2008 47

The needs of users (citizens, government employees, politicians) are not understood well

The real work environment is not considered before development begins

Various tasks are replicated as is and thought is not given to improve the workflow

Instead of re-engineering inherently faulty systems, they are just automated

Bottlenecks are not identified and removed

Updating of systems is not efficient nor regular

2.3 Proposed solution:

There is a serious disconnect between the government and citizens. Due to this problem implementation of e-
governance systems is typically very difficult.
It has been widely accepted that e-governance is critical to support and drive today’s economy with increased
participation from citizens. Due to the influx of media, awareness amongst citizens has gone up. A positive initiative
by the government has been the Right to Information (RTI) act, which makes it mandatory for government
employees to release information requested by citizens. This has enforced possibility of updated and correct
information at their finger tips.
Governments have now recognized that the cost saving benefits of e-governance are big because it streamlines all
procedures and also saves huge amount of time in storing, retrieving & sharing data as well as enhance productivity.
However, it known that the cost of developing these complex systems is high and as discussed above, the reasons for
the system to fail are also plenty.
With this setting Usability Engineering is a fitting solution to counter problems plaguing the development of
such systems.
We can ensure acceptability of e-governance systems being developed by applying the fundamental principles of
usability like:

Firstly understanding the users (citizens & government employees)

Understanding the tasks they want to perform

Developing detailed designs

Conducting usability tests with actual users and making iterations in the design before final development.
If e-governance development is carried out by applying usability principles the following achievements are possible:
1. Increased number of citizens successfully using the system
2. Employees trusting & accepting the system
3. Huge cost benefits in terms of the time saved in finding information and doing online transactions for both
employees & citizens
4. Inducing transparency in government
5. Improving relationship between government & citizens

2.4 Case Study: Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Portal

Persistent Systems Limited, as a social service initiative volunteered to aid the progress of Pune city by providing
support for all e-governance initiatives undertaken by the city corporation.
Based on our research on e-governance in India and experience of implementing similar citizen centric project for
Pune Municipal Transport & the Garden Department earlier, we were determined to apply Usability Engineering
processes to come out with the best solution for citizens of Pune.

VIIT CAUE-2008 48
The project was carried out in the following stages:
1) Understanding Requirements

Analysis (Understanding existing website)

Stakeholder Interviews (What do stakeholders want?)

Survey (What do citizens need?)

Citizen Interviews (What do citizens need?)
2) Iterative Design of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) portal:

An interim portal with partial features: To make quick fix improvements to improve the user experience.

Grievance Redressal System: To design a system enabling effective, efficient & transparent grievance
redressal of citizens.

a. Understanding Requirements: Analysis

We studied the existing Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) portal and tried to identify its offerings. We found that
the home page was cluttered and the internal applications like online property tax, online grievance redressal, online
birth & death certificate etc. were an overwhelming collection of complexity for citizens. The navigation was very
inconsistent. The home page & the inner pages had different designs and navigation. None of the applications or
modules was connected to each other and citizens lost their way as they navigated around. All applications were
erroneous and offered little help to citizens.
b. Understanding Requirements: Stakeholder Interviews
The Usability Lab at Persistent was utilized for conducting stakeholder interviews. We wanted to record these for
further referral. We invited around 20 department heads and officers of PMC for the same. We wanted to gauge their
understanding of the e-governance initiative, of how their department worked, what their expectations were, the
roadblocks in their workflow etc. Many of them gave great insights into the functioning of the corporation and also
provided an exhaustive list of facilities that were offered to citizens and ideas for betterment.
They wished for citizens to appreciate the hard work put in by them. Many of the top officials were highly educated
and tech savvy. Many young engineers were also keen on bringing back credibility to their work. They welcomed
the transparency that would set in after implementing e-governance systems.
c. Understanding Requirements: Survey
We observed that there were scores of citizens coming to the PMC offices everyday. It was necessary to find the
most important tasks performed and to prioritize them. Asking PMC officials would have yielded biased results so
we decided to collect information directly from citizens.
For a week we made the PMC reception maintain a register where they noted the name of the citizen and the reason
for which they visited PMC. Based on the data collected a survey form was prepared. It contained a list of tasks that
citizens would perform at PMC. The citizens were to prioritize them. Around 300 survey forms were distributed
over 15 PMC offices. The results enabled us to identify the most important tasks that people came to PMC for. Refer
Table 1& 2. Surprisingly many citizens were reluctant to fill the form.
Table 1. Survey Result – Top 3 responses from 300 respondents

Reason to visit PMC / Tasks to be performed Responses

1. To pay property tax 266
2. To register a complaint 206
3A. To apply for birth or death certificate 180
3B. To get contact details of PMC employees or departments 180
Table 2. Survey Result – Top 3 priorities from 300 respondents

VIIT CAUE-2008 49
 Priority of features preferred on website Responses
1. Online property tax 180
2. Online registration of complaints/grievances 122
3A. Online application of birth or death certificate 75
3B. Pune city budget information 75

d. Understanding Requirements: User/Citizen interviews

After talking to 20 stakeholders we identified different users groups of the corporation portal broadly as citizens,
businesses and visitors. We then identified users fitting the created personas and individually interviewed them,
trying to find out their expectations from the portal and from PMC. Users ranged from housewives to working
professionals, businessmen to servicemen, elders to youngsters – the future citizens, visitors, students, politicians
and even small children! Some citizens visited our office, but otherwise we interviewed them at their preferred
location. In some cases interviews were conducted over the telephone. Majority of the users were unaware of the
facilities provided by the PMC and also the procedures that are required to avail them. They were also unaware of
the role & responsibilities of various departments and the procedures for getting their grievances redressed.
e. Design: Interim Solution
Overall we observed that there are around 40 departments and sub departments, 14 different ward offices, 144
different electoral wards and thousands of employees. There were hundreds of different & confusing tasks that
citizens could do. There were scores of forms to be filled and certificates that could be requested.
Looking at this scenario we understood that collecting this amount of information and automating will be a
monumental task. So a decision to work on it module by module was taken. Later all modules would be merged into
an umbrella site.
In the meanwhile to provide a temporary relief to citizens we decided to revamp the existing portal. We did a quick
expert review and identified critical flaws. We then redesigned the pages and navigation by making logical
chunks/groups for links. The clutter on the home page was reduced. After checking feedback collected from the
portal, important action items were identified. These were centrally placed for better findability. Unnecessary
information was judiciously cut. A new design and style was suggested. Effort was made to maintain uniformity
throughout the portal.
The new design with simple & consistent navigation helped visitors find required information easily. The new look
& experience pleased citizens. Refer Figure 1.

Figure 1. Screen capture of PMC portal. Before & After User Centered Design

VIIT CAUE-2008 50
 f. Grievance Redressal System:
The first module that we took up was the exhaustive Grievance Redressal System. Some applications like online
property tax payment & online Birth & Death certificate were maintained by other vendors and so we were not able
to modify them.
This module covered almost all departments of PMC and is the one most widely used by citizens. We carried out
contextual enquiry by visiting PMC offices and observing the manual grievance redressal system in place. We
collected many inputs from citizens and from representatives of all departments and engineers who actually work on
the field. Refer Figure 2.

Figure 2. Contextual Enquiry: A citizen sharing his grievance with a ward officer
The pain points in the entire process were identified as:
• Lack of transparency
• Lack of tracking
• Difficulty in coordination between departments & offices
• Lack of reports to seniors.
During design, special attention was given to overcome these issues. The wireframes for each task flow were
carefully prepared. The wireframes of tasks to be performed by citizens were tested with citizens and those to be
performed on the PMC side were tested with engineers. After making required iterations in the design the
development of the system was carried out. The system when ready was tested with 15 citizens & across 10 of the
14 wards offices in Pune. All employees ranging from junior engineers to ward officers were given minimal training
to use the system. Citizens could now put up complaints easily and also track its status online. The system now was
so transparent that any citizen or employee could see the entire history and status of the complaint along with details
of the person responsible to redress that. It also enabled auto escalations to seniors finally reaching up, to the
commissioner. Performance monitoring tools were given to officers and the commissioner. Even when the system
made the entire procedure transparent for citizens and the press to see, all employees willingly accepted it because it
primarily addressed their pain points. The system also made their daily work easy.
This acceptance was evident because the system was developed as required by the actual users: engineers and
citizens.

2.5 Techniques used to face the hurdles during the UCD Process
Government side:
• Resourceful Data Collection: Stake holder interviews & information gathering was difficult as finding the right
person was never easy. Finding them in offices and making them honor the appointment time was almost
impossible. Finally we decided to manually visit the offices and collected data from junior staff rather that
department heads. The key task was identifying efficient senior members, build a great rapport with them and
getting out information as required. Making a few tech savvy seniors a part of the decision process also helped as

VIIT CAUE-2008 51
they then dedicated special time for us. Knowing the local dialect also made the officials comfortable while
coordinating with us. These were a few things practiced for effective data collection from stakeholders.
• Handling Associated Vendors: Other software vendors working for PMC considered us as a threat to their
business. Our social initiative was misunderstood. Hence we had to face many hurdles while collating their systems
on the portal. Involving them in a few meetings with the top officials, sharing some technical tips and building good
public relation, was helpful in handling this issue.
• Keeping Patience: None of the PMC employees ever kept their appointments nor did they respond to e-mails.
Getting undivided attention was also difficult. The respect for others time was totally missing. The work culture of
IT and government is very different. Keeping ones patience and a cool temperament in dealing with this non
corporate culture was the most important challenge to be overcome. We adjusted our working style by coordinating
over phone and doing personal visits rather than expecting e-mail responses. Accepting their shortcomings and
looking at their situation with empathy also helped in keeping our patience.

Developers side:
• The e-governance project was looked upon by many as a non glamorous project. Coordinating with PMC was
also very challenging. So as a solution we chose staff having a sense of responsibility & love towards society in the
development team.
• The careless attitude of the government employees and lack of support hampered the morale of the team. Delay
in gathering information & frequent changes in the specifications, brought in stagnancy as development slowed
down. We then involved the development team in the data gathering process to make them understand the ground
realities. The need for constant motivation was overcome by sharing with the team the motivational messages from
the PMC and Persistent’s seniors. Regular team meetings and outings also kept the bond strong.
2.6 Result
• As mentioned above PMC employees and the citizens eagerly accepted the systems as they saw value and are
now keen on implementing more applications with this approach.
• The newspaper media, publicly accredited the website after comparing it to 10 other e-governance websites
across the city and state. Refer Figure 3.
• This citizen centric e-governance initiative received a boost when the CIO for PMC received the Best CIO in
India for these efforts.

Figure 3. Press release giving a good rating after comparing 10 E-government sites
3. CO(CLUSIO(S
The challenges of implementing an e-governance project in India are abundant. The user size is huge and diverse. A
democracy is a government of the people by the people and for the people, so the expectations of citizens from the
government are very high. In such a scenario when any e-governance system is introduced and is not usable by the
citizens or by government officials, it’s not just a failure but also a waste of citizens hard earned money. Thus, as
seen by the success of the project mentioned above Usability if used to the best of its potential is a virtual guarantee
for successful e-governance in India.

VIIT CAUE-2008 52
Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank Dr. Anand Deshpande - CEO & MD of Persistent Systems
Limited, for supporting this initiative and Mr. Sammeer Chabukswar & Jhumkee Iyengar for providing guidance
throughout this exercise.
He would also like to thank Mr. Pravinsingh Pardeshi, Commisioner of Pune Municipal Corporation & Dr. Anupam
Saraph, CIO of Pune Municipal Corporation, for taking an initiative for effective and efficient implementation of e-
governance at PMC.
4. REFERE(CES
Jhumkee Iyengar, Consultant, Persistent Systems Limited and Ranjit Gadgil, Programme Director, Janwani, ‘User
Centered IT for the Public: A Corporate Partnership in e-Governance,’ Paper Presentation
Vikas Kanungo, Chairman - SPEG (Society for Promotion of e-governance), CMD – Internet Consortium India
Private Limited, e-governance Consultant, ‘Citizen Centric e-governance in India - Strategies for Today, Vision for
Future’ White paper on http://www.egovindia.org
Aman Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary to Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh & CEO, CHiPS, ‘Golden rule for success in
e-governance is dolphins, not whales!’ Article on http://www.taxindiaonline.com
Government of India – Department of Communications & Information Technology
http://mit.gov.in/default.aspx?id=827

VIIT CAUE-2008 53
 Mobile Value Added Services | Usability Perspective
Manisha Belvalkar1 and Preeti Vartak2
1
Usability Research, Pure Information Technology P. Ltd.,
Vasantrao Deshmukh Road, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA

2
Usability Research, Pure Information Technology P. Ltd.,
Vasantrao Deshmukh Road, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA
1
manisha@pureuse.com, 2preeti@pureuse.com
1,2
www.pureuse.com
ABSTRACT
It has always remained a big question that whether usability expert evaluation and testing are suitable
for Mobile value added services. In the study, a mobile value added service (SMS based) was first
evaluated and then tested. It was found that the usability evaluation and testing provided both novel
and useful data for improvement of the service. Based on these and the other results it is now
understood that the usability expert evaluation and testing have considerable face validity in M-VAS
development.
KEYWORDS
Mobile Value Added Service, Telephonic Surveys, User Evaluation, Prototype Testing, Usability
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
1.1 Mobile VAS Industry in India
The Current Mobile VAS industry is estimated at Rs. 5780 crores by end June 2008. The industry is expected to
grow steadily at 70% over the next two years to touch Rs. 9760 crores by end June 2009 and Rs.16520 crores by end
June 2010
In the age of convergence, the prominent growth driver of MVAS would be the consumers’ desire of getting more
from their mobile phone. While among the youth entertainment related services would be popular, the other
consumers would also look for utility based services like location information, mobile commerce (M-Commerce) for
mobile transactions and Local content rich services. Mobile VAS industry in India is undergoing a lot of structural
changes and is poised to grow and contribute greater revenues to the telecom industry in years to come.

1.2 Mobile VAS Revenue Access Modes

Mobile VAS Revenue Access Modes and the estimated revenue generated by end June 2008 are:

Short Message Service (SMS) Platform

Voice Platform

GPRS / WAP Platform

Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) Platform

Multimedia Message Service (MMS) Platform

VIIT CAUE-2008 54
 USSD, 3
GPRS, 8 SMS, 49

Voice, 40

Figure 1. VAS Revenue – Access Modes, Source: eTechnology, Group@IMRB

Though SMS contributes 49% to the overall revenue currently, the percent contribution of different modes is
expected to change in the next few years, with introduction of new technologies like USSD and 3G. Voice platform
is likely to grow further due to availability of vernacular content. Table 1 below shows the comparison of various
VAS access modes on key parameters.
Table 1. Comparative Evaluation | VAS Access Modes.

Parameters SMS Voice GPRS USSD MMS

Costly as user
Cost to Cheaper than is required to Cheaper than Premium SMS
Costly
Customer voice invest at each voice charges
stage

IVR Need to invest

Special MMS
Infrastructure infrastructure is in technology
Cost to Service Infrastructure content needs
already in costly specially infrastructure.
provider already in place to be
place Speech E.g. from 2.5G
developed
recognition to 3G

Low
Low
penetration and
Handset Handset penetration of Handset
Reach high price of
agnostic agnostic GPRS enabled agnostic
MMS enabled
handsets
Handsets

• Limited
• Limited by
by literacy
literacy and
and language
language Usage is
factor Steep learning
Ease of Use Easiest to use factor restricted by
• Difficult curve
• Convenient low availability
to remember
to use than
short code
SMS
and keywords
With telecom
Currently the Growth of
growth Growth of Low cost and
biggest MMS depends
expanding to GPRS is convenience of
contributor and on adoption of
Potential rural and semi pegged on usage would
likely to MMS by
rural areas, allocation of lead to growth
remain so in service
Voice has huge 3G spectrum of USSD
near future providers
potential

VIIT CAUE-2008 55
1.3 Mobile VAS Users in India
Mobile user base in India is growing by about 8.5 million subscribers per month. As low end mobile subscribers are
increasing at a faster rate, SMS service has a large growth potential. Low service awareness, literacy and limited
availability of regional content are hampering growth of MVAS in India.
India has a multi-lingual and multi-cultural population with diverse needs. To ensure growth of MVAS, it is
essential that to understand user profiles and offer relevant access mode and content mix to the users.
1.4 Challenges in Mobile Usability
Mobile user base in India is growing by about 8.5 million subscribers per month. As low end mobile subscribers are
increasing at a faster rate, SMS service has a large growth potential. Low service awareness, literacy and limited
availability of regional content are hampering growth of MVAS in India.
2. MOBILE VALUE ADDED SERVICE | CASE STUDY
2.1 Background and Business Challenges
A major determinant of the success or failure of most systems is the usability of the product, whether it’s a website,
software application, video game or a mobile based interface. A usable system fits the user’s needs, facilitates tasks,
reduces stress, is easy to navigate, meets the user’s expectations and is a joy to use. The client India’s leading
telecom service provider provides an SMS Alert Service to its users to enable them to get the SMS Alerts on topical
issues in entertainment, sports, current affairs etc.
The sequence of operation was as follows –
• Type *XXX# on the main screen (XXX=specific number provided by service provider for that VAS)
• Following message appears – Answer to know more. Eg 5 for News 1. Culture 2. Knowledge 3. Fun 4.
Wellbeing 5. Sports 6.Information 7. Finance
• Type the desired number (e.g. 3)
• Following message appears – 1. Jokes 2. Fun Games 3. Win 4. Did you know? 5. More 0. Back Answer
with the number to select Category. Eg 2 for Knowledge
• Type the desired number (e.g. 3)
• Following message appears – Win: Get daily alerts from XXX to win attractive prizes. To activate,
answer with 1. Rs. XX/month. (XX=amount charged for that service)
Once the user types 1 and sends it across, he gets subscribed to the service. The company has observed through its
monitoring system that there was a significant conversion (nearly 60%) at the activation stage, but poor movement
(nearly 5%) at the initial information stage. Thus, there appeared to be some usability pain points and/or other
perceptual issues that are preventing the users from activating the service. Client wanted to understand all these pain
points resulting in low subscriptions to a sms based service and wanted to find solutions to increase user base.

2.2 Research Objectives and Approach

The business challenges translated the research objectives as follows
• Elimination of usability pain points
• Removal of perceptual blocks
• Improved conversion rate

We suggested conducting the study in three phases:

• Phase 1 – Telephonic Interviews | To Understand overall user experience

VIIT CAUE-2008 56
 • Phase 2 – User Evaluation | Usability Testing of the process
• Phase 3 – Prototype Testing | To select and launch the interface with new user centered design

2.3 Phase 1 – Telephonic Interviews

2.3.1 Telephonic Interviews | Objectives
The objectives of conducting the telephonic research were:
• To understand user experience/ user perceptions of the service
• To identify the users who have dropped out after initiating the activation process
2.3.2 Telephonic Interviews | Execution
Database of customers (initiating subscription by dialing for the service in last two hours) were provided by client.
Customers from the database were chosen randomly and interviewed telephonically. Total 600 customers were
contacted telephonically from the database. The sampling was purposive.
During the interaction with subscribers users who have initiated the subscription process but could not complete the
process were identified. Those users’ experiences while interacting with the interface were recorded for further
analysis.
2.3.3 Telephonic Interviews | Content Analysis
During the content analysis the experience of customers were classified. The pain points were recognized. It was
found that there were various reasons for limited subscription and dropouts. The reasons were as follows:
• Low interest in the service
• Technical errors
• Language barriers
• Low perceived value for money
• Confusing instructions
• Misperception of service
• Accidental dialing

2.3.4 Telephonic Interviews | Way forward

Apart from obtaining the reasons behind not subscribing to the service and varied user experiences, the telephonic
interviews enabled to identify users who had initiated the process of subscription, but did not complete it. These
users were interviewed in the next phase to identify the usability led issues.

2.4 Phase 2 – User Evaluation

2.4.1 User Evaluation | Objectives
The objectives of conducting user evaluation post telephonic research were
• To understand ways to increase stickiness of interface to induce new users for subscription, i.e. increasing
user base of that VAS
• To understand how to engage visitors and convert intention into action and how to encourage users to
explore the service more
• To identify usability roadblocks and ensure seamless activation process for the users

VIIT CAUE-2008 57
2.4.2 User Evaluation | Process Overview
Selected customers who were interviewed in telephonic stage were called up for user evaluation. During this phase
current process of activation were evaluated amongst users using different handsets. User evaluation was followed
by in-depth interviews to understand and covert issues other than usability issues that may prevent the user from
using it. Data gathered during evaluation stage were analyzed quantitatively as well as qualitatively to get rich
recommendations.
2.4.3 User Evaluation | Profiles Studied
The usability tests were conducted by experienced moderator and test support. In the usability test there were 10 test
users. They represented the users and potential users of VAS. Users were identified from phase 1, whereas non-users
were recruited freshly.
Users | They were either subscribers of the VAS or had initiated the activation process of VAS. They were owners
of selected handsets like Nokia1100, Nokia1600, Nokia 6600, Nokia N70, and Motorola L6. There were no gender
restrictions. There was no age restrictions, the respondents were well spread across SEC A, SEC B, SEC C and SEC
D
Non-users | They were not subscribers of the VAS and never initiated the activation process of VAS. They were
owners of selected handsets like Nokia1100, Nokia1600, Nokia 6600, Nokia N70, and Motorola L6. There were no
gender restrictions. There was no age restrictions, the respondents were well spread across SEC A, SEC B, SEC C
and SEC D
2.4.4 User Evaluation | Execution
Recruited respondents were called at a central location. The process of VAS activation was evaluated there on the
basis of usability parameters like memorability, understandability, ease of use and stated satisfaction. During the lab,
predetermined questions were administered to the respondents’ with the help of a discussion guide. Each test lasted
for 1 to 1.5 hours and the entire session was audio and video recorded.
2.4.5 User Evaluation | Study Evaluation
Usability Algorithm | The activation task was evaluated using the following algorithm

= + + +
f Memorability,
Task
success
Time
taken
Stated
satisfaction
Activation
Process Usability Understandability

Figure 2.Usability Algorithm as function of Memorability, Understandability, Task success, Time

taken and Stated Satisfaction

VIIT CAUE-2008 58
Study Evaluation | Different parameters of usability were tested during the lab.

Memorability
Record awareness &
View & Draw Blind areas identified
placement

Understandabi
Address meaning Record expected
lity to link Mystifying areas
service offering

Ease of Use
Difficult functionality
Execute Record ease of use identified

Time Taken
Time consumption matrix
Steps Time recorded
identified

Stated
Rank
Preference Record preference Rejection zone identified

Figure 3.Study Evaluation – Different parameters of usability

2.4.6 User Evaluation | Analysis

Data collected in user evaluation were analyzed by highly experienced usability analysts. During analysis period of
user evaluation barriers to usage as well as barriers to trial were identified.

Barriers to Usage | In the activation process two barriers were found leading to significant roadblocks
• Language Issues, English as a major roadblock for SEC A/B
• VAS is not instant and not effective as expected

Barriers to Trial | Cognitive, conative as well as affective barriers to trail were found during analysis
• Cognitive barrier - Uncertainty about pricing
• Conative barrier - Difficulty in activation Process, Functional Issues
• Affective Barrier - Service not liked

Summing all the barriers it was concluded that the subscription Process not easy for users and non users. There were
functional issues as well as language and usability issues.

VIIT CAUE-2008 59
2.4.7 User Evaluation | Way Forward
Based on the usability test findings, three prototypes of the message (for the step where maximum users drop out
was recorded) were created and put for test in the third phase.
2.5 Phase 3 – Prototype Testing
2.5.1 Prototype Testing | Objectives
The objectives of prototype testing post user evaluation were
• To compare three message options generated by the research team for guiding steps
• To compare ease of activation using the three options
• To evaluate three prototypes based on aided and unaided task success rate
2.5.2 Prototype Testing | Process Overview
Three prototypes of the push message were created incorporating user evaluation findings. Those three prototypes
were tested amongst users and non users in this phase.
2.5.3 Prototype Testing | Profiles Studied
Respondents of the profiles similar to phase 2 – user evaluation, were recruited in this phase. Few users, who were
interviewed in the phase 2, were interviewed again in this round.
2.5.4 Prototype Testing | Execution
Once users were brought to the lab, they were made to go through the following steps sequentially: Respondents
were confirmed on the basis of recruitment criteria and recruited respondents were taken to the set lab.
Prototype 1 was exposed and respondents were asked to activate the VAS on their handsets. Prototype 2 was
exposed and respondents were asked to do the same tasks he did on prototype 1 on prototype 2. Same method
was followed for prototype 3. Usability Questionnaire was administered that made respondent evaluate three
prototypes using monadic assessment and paired comparison assessment. The Usability questionnaire had
questions such as overall rating, attribute rating – monadic, and attribute rating paired comparison. Prototypes
were rotated amongst users in order to avoid any bias. The Lab was conducted by our highly experienced
Usability Analysts. The entire proceeding was video shot and audio recorded.

2.5.5 Prototype Testing | Content Analysis

Data acquired on prototype testing were processed and analyzed. Association of prototypes amongst
respondents was derived after content analysis. Prototype 1 was preferred to prototype 2 and prototype 3.
Prototype 1
• Provides complete information
• Example incorporated for better understanding
• Self explanatory
Prototype 2/3
• Provides complete information, BUT –
• No example
• Not self explanatory
2.5.6 Prototype Testing | Recommendations
Prototype 1 was preferred by respondents. A new push message was designed in which free association was
incorporated and user driven nomenclature was used on the new design.

VIIT CAUE-2008 60
2.6 Results of the Study
The client incorporated suggested changes and started floating newly designed push message, which resulted in
substantial increment in success ratio.
3. CO(CLUSIO(S
Mobile VAS industry in India is undergoing a lot of structural changes. Mobile VAS industry is poised to grow and
contribute greater revenues to the telecom industry. This research suggests that MVASs’ are used differently to
support different personal and social needs and motivations. Developers must consider these issues when designing
MVAS for differing groups. Knowing proper knowledge of target group is extremely necessary while designing the
VAS. Any push message which actually introduces customers with the VAS for the first time needs to be extremely
compelling free from any barrier to cast a spell on the customer. If the customer fails at the very first step of
activation then it does not only leave negative effects on customers’ mind but reduces the scope of increasing user
base. Creating extremely usable activation process is the only way to have huge customer base of mobile value
added service.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank usability analysts of Pure Information Technology Private Limited for
making this project of MVAS a success.
4. REFERE(CE
eTechnology, Group@IMRB for VAS Revenue – Access Modes

VIIT CAUE-2008 61
VIIT CAUE-2008 62
 Theme II
Usability Engineering

VIIT CAUE-2008 63
VIIT CAUE-2008 64
 Industrial Design and Usability: Indifferent (eighbors?
Jhumkee Iyengar1, Nikhil Karwall2
1
Consultant, User In Design
Pune, India
2
Usability Engineer, Persistent Systems
Pune, India
1
jhumkee@runbox.com, 2 nikhil_karwall@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT

In exploring approaches for creating easy to use and joyful products, this paper reviews best practices of
industrial design and usability and attempts an evolved user centered design methodology. This is based on
assessment of advantages, shortcomings and mutually beneficial characteristics of practices applying popular
processes of each field.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
The technological revolution produced artifacts for the consumer while disciplines like industrial design and
usability that evolved thereafter and in that chronology brought them into the hands of the consumer.
Industrial Design successively initiated as well as refined products to be consumer driven. Usability principles
were often needed to make them long-term friends of the user and accordingly the term ‘user friendly’ emerged.
The Usability stream was driven by the science of cognitive and behavioral knowledge. Though ingrained with
a user-focused philosophy, the scientific outlook of this stream sometimes drove it to a point where logic and
analysis took the excitement of both creative design and new technology away.
Today the consumer is an important and participating element of the product creation process, hence there is a
stronger need than ever before to satisfy not just the functional, physical and cognitive requirements of the user,
but also their emotional requirements. The industrial design discipline has much to offer in this regard.
There is thus a need to examine the two disciplines closer with the expectation that if the similarities, overlaps
and gaps are understood and applied towards a unified goal of ease of use and emotional satisfaction, it could
perhaps evolve the design model needed today.

2. VALUE SYSTEMS, CORE COMPETE(CES A(D MARKET DRIVERS

The core values of both industrial design and usability are similar. They both strive to serve the direct needs of
the consumer and ensure that the human element is represented in a product. However, their core competencies
differ considerably. While usability emphasizes on data driven design and the measurable success of user’s
experiences, the emphasis in industrial design is on creative design and the pleasantness of the initial and
successive experience for the consumer.
Their range of responsibilities differs as well. Usability professionals on the one hand are responsible for
designing ease of use into mainly software-based products from a ‘functional’ and behavioral perspective, thus
primarily getting users to achieve their desired goals. Industrial designers on the other hand are responsible for
the functional design of the product as well as its ‘form’ based features (including selection of materials and
textures), which also have an impact on the emotional experience. Thus industrial designers are expected to
exercise a lot of creative freedom in their approach.
Market pulls also significantly affect the design process for products. Characteristics that drive the buying
habits of consumers often sideline the factors guiding the long-term usability of these products. The appearance
of physical products is proven to be amongst the primary factors responsible for their sales, styling of cars and
electronic products being prime examples. But in many cases, well-styled products turn out to be disasters in
terms of ease of use, which unfortunately users tend to find out much later after buying the product. In usability

VIIT CAUE-2008 65
likewise, focus on long-term ease of usage often sidelines the impact of its initial impression. Now since the
buying pattern (sales) of the products is governed by the ‘look and feel’ of these products, while their long-term
usage (service) is governed by ease of use, this inherently leads to certain divergence in focus in the industrial
design and usability processes.
It is this duality between ‘sales’ and ‘service’ aspects, which holds some of the gaps we will see in the next
section. Some interesting industry statistics on purchase versus lifetime costs elaborate this further. The take-
home price of a P.C. is typically only about ten per cent of its lifetime cost. More than half of automobile-dealer
profits come from servicing cars, less than a third from selling new cars (Edgerton, 2007). Thus, despite their
history of difficulties with technology and non-user centric products, consumers’ buying behavior is driven by
the initial experience, the ‘wow’ of the sales angle versus the long-term dependability of the service angle.
However we know that in industry when it comes to new product development, sales and marketing, and not
service is the driver.
3. MODELS A(D METHODOLOGIES
There are numerous methodologies used by industrial designers in order to arrive at innovative solutions. Given
below are two such methodologies commonly used in the ID stream, depicted in Figures 1 and 2:
3.1 Methodology A (IDER Group, UK)
3.1.1 Design Brief: Statement of intent, giving a broad and basic idea of the product to be designed – “design a
digital camera for kids”.
3.1.2 Product Design Specification (PDS): The PDS is a document that broadly describes the desired features of
the product. Designers work with the customer and analyze the market to generate a list of requirements
necessary to produce a successful product. Designers constantly refer back to this document to ensure the
designs are appropriate.
3.1.3 Concept Design: This two-stage process of concept generation and concept evaluation involves drawing
up several viable concept designs which satisfy the requirements of the product outlined in the PDS and then
evaluating them to decide on the most suitable to develop further.
• Concept Generation: Designers capture their ideas for solving the problems listed in PDS by
sketching them on paper. A number of techniques are used in the development of new concepts. At the
end of this stage, the designer is ready with multiple concepts, each resolving multiple problems.
• Concept Evaluation: Once a suitable number of concepts have been generated, the PDS is used as
the basis to choose the most suitable design. This is ideally done by a multifunction design team so
each concept is evaluated from a number of perspectives. The chosen concept will be developed in
detail.
3.1.4 Detailed Design: The chosen concept design is then detailed with all the dimensions and specifications
necessary on a detailed drawing and prototypes are prepared. The designer works closely with the manufacturer
to ensure that the product can be made.
3.1.5 Manufacturing and Testing: The product is manufactured first as a test prototype and tested for all the
important functions it needs to perform. Once proven satisfactory, the product is mass-produced for introduction
in the market and use by the consumer.

Design Product Conce Detaile Manufactur

Brief Design pt Design d Design ing and Testing

Concept Generation Concept Evaluation

Figure 1. Industrial Design Methodology A

VIIT CAUE-2008 66
3.2 Methodology B
A variation of the previous methodology, which differs specifically in the Concept Design stage is a 3 stage
process:
• Concept Generation: The designer generates multiple ideas for each characteristic listed in the PDS,
ultimately preparing clusters of solutions in different directions.
• Preparing Cluster Representatives: The designer chooses a representative from each cluster that is
the ‘best’ amongst them or one that has multiple characteristics of each of the others.
• Final concept realization: Mature concepts are evolved, by merging characteristics of the different
cluster representatives in different ways. A single concept is chosen after scoring them against all
criteria mentioned in the PDS.

Design Product Conce Detaile Manufactu

Brief Design pt Design d Design ring and
Specification Testing

A A

B B
A B
C
C C

Concept Generation Cluster Final Concept

Representatives
Figure 2. Industrial Design Methodology B
And the general User Centered Methodology of Usability used by User Experience practitioners is as shown
below in Figure 3, where analysis is based on cognitive and behavioral knowledge, design is based on this
analysis and refined iteratively with user participation test, and thereafter the design is implemented:

User User Usabilit Detailed

Centered Centered y Testing Design and
Analysis Design Implementatio

Figure 3. User Centered Design Methodology

A broad comparison between ID and Usability methodologies could be viewed as follows in Table 1:

Industrial Design Usability

Analysis and Problem Definition Analysis and Problem Definition

Creative Ideation Developing Scenarios and Personas
Concept Selection Concept Design
Concept Detailing Usability Testing
Prototyping Design Detailing
Market Ready Market Ready

Table 1. Comparison between ID and Usability Methodologies

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VIIT CAUE-2008 68
 4. OVERLAPS, GAPS A(D U(IFICATIO(
Through the above models, we find the essence of both disciplines to be quite similar. Both are strategic and
holistic and both approach the end product as a solution for multiple problems faced by users. Underlying each
is of course an engineering /technology model that forms a basis for industry implementation. Both traverse a
process of transformation, from requirements to concept design to detail design to build.
The essential difference is:
• ID emphasis on multiple concept generation as an outcome of free flowing and creative design
undertaking and thereafter selection of one final design that synthesizes the best of all possible
concepts.
• UE emphasis on a structured approach to arrive at one concept on the basis of user data and its
successive iteration with users to validate it and minimize post release risks.
Differences also exist in the issues that these streams attempt to resolve:
• while in industrial design they are related to cleaning, transportation, ergonomics, form, task
complication etc. of a product,
• in usability they would be related to navigation, interaction, layout, information architecture etc. of a
software product.
Interaction with or observing users while performing the intended tasks form an important basis of the design
process in both cases, though not necessarily to the same extent.
The resulting gaps, emerging from a focus on a single design too early in the usability stream, may imply
inadequate exploration in a ‘pure creative’ and unconstrained mode. This may sideline the enjoyment and fun
component of the experience of using the product, with the entire focus on the dependability (albeit with a high
degree of confidence) of the experience. The creative design exploration approach on the other hand generates
multiples of ideas and concepts using techniques such as Synectics and Semantic studies. This approach can
lead to key ‘design thinking’ capabilities. Such capabilities empower one, to translate needs and requirements
into creative and sometimes out of the box design concepts. These are key contributors of the industrial design
approach often missing in ‘typical’ usability oriented approaches. Similarly, structured design validation in the
usability processes that naturally give it the degree of confidence in its success is often missing in industrial
design approaches.
But we know data driven design works. A confirmed ‘easy to use’ product or software rarely has user
complaints after the product sale. However, we also know that ease of use without the excitement is passé.
Today users’ needs are for a joyful, instinctive and engaging experience. Their tolerance and patience for
complexity is at an all time low. With increasing emphasis on cost savings, we cannot have the luxury of less
than highest confidence in product success in the market anymore.
There is therefore a strong need for an approach that encompasses these gaps and addresses the duality of
consumer needs and industry needs.
Where’s the golden triangle then?

Usa Indu
bility strial
Design

Technology/

Figure 4. The Golden Triangle

The reason for a triangle is that the compliance with engineering and technology capabilities and limitations is a
must. The golden triangle, as shown in Figure 4, therefore needs to combine the best of each of the two

VIIT CAUE-2008 69
disciplines while being based on the engineering and technology foundations. It guides designers towards
evolving not only a ‘user-friendly’ product but a ‘refreshingly different’ one as well.

5. TOWARDS A U(IFIED EDUCATIO( A(D PRACTICE

Our education systems prepare us for a roles basis that often compartmentalizes our thinking to being more
‘specialized’ than the best possible. Therefore as in this case we need to synthesize some of the best practices
and approaches of each to include benefits that each discipline can easily draw from the other, starting right at
the education stage. We must coalesce into a more unifying and practical approach that helps designers arrive at
products addressing users’ needs at multiple levels.
The Usability stream could gain much from the creative methodologies of the Industrial Design field. Given the
inherent complexity of software products and the limited understanding of users of the underlying technology,
these methodologies could be used to evolve interfaces and interactions in very different contexts, such as:
• Consider the ‘metaphoric’ approach towards physical product forms (aggressive/playful/feminine),
which basically cater to the inherent personality of the buyer/user, persuading him to buy the product
just by virtue of identification of its character with himself. Similar approach could be adopted while
defining the kind of interfaces for different users. Interfaces could be developed to specifically cater to
the personality specific needs of different users.
• In a typical User-Centered Design process for a software product, rather than working on a single all-
answers encompassing solution, ideation could be done separately on different aspects of the product.
Developing multiple kinds of solutions for individual issues of navigation, layout, interaction,
presentation etc. and finally merging the best out of them could lead to more innovative solutions.
• Developing new visual elements for on-screen interaction such as kinds of navigation menus,
tabs, buttons, widgets etc. that are intuitive, as well as add an element of innovation and freshness.

The ID discipline through its teachings of emotion based design can also help differentiate between ‘cute and
entertaining’ (nonsensical fun) that sometimes emerges out of new technology discoveries and may not add
value, while integrating ‘pleasurable and enjoyable’ (sensible fun), that adds freshness and joy to the design.
We propose an initial attempt at a methodology for the Usability stream that incorporates ID principles as
shown in Figure 5:

User Product Detailed

Design Specification Design and
Centered
Brief Document with Usage Implementation
Analysis

Creative
Usabil
Exploration and ity
User Centered Testing
Design

Figure 5. The ‘Evolved’ User Centered Design Methodology

Here, creative exploration towards richer design concepts starts from the Design Brief. The user centered
analysis process feeds and helps refine the design concepts. More design concepts would emerge, evolve and
get evaluated through usability testing. The Product Specification Document would thus be a live document that
formulates as the creative exploration and usability testing processes finalize the design concept. It gets frozen
with wire-frame designs and navigation defined, before implementation.

VIIT CAUE-2008 70
The industrial design stream could also add value to its innovative methodologies with inputs from the usability
stream (Malouf):
• Inheriting the structured user inclusive iterative design and validation process that ensures usage
success to a great extent. Using this effectively, the ID stream could avoid excessive focus towards the
creative or emotional aspect of the product leading to degradation of its usability
• Focusing on the behavioral and cognitive understanding of the user groups in addition to the
conventional ‘usage’ oriented study of subjects, in other words, focusing not only on ‘how’ users are
using the product but also ‘why’ they are doing so, for insights into the design.

6. CO(CLUSIO(S
Creating a definition of a successful product is not easy. Ensuring that it emerges successful is harder still. In
viewing some of the differences and similarities between industrial design and usability, it seems both
disciplines stand to gain from each other in addressing the needs of industry today where easy to use, fun and
assured success in the market are all imperative. What we sell today is not the product but the experience with
the product (Buxton, 2007). We believe a careful merger approach of the above two disciplines can achieve this.
Involvement of designers in the usability stream has introduced some perspectives on ‘experience’ and
‘pleasure’ (Overbeeke, Netherlands), which go beyond the functional-usage domain of products. Though this
has initiated a change in perspective, an inclusive process view has still been missing. This paper attempts to
elaborate on such a process.
Industrial Design and Usability are already neighbors; they need to become friendly neighbors by sharing and
accommodating mutually beneficial features that would ultimately lead to evolution of each.

7. REFERE(CES
Edgerton, The New Yorker, UPA July 2007
IDER Group, An Overview of the Design Process
http://www.ider.herts.ac.uk/school/courseware/design/overview/overview.html, University of Hertfordshire,
UK
Tung, Fang-Wu et al, A study on Integrating Interaction Design into Industrial Design Processes, Shih Chien
University, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Malouf, David, Interaction Design and ID: You’re already doing it….don’t you want to know what it’s all
about?, http://www.core77.com/reactor/02.08_ixd.asp
Buxton, Bill, Keynote Address, UPA 2007
Overbeeke Kees et al, Beauty in Usability: Forget about ease of use!, Delft University of Technology,
Netherlands
Norman, Donald. Emotional Design, Basic Books, May 2005

VIIT CAUE-2008 71
Usability Measurement: Some Observations for Object Oriented System
A. K. Malviya1 and Sanjay Kumar Dubey2
Amity School of Engineering & Technology,
Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Sec-125, NOIDA, (U.P.)
1
akmalviya@amity.edu, 2sdube@ase.amity.edu

www.amity.edu
ABSTRACT

These days there is trend of developing object oriented system due to the obvious reasons. Object oriented analysis
and design method has become de-facto standards. Object oriented software development requires a different
approach from traditional development methods. With this in view it is interesting to investigate the usability of
object oriented system. Because usability is one of the important quality factor in almost all quality models. In this
paper we propose model for measurement of usability in terms of characteristics of object oriented system. We also
analyze the impact of this quality factor on design of object oriented system.

Keywords: Usability, HCI, Metrics

1. I(TRODUCTIO(

Today almost every branch of computer science has a presence of object orientation. It is widely accepted fact that
usability is important & hardest quality factor for interactive software systems including traditional GUI-style
applications, websites and the large variety of mobile & PDA interactive services. Unusable user interfaces are
probably the single largest reasons why encompassing interactive systems-computers plus people fail in actual use
(Kline et al., 2006). Accordingly, usability is moving up the list of strategic factors to be dealt with in software
development. This is due to the variety of claims made by software researchers that an object-oriented approach to
software development leads to better productivity, reliability, maintainability, software reusable & increased
extensibility. Numerous studies have been performed in the area of usability measurement over the last decade.

Juristo et al. (2006) presented possible qualification, calculated fro a number of real applications, of the effect of
incorporating certain usability features at desire time. Bevan et al. (1991) discussed & relate different approaches to
usability based on the product, the user, ease of use & acceptability of product for a particular class of users carry
out specific tasks in a specific environment. Bertoa et al. (2006) presented a set of measures to assess the usability of
software components and describe the method followed to obtain and validate them.

A number of research studies have pointed out the wide range of benefits from usability: it improves productivity
and raises team morale reduces training and documentation, costs improves user productivity, increase e-commerce
potential etc. Additionally, the cost/benefit ratio of usability is highly worthwhile. Donahue states that every dollar
spent on usability offers a return of $30.25. There are also studies for e-commerce sites that show that a 5%
improvement in usability could increase revenues by 10-35% (Bertoa et al., 2006).

The remaining part of paper is structured as follows: section 2 describes measurement and metrics. In section 3 we
define usability. Section 4 discusses usability measurement. Where as section 5 provide some observations on
usability measurement for object oriented system. Section 6 provide the conclusion about the paper.

2. METRICS A(D MESUREME(TS

We can not control what we can not measure. This fundamental reality establishes the importance of software
metric. Measurement is fundamental to any engineering discipline and software is no exception. Measurement is the
process by which numbers or symbols are assigned to attributes of entities in the real world in such a way as to
characterize them accordingly to clearly defined rules. Fenton & Pfleeger provide a concise definition: “Formally
we define measurement as a mapping from the empirical world to the formal relational world. Consequently, a

VIIT CAUE-2008 72
measure is the number or symbol assigned to an entity by this mapping in order to characterize an attribute (Kaner et
al., 2004). Software metric is a unit of measurement of a software product or software related process. Usability
analysts need a method to effectively compare and derive meaning from traditional usability metrics. The metrics
that usability experts commonly collect to measure usability across its multiple aspects of effectiveness, efficiency
and satisfaction are generally measured on different scales. Usability metrics are evaluative because they describe
the results of a development effort.

3. WHAT IS USABILITY?

The International Standard Organization (ISO) defines usability as: “The context to which a product can be used by
specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency & satisfaction in a specified context of use”
(ISO/IEC 9216, 1991). This definition is very useful in that it gives implications as to how usable systems should be
developed. Specific users imply that we need to know who the potential users are of a certain system, which is one
of the golden rules within usability-oriented systems development. “Specific goals within an particular
environment” implies that not only the specific tasks that are to be supported by the system, but also the
environment in which these tasks are to be performed, must be taken into consideration by the developers of a
system.

Nielsen (1993) defines usability as containing at least the following aspects: Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability,
Errors and Satisfaction. Löwgren (1993) told that usability is a result of relevance, efficiency, learnability and
attitude. Shackel (1986) presented one of the most widely used definitions of usability. He suggests that a system is
usable to the extent that it is effective, learnable, flexible and subjectively pleasing. The flexible attribute meaning
that the system should allow adaptation to variations in tasks, environments and user competence. Several others
(Gould and Lewis, 1985, Gould, 1988) have provided similar definitions of usability. The ISO definition above
states that the system should be both effective and efficient, whereas Shackel only mentions effectiveness. Thus,
Shackel’s definition lacks a “usefulness” criterion implying that a system could be usable even if it does not support
the “right” tasks. Nielsen makes a clear distinction between usability and utility, which together constitute what he
calls “usefulness”.

4. USABILITY MEASUREME(T

Usability can be measured in beginning, middle and end of development. And it can be measured using end-users,
human factor experts, developers and usability experts (Korpua, 2006). Typically, usability is measured relative to
user’s performance on a given set of test tasks. The most basic measures are based on the definition of usability as a
quality metric viz. success rate, the time of task requires, the error rate & user’s satisfaction. Following are some
popular methods to measure the usability.

4.1 Heuristic evaluation

Heuristic evaluation is an expert inspection method that identifies general usability problems that users can be
expected to encounter when using a product or interface. In heuristic evaluations, a few usability specialists evaluate
an interface design by judging its compliance with a small set of very general design guidelines. It is a quick and
efficient method which can be completed in a few days. Heuristic evaluation, in which reviewers evaluate a system
against high-level heuristics such as ‘be consistent’ or ‘prevent errors’, is used to check and improve the usability of
interfaces (Dix et al., 1998, Nielsen, J. 1992). Jacob Nielsen has made a 10 heuristics list which is commonly used in
heuristic evaluations. These heuristics are still very flexible and can be understood in different ways, so it's not easy
to categorize exactly founded problems in these heuristics (Nielsen, J. 1994).

4.2 Cognitive walkthrough

A more thorough & more expensive way of evaluating the usability of an interface design is called a cognitive
walkthrough. It is a process of going step by step through a product or system design getting reactions from relevant
staff and typically users. Normally one or two members of the design team guide the walkthrough, while one or
more users will comment as the walkthrough proceeds. In a cognitive walkthrough, the evaluators imagine executing
a set of representative tasks using the proposed interface, keystroke by keystroke, mouse click by mouse click. It is
difficult to judge the usability from a design specification (Grudin, J. 1991b). Cognitive walkthrough is can be made

VIIT CAUE-2008 73
in all phases and it only needs one expert to perform the test but it is recommended that same test is done separately
by other experts too. This is made in early phase with screenshots of system or paper Prototypes.
4.3 Diagnostic Recorder for Usability Measurement (DRUM)

DRUM (Macleod et. al, 1993) can be used to diagnostic information from an analysis of a videotape of interaction.
DRUM maintains a database of evaluation specifications, and contextual information together with the results of
analysis for different subjects, tasks and sessions. The data on which the usability metrics are based is recorded from
a variety of sources during evaluation sessions, in which subjects representative of the user community of the
product being tested, carry out tasks that are typical of those the product’s users undertake, in an environment
similar to that in which the product is normally used. The typical characteristics of the product’s users, the tasks they
do, and the environment in which they do them are identified by following the guidance provided in the Usability
Context Analysis Guide.

4.4 Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI)

SUMI (Porteous et al., 1993), Kirakowsky 1996) was developed by the Human Factors Research Group as a
contribution to ESPRIT project, Metrics for Usability Standards in Computing (MUSIC). SUMI has been designed
specifically for how users feel about the system they are using. SUMI is designed to investigate users' perceptions of
the quality of software systems & collect subjective feedback from users about a software product with which they
have some experience. Users are asked to complete a standardized 50-statement psychometric questionnaire. Their
answers are analyzed with the aid of a computer program - SUMISCO. SUMI data provides a usability profile
according to five scales: perceived efficiency, affect (likeability), control, learnability and helpfulness. It also
provides a global assessment of usability.

5. OBSERVATIO(S

The most widespread view in the field of software engineering is that usability is chiefly related to the user interface
(UI). In other words, usability mainly affects the UI and not the rest of the system. Therefore, the good design
practice that separates the UI from the core functionality would be sufficient to support the development of a usable
software system (Juristo et al., 2006).

Numerous studies have been performed to increase the usability of software system by including certain
functionality like feedback, undo, cancel, form/field validation, wizard, user expertise, multilevel help, use of
different languages and alert.

1. The system status feedback is one particular kind of feedback. This usability feature informs users about what is
happening in the system [2]. As the system status feedback functionality increases the overall usability (Ub) of
software system will increase. Thus we can say that

Ub ∝ System status feedback………………………(i)

Here it is interesting to measure (As we know, the class is the fundamental unit in OOSS) the effect of inclusion of
these features in a specific class in terms of design metrics, so that we will able to observe the design impact on
usability.

2. The undo features does undo system actions at several levels. Undo features are very expensive to add to an
existing application that wasn't designed with that capability in mind. Incorporating undo into the initial design of
the program save the developers a substantial amount of work and at the same time resulted in a more elegant,
maintainable solution. It is often very hard to implement undo in application during late stage. Undo may
significantly improve usability as it allows a user to explore, make mistakes and easily go some steps back;
facilitating learning the application's functionality. As this features increases in the system, the usability of the
system will increase. Thus we can say that

Ub ∝ Undo………………………………………… (ii)
3. Cancellation is an important usability feature, whose value is well known to UI specialists. Users require
the capability to cancel an active command for most commands. Once a command has been cancelled, the system

VIIT CAUE-2008 74
should be in the state it was in prior to the issuance of the command. This feature must be built into the system from
its inception rather than added after an initial system design and user interface has been achieved. As this feature
increases, the usability also increases. Thus we can say that
Ub ∝ Cancel……………………………………….. (iii)
4. Forms are the most interactive aspects of any software. They collect visitor information in an application
form. This interaction makes form usability a critical concern for designer of software system. From a usability
viewpoint, the worst-case scenario is a visitor who fills in and submits a form but fails to achieve the expected
result. The most common cause of such a failure is incomplete or inappropriate data input from the visitor. & we can
remove it by providing clear instructions, identifying required fields, validate the data entry & by providing
meaningful errors. Form/field validation improves data input for users and software correction as soon as possible.
Thus we can say that

Ub ∝ Form/field validation………………………… (iv)

5. User expertise is about the "ability to use" when interacting with the product, service, environment or
facility’ and we point out that ‘it is a consequence of the presentation, functionality, system performance, interactive
behaviour, and assistive capabilities of the interactive system. It includes all aspects of usability and desirability of a
product, system or service from the user’s perspective’. Usability of any software system increase by increasing the
level of user’s expertise. Thus we can say that

Ub ∝ User expertise………………………………… (v)

6. Help feature is an integral component of software products, is probably the most useful user assistance
system. Multilevel help provides different help levels for different users when they use software system. Thus we
can say that

Ub ∝ Multilevel help………………………………. (vi)

7. Alert provides facility to warn the user about an action with important consequences. As this feature
increases in the system, the usability of system increases. Thus we can say that

Ub ∝ Alert………………………………………… (vii)

From equation (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), and (vii) we get

Ub ∝ System status feedback x Undo x Cancel x Form/field validation x User

expertise x Multilevel help x Alert………….. (viii)

Ub = K x (System status feedback x Undo x Cancel x Form/field validation x User

expertise x Multilevel help x Alert)

Where K is the constant derived from the experience of developers and the level of CMM of the organization.

6. CO(CLUSIO(

In this paper we proposed the model of usability that depicts the relationship between usability features and usability
of the system also. Different measurement assessment of usability and some commercial tools and methods for
usability measurement also discussed. Some usability models allow us to describe completely the usability of system
by observing facts but most software developer do not apply correctly any particular model in usability
measurement, so usability is not strongly integrated into software engineering practices. We need to take account in
this direction. It is very interesting to make the relationship between object oriented design metrics and features of
usability. In future we will measure the affect hierarchy of class and the inclusion of usability feature in that class.

VIIT CAUE-2008 75
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 User Interface Design for a portable X-Ray system – a case study using
prototypes & user data elicitation technique.
S.Nitish, Prof Pradeep Yammiyavar
Design Department, IIT Guwahati
Guwahati, Assam, India
s.sivaramakrishnan@iitg.ernet.in, pradeep@iitg.ernet.in
www.iitg.ernet.in

ABSTRACT
In this paper we present how we developed and improved the user interface for a portable x-ray system using
Usability Engineering principles. We use a sample part of the user interface for the medical equipment in the exam
room to illustrate different stages of our methodology.
Starting with a task analysis several iterations of designing, prototyping and usability testing were done. This case
study showed that by involving end users and making them interact with high –fidelity prototype Interfaces in a
realistic environment resulted in lower cycle time and more efficient layouts.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
The project presented here is about developing an improved user interface for the operating panel for portable x-ray
system. This system, a portable X-ray system, is used to take x-ray in a verity of situations. The starting point was
the existing user interface of the current system, which – according to customers and experts – offered room for
improvement.
Fortunately, management was willing to change this situation, so we went ahead with a thorough analysis of the
current user interface in the field and a subsequent redesign project. During this project we went through different
phases involving users, internal company experts and user representatives, and finally came up with an improved UI,
which can be implemented in the product.

2. SECTIO(S
2.1Description of the Problem:
During re-designing an already existing interface, various issues that bias both the designer as well as the current
users exist.
The interventional medical environment is very different from the environment found in a factory, in research or in
an office setting. For instance, in an angiography room, the primary task and focus of the performing physician is to
cure the patient in front of him/her of a disease. Operating the X-ray system tube head through the user interface in
the exam room is only a necessary tool to determine the medical state of the patient and to get the image of the
region affected/required itself. Therefore the UI of the equipment needs to be very intuitive, so as not to hinder the
user’s main tasks.
Designing an ergonomic and easy-to-use hardware UI for angiography systems provides quite a few challenges:
Interventions take place in a sterile environment, which means that the UI is covered by a sterile plastic material,
while the users additionally wear sterile gloves. This eliminates the possibility of using certain UI elements (e.g.
trackballs) from the start. For the designer existing product’s engineering constrains such as form , electrical
interconnections, materials processes etc have to be necessarily considered and act as constraints that reduce the
designers creative freedom.
The goal of this project was to improve the usability and ergonomics of the existing UI, and not to develop a
completely new UI for a totally new application. Given this, the project team also had to keep in mind that people

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get used to a certain way of operating a system. A lot of users might find it difficult to adjust if changes are too
disruptive.
In a medical environment, safety requirements and regulations are important factors that also impose some
restrictions on designing user interaction and user interface elements. The hardware itself needs to be splash proof
and cleanable with alcohol.
Finally, the newly designed user interface should not result in excessive hardware costs.
2.2Methods
To cope with the challenges described above, we employed an iterative process for designing the new user interface
for the tube head of the portable X-ray system. The following methods were used throughout this process (Figure 1)
2.2.1Task Analysis
As a sound basis for the upcoming design of a new user interface, we needed to thoroughly analyze our users’
workflows on a variety of clinical sites, encompassing different users and different fields of usage.
Field observation was adopted as the study methodology in our user task analysis (Kirwan & Ainsworth, 1992). We
gathered additional information in semi-structured interviews during on-site visits and using questionnaires. 2
hospitals were visited, with 1 day spent in each. Observations were distributed among the different medical
applications (radiology etc.) and user groups (physicians, techs, and staff). We were specifically interested in a
systematic, representative description of system use objective statements on user and system requirements and a
reliable means of prioritizing design issues.
Task analysis supports quantitative comparisons across sites:
How many people perform a certain action?
How many people does a weak point affect?

It is less well suited for quantitative analysis within sites, though:

How often does a specific physician move the tube head?
How many times is a certain system feature used?

The reason for avoiding quantification within sites is the naturalistic character of on-site observations. Observations
in the real world are necessarily less controlled than staged examinations in a lab. This creates a large variability in
the observed data, which makes quantitative analysis statistically unsound.

Task analysis supports counting of users’ actions:

How many times does a person press the reset button?
How many times does he set values for the kV and mAs?
How many times does he go with the existing values?

Task analysis does not support counting of users’ operations, i.e. the individual system interactions they need to
perform in order to fulfill an intention:
How often does the physician move the tube head?
How often does the technician press one specific button?
The reason for avoiding quantification at the operations level is the amount of time required for this kind of data
analysis. Thorough coding and analysis of video data requires at least 10 times the duration of the original video
source.

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Quantitative comparisons within sites on operations level require more controlled environments, e. g. usability
testing.
The results of our task analysis were:
Quantitative data – importance of work steps and design issues
Workflow diagrams – detailed visual representation of work habits
User profiles – actual users of the system, as a basis for generating prototype user profiles (personae)
Workflow diagrams were modeled (Balbo, Ozkan & Paris, 2004) using the K3 method (Foltz, Killich & Wolf,
2000).
K3 is a UML dialect for modeling cooperative, human work.
The data collected through observations was enhanced through interviews with physicians and medical staff. We
specifically asked them about their level of experience with X-ray systems, as well as their opinion on positive and
negative aspects of the current system.
2.2.2Design Workshops
In coming up with ideas for new interfaces, design workshops facilitate the creative process from user requirements
to design. Results of the task analysis were transformed into scenarios, and, focusing on the most severe problems
found in the clinical environment, visual designers of both software and hardware got together with usability experts
and developers. Five complete workshop days were planned to address all issues at hand.
2.2.3Prototyping
In interface design practice a prototype is defined as an easily modifiable model that represents and demonstrates a
planned design concept.
Prototyping is much like a rough draft of a document. It allows a designer to refine ideas, correct errors and permit
human-interaction measurements. .
It is a working model to test users’ reaction during design iteration cycles. In web and software interface design
prototypes can be used to not only test but also examine the appropriateness of design elements such as aesthetics,
layout, ergonomics, interaction patterns and semantics of communication.
Usability professionals often test hypothesis, ideas and design concepts using prototypes by observing users as they
make mistakes while performing ‘ tasks’ typical of intended use of the product in a controlled context.
Usability problems get identified much earlier in the design morphology of a product. Prototyping thus has many
objectives including evaluation, functional audit and user acceptance. One of the useful outputs of using prototyping
usability tests is the formation and refinement of design specifications which tend to get mixed up with or get lost in
technical or engineering jargon. .
For example a function defined in specifications as a numeric value may originate in standards but while testing it
may not be efficient for a user.
A prototype needs to be at a level that allows communication fidelity of the design concept without to much of
ambiguity. Fidelity in an interface testing prototype is a notion that at its most abstract level it implies a truthful
connection that reflects faithfulness to a final design. It is therefore important for a designer of interfaces to
gradually increase the fidelity level of a prototype as it passes through several stages towards a final version.
Aesthetics may not be a prime requirement to be fulfilled for a prototype at the initial level of testing. According to
Wong 1992, low fidelity representations such as sketches differed from the final [product in interaction patterns,
visual appearance and level of detail. Quick low- fidelity prototyping permits designers and users under test to focus
on high level if interaction thereby providing clues for the underlying information architecture. (Black –10990;
Landay et al 2001; Wong- 1992).
From the user’s side, the ability to give feedbacks and suggestions to the designer is influenced by the sum total of
all previous experiences with the existing product. A design feature that is not appropriate can be categorized as a
good feature by sheer force of habit of use for the user who probably does not find anything wrong.

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In such situations a simulated prototype, usually a paper prototype issued by designers for the purpose of discourse,
data elicitation, user interviews etc. Low-fidelity and high fidelity prototyping was used throughout our design
process.
For the first internal presentations, initially paper prototypes and following that electronic renderings based on the
results of the design workshops were created. These “low-fidelity prototypes” were used to get a consensus on what
solutions to elaborate further.
The next sets of low-fidelity prototypes were built as 3D mockups. These plastic models were able to convey the
visual and haptic appearance of the user interface elements, but provided no functionality.
Our high-fidelity prototypes gave a pretty close impression of the appearance and haptics of the final user interface.
The most important aspect, though, was that these prototypes provided complete functionality and could be
connected to a fully functioning system as a replacement for the existing user interface in a laboratory or clinical
environment.
2.2.4Usability Testing
To get detailed feedback on the ergonomics of the new user interfaces, usability testing (Nielsen, 1994) was
conducted.
Users for the first iteration were drawn from user representatives. These “application specialists” are technologists
by training and are in close contact with end users at customers’ sites, through their work holding training courses
and assisting in adjusting newly installed systems according to the users’ needs. Thus these user representatives have
a profound knowledge of their customers’ procedures, needs and wishes.
For the second iteration, actual physicians were invited to participate in usability testing sessions. Each session
lasted 15 to 30 minutes depending on the medical application.
A crucial aspect of both usability testing phases was to provide a realistic environment that closely resembled the
actual context of use in the clinical environment. To achieve this, the usability tests were performed in the hospital
itself.
The lab environment and the nature of the tasks in the usability tests posed some technical challenges. For instance,
to allow accurate observation of the users working with the system, 2 observers were at place recording the sequence
of events and its details.
In addition to observing the users interacting with the system, the AttrakDiff (Hassenzahl, Burmester & Beu, 2001)
questionnaire was used to assess the users’ impression of the new interface. For a system in use in radiology daily
work, even subtle differences in perceived attractiveness (e.g. ergonomic quality, hedonic quality) do affect the
users’ effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.
At the conclusion of each testing session, we asked the participants to give their subjective statements on the most
important positive and negative aspects of the new UI.
2.3Designing the User Interface of the X ray tube unit:

Figure 1. The figure showing the entire design process .

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2.3.1Step 1: Understand the Users’ eeds
Through side discussions with customers, some members of the team already had an idea of issues regarding the
ergonomics of the existing UI. To keep the data collection phase free from preconceptions based on that knowledge,
new members were introduced into the team, specifically to perform the task analysis. That part of the team also did
not study too many details of current UI solutions and the technical restrictions of the radiology system beforehand.
A pilot study was performed on a customer site near the manufacturer’s site to evaluate the method and refine
interviews and questionnaires. After that, 3 more hospitals were visited to observe physicians and staff using the
radiology system in the exam room. While the focus was on the operation of the X-ray system using the controls on
the tube head, other aspects of the overall workflow and workspace were also observed and recorded. The outcome
of the task analysis can be summarized as follows:
4 sites visited (3 in Bangalore, 1 in Chennai)
1 to 2 hours spent at each site
10 cases observed
30 pages of hand written notes
12 entries in weak point table
7 unique workflows
When we began the study, we expected to find differences among the sites depending on the medical application.
Instead, we found four distinct interaction styles. How well the medical equipment supports the users in their clinical
tasks is very much dependent on how the workflow is organized among users.
Our findings were presented to application specialists and validated. These user representatives gave additional input
on the importance of individual issues.
2.3.2Step 2: Design ew UI Solutions
The weak points in the current user interface, which we inferred from the on-site observations, were rated according
to their frequency and a severity rating from our usability experts. A list of the most severe problems was compiled
and used throughout the design phase. This list was also used to check if the newly derived user interface elements
addressed these most important weak points.
A two-day workshop was held with internal experts and user representatives to brainstorm ideas on eliminating the
flaws in the current UI. It turned out that some ideas would not only address the user interface itself but major parts
of the whole equipment, e.g. the way the tube head is positioned and the x-ray machine is positioned in the room and
relative to the user using the machine.
Before starting off the design phase, we took a few typical workflows from the task analysis and transformed them
into narrative scenarios. These included the most common tasks for different user roles, which served as background
for creating new interface solutions. Sketches from the brainstorming workshop were also used as material for a
design workshop.
During the design workshop, a design “philosophy” was agreed on in order to improve on the drawbacks of the
current UI. The following guidelines were stated:
• Resemble shape
• Increase and decrease according to actual adjustments.
• As most of the users are right handed the controls must be placed accordingly
• Use color and light as a means for user guidance

In the following five-day design workshop, we came up with several ideas on individual UI elements. In internal
reviews with product managers, based on 2D renderings of the new UI, it was decided which ideas to pursue in the
following process.

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2.3.3 Step 3: Low-Fidelity Prototyping and First User Feedback
The most promising solutions were put into 3D, and plastic models were built. These low-fidelity prototypes didn’t
allow any actual movement of the controls. They were meant to give a first-hand impression shapes and sizes.
The low-fidelity prototypes were set up in a lab-like environment at our facility. To resemble the actual work
environment as closely as possible, sterile covers were put over them. The new UI was then presented to several
groups of end users and user representatives. They had the chance to touch and feel the controls and discuss pros and
cons. These comments were sorted by frequency and severity.
The first iteration led to improved shapes and a smaller size. After a second iteration of user feedback, the refined
design was taken to the next stage.
2.3.4 Step 4: High-Fidelity Prototyping
We now planned to get a better assessment of the quality of interaction with our new UI. To do this, we needed
high-fidelity prototypes that provided all the necessary functions for a formal usability test. Together with hardware
experts we went into a much more detailed definition of the UI. Exact positions of displays and push buttons, labels
and symbols etc. were specified, as well as technical requirements. The prototypes were to be connected to a fully
functional radiology tube head system. As saving development time and cost was an issue, existing electronics and
interfaces were partially reused, leading to some compromises:
The first high-fidelity prototype did feature the shapes of the raised buttons as we designed them, but the push
buttons were not located at the final positions. The covers did not have the final design, and not all functions were
working correctly when the UI was connected to the system.
In addition to this there was a proposal as to integrate a new GUI for the touch screen that is part of our UI to the
hardware prototypes. One major aspect here was using the touch screen as a touch pad within certain applications
(e.g. for controlling a mouse pointer on an image display). But due to some technicalities that arose in the course of
discussion this concept was decided to be left out, and this concept will be considered in the next version of the
product.
2.3.5 Step 5: Usability Testing With User Representatives
With the working high-fidelity UI prototypes we performed a formal usability test with experts and application
specialists in the fields of radiology.
All participants qualified as user representatives while – with one exception – not being actual users of radiology
systems. Our aim, though, was to get detailed data on the usability of the new UI, before inviting actual end users
(i.e. customers) to take part in usability testing.
The usability test was performed in a simulated lab environment at our facility. We used phantoms to represent the
patient and made it possible to enact the setup for the usability testing.
Sterile covers and gloves were used during the test scenarios. As for the tasks the participants had to fulfill, we used
scenarios from the initial phases of our study.
We had six participants taking part in the usability test. Session duration was 20 minutes on average. The main focus
was on observing difficulties in performing the task and operating the system. Interviews and questionnaires were
used to gather data on the participants’ experience with operating radiology systems, and on their subjective
impression of the new UI.
2.3.6 Step 6: Modify the Design and Produce Improved High-Fidelity Prototypes
The most severe weak points found during usability testing were addressed. While some problems observed were
largely artifacts due to the high-fidelity prototypes not being exactly as specified, a few major issues resulted from
design decisions taken in an earlier phase.
The design was adjusted accordingly and a second set of functional prototypes was built. This time, the positions of
push buttons and the cover of the modules were manufactured according to the design.

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2.3.7 Step 7: Don’t Take a Chance: Usability Testing with Physicians
We conducted the second usability test in the same environment and under the same conditions as described in step
5. This time – instead of user representatives – actual physicians were invited to our lab.
3 medical doctors from the fields of radiology took part in the usability test. Most of them had several years of work
experience (3-4 years on average) and were familiar with portable radiology tube head systems by other
manufacturers as well as with our current system. Sessions lasted 20 to 30 minutes.
It emerged very clearly that the most severe issues of the previous test were not present anymore in the improved UI.
Naturally, minor findings still occurred, but the general concept proved to be a success.
The results of the two usability tests were compared with each other to determine the extent of the improvement. A
comparison with the existing UI (prior to our project) was also made.
2.3.8 Step 8: Specify the Final User Interface
Taking up the minor issues ensuing from the usability test with customers, we defined a few small changes to some
of the UI elements. The overall concept was kept, in the knowledge that it would provide a definitive improvement
over the UI currently implemented in the system. Specifying the final requirements for the user interface was the last
step before starting development of the product version.

2.4Findings
To give a more detailed idea of the content of our work, we will now discuss one part of the UI as an example.
When working with a radiology system, one of the tasks is to collimate the X-ray image: the visible part of the
image is mechanically restricted to the region of interest. This helps to reduce radiation and also to improve the
image quality, because focusing only on the currently relevant region of the anatomy facilitates the automated tuning
of contrast and brightness.
For the task of collimating, both the previous UI and the redesigned UI provide a module that houses several
displays and push buttons. While the old version technically provides the functionality needed, on the basis of our
field research, customer feedback and our own experience, its usability could be improved.
Three major problems were:
1. The first major problem was that there was frequent crossing over of hands by the user as the reset button
was placed to the right hand top and the adjustments involving the increase and decrease of the kV and the mAs .A
person using the right hand cannot simultaneously operate both mAs and kV.
2. The positions of the increase and decrease buttons were more illogically placed as left and right rather than
placing it as up and down buttons.
3. The third problem that users face was that the buttons necessary to collimate the x-ray was much away
from the user and the user faced accessibility problems. This factor was under due consideration apart form the
interface design itself.

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 There are 2 sets of buttons on the module for operating collimators and filters. They all look and feel completely
alike, so they get confused very easily.
In our new design, we followed the philosophy stated above (Step 2 of Designing the User Interface). Major
properties of the new module are:
The shape and position of the buttons are strategic and very obvious for the user to use.
The orientations and the handedness of the buttons were made easier and the display screens were made larger to
increase visibility.
.The effects of these changes were impressive. While none of the users was told about the newly implemented
possibility of reorienting the buttons, each one of them found out immediately and didn’t have any trouble in
differentiating between adjusting the voltage and the current separately. Also, without even actually using it, every
user was able to tell which button was responsible for what part of the collimators and filters.
The end users' assessments of the overall result ranged from “the direction is right” to “a vast Improvement”. The
new concept will be implemented step-wise in the product. The touch screen, which was rated very well by the
participants in the usability test, will be implemented in the next product version together with some small changes
in the remaining modules.

3. CO(CLUSIO(S
As to the first part of the study, analyzing workflows at a variety of sites with different users and different fields of
usage generated distinct workflow diagrams. “Superimposing” these workflows on top of each other, allowed us to
see common trends in work patterns across teams. Consideration of the context of use – encompassing different
users and different fields of usage – enabled us to design better solutions without adding new weak points. Including
competitors’ products in our analysis helped us recognize whether the observed workflows were merely artifacts of
our current system design.
After the initial design phase, we evaluated the workflow with the UI as it was improved at each step of the
development process. This allowed a good appreciation of the improvements made from step to step. It also helped
us recognize erroneous decisions that were made in the process and avoid them in the next step.
Involving internal company experts and user representatives in the concept phase and in the first usability test helped
to save time, as we were able to eliminate one iteration with end users. Testing with real users in the medical domain
causes quite some effort, as expectations regarding the state of a new product are very high.
To make efficient use of a physician’s expertise it is beneficial to allow detailed and realistic interactions. In
contrast, paper prototypes can be useful for assessing whether the general approach of a new concept is correct, but
it’s not possible to reliably rate its ergonomic quality based on that alone. Our process of gradually increasing the
level of detail represented in the prototypes helped us start off with reasonable costs and still come up with high-
fidelity prototypes that were pretty close to a final product. The data from the second usability test on the actual
usability of the new UI would not have been available using only low fidelity prototypes.
Working with application specialists in several phases of the project proved effective because of their profound
knowledge of procedures, customers and their wishes and requirements. Embedding the new prototypes in a realistic
scenario gave us detailed and exact information on what parts to change and how. This process proved to be
successful as no issues of the highest severity rating occurred in the final usability test with customers.

Acknowledgements: We’d like to thank everyone involved in the project for their enthusiasm and efforts. Among
the large number of people involved, we'd specifically like to express our gratitude to the support staff of St.John’s
hospital (Bangalore), and Hindu mission hospital (Chennai). Our very special thanks go to the participants in the
field study in hospitals: physicians, techs, and staff – and last but not least the patients who didn’t object to having
us in the examination room.
Finally we would like to thank TDI group Bangalore, for providing the opportunity to help carry out the studies at
various places.

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 4. REFERE(CES

Balbo, S., Ozkan, N. and Paris, C. (2004). Choosing the Right Task-Modeling Notation: A Taxonomy. In Diaper, D.
and Stenton, N. A. (Eds.). The Handbook of Task Analysis For Human-Computer Interaction,
445-465.

Foltz, C., Killich, S. and Wolf, M. (2000). K3 User Guide. Aachen: Institut für Arbeitswissenschaft (IAW) der
RWTH Aachen.

Hassenzahl, M., Burmester, M. and Beu, A. (2001). Engineering Joy. IEEE Software, 1&2, 70-76.

Kirwan, B. and Ainsworth, L. K. (Eds.) (1992). A Guide to Task Analysis. London: Taylor and Francis.

Philipp Quaet-Faslem and Judith Regn, (2007), User Interface Design for Interventional X-Ray Systems

Nielsen, J. (1994). Usability Engineering. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.

User Interface Design for Interventional X-Ray Systems

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 Font Selection Menus: Are they usable?
Suchit Dubey, Subhrajit Das
Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati, INDIA
suchit@iitg.ernet.in, s.das@iitg.ernet.in
http://www.iitg.ac.in/design/index.htm
ABSTRACT
We analyse the usability of Font Selection Menus (FSM) of professional graphic design softwares. A
usability test was conducted with a sample of design students of Indian Institute of Technology
Guwahati. The experiment highlighted that the huge quantity of fonts were difficult to be managed
and to be used effectively with the current menus. Finally we proposed an alternative menu design to
address some of the problems faced by the users of graphic design software.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
TM
Adobe Illustrator is software for professional graphical designers. A graphic designer uses typography, visual arts
and page layout techniques to produce the final result. The successive versions of Adobe Illustrator TM have seen
considerable changes in the Graphical User Interface and menu designs; however the Font Selection Menu (FSM)
has been unchanged. The designers use the menu for the selection of typefaces, point size, leading (line spacing),
letter-spacing (tracking), kerning etc and the existing design of FSM poses obstacles for the users of different
expertise. We conducted a usability audit in the usability engineering lab at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Guwahati to identify the problems related to FSM and propose alternate solutions.
2. FO(T MA(AGEME(T
Users are overwhelmed by the constantly growing quantity of fonts. A number of fonts are available on the internet
for free downloads and trial. The users select the fonts according the tasks at hand. For example, if the designer has
to design a poster for an invitation to a conference he uses formal fonts like Verdana or Times New Roman.
Similarly, for designing a poster on retro theme, he uses grunge fonts like 28 days later, trashed etc. Users tend to
find fonts on basis of usage such as making posters, ads, books etc. They might use the fonts on the basis of themes
such as cool, casual, fun or techno; by inspiration such as serif, san serif, script or even different languages such as
Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati etc.

Figure 1. A few possible User defined categories of fonts

3. FO(T SELECTO( ME(US
Any word processor or graphic design software requires FSMs. We studied Adobe Illustrator CS3 TM, Adobe
Photoshop CS3 TM and MS Word 07 TM and found that they list the fonts alphabetically. Newly installed fonts get
alphabetically arranged and it becomes difficult to find them. There is an abrupt transition in the visual mode of the
software as the fonts are arranged in a linear and alphabetic mode (Figure 2). The user can see the text in the desired

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font by clicking in the menu. The linear and alphabetic mode imposed by today’s font search tools is also frustrating
since it does not provide any logical order of the fonts.

Figure 2. The font selection menu of Microsoft Word 2007

4. USER TESTI(G
4.1 People
We used an opportunistic sample of 15 people. They were a mix of graduate and postgraduate students of
Department of Design at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. Twelve were male and the age range was 18-25
years old. We classified them into three groups of varying software proficiency. The groups were novice, moderate
and expert. There were five people in each group. They were familiar with the QWERTY keyboard layout, and used
it daily.

Figure 3. The pie chart depicting the various users

4.2 Activity
Two experiments were conducted to identify the problems of the existing FSM in Adobe Illustrator CS3 TM. In the
first experiment the test subjects were asked to write a line of text in the font which best describes their personality.
In the second experiment the subjects were asked to design a poster which contained three groups of text. The first
group was to be written in a serif font and the second in a san serif font. The subjects were asked to write the third
group of text in the font which had the characteristic of keyword “history”. The experimenter had previously defined

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certain fonts with specific characteristics in the “history” section. As shown in the figure 4. The subjects were asked
to fill a post test questionnaire on their experiences of using the FSM.

Figure 4. The experimenter defined history fonts

4.3 Context
Participants were seated at a viewing distance of approximately 70 cm from the computer. This was located at a
standard desk in a shared lab – a reasonably naturalistic environment, and the equipment felt to the users like a
normal PC.
4.4 Observations
The completion times of the subjects are given in the figure 5. The expert subjects preferred going to the primary
FSM to select their fonts. The primary FSM does not show the preview of the selected text as the workspace is
occupied by the drop down list. The expert subjects then used the secondary FSM. The secondary FSM doesn’t
show the preview of the font, therefore the subjects tried a few font options before proceeding to their selection. In
the second experiment, the majority subjects chose the Arial font for the san serif option. Times New Roman and
Charlemagne were selected by most for the serif and the “history” option respectively.

Figure 5. The test results of the two tasks given to the users

5. PROBLEMS WITH THE EXISTI(G ME(U OF ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS3

There are two types of font selection menu in Adobe Illustrator CS3 TM. The primary font selection menu is a drop
down list in the Type menu of the primary menu bar. The fonts in the font selection menu (FSM) are listed in
alphabetical order and one can also see the preview of the font (the name of the font is written in respective font
type). The drop down list occupies a substantial area of the workspace and thus the user cannot see the selected text.
It also does not allow the preview of the text in the font he has chosen. The minimum number of clicks required to
select a font in the primary FSM is three, which makes the process repetitive and cumbersome. There is no option of

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using scrollbar to quickly browse fonts. Instead, it uses an up and down button which scrolls the fonts one at a time
and thus it takes a long time to view and choose the font.

Figure 6. The primary font selection menu of Adobe Illustrator CS3

The secondary FSM in Illustrator CS3 TM is a pop up menu box positioned on the right side of the workspace. It
also displays the fonts alphabetically in a drop down list. The drop-down list is shorter in size and also features a
scrollbar. But it does not show the preview of the font nor the selected text.

Figure 7. The secondary font selection menu of Adobe Illustrator CS3

6. SOLUTIO(
We proposed alternative designs for the existing FSMs. We decided that hierarchical menu of font groupings would
be viable solution to organize the fonts. The drop down menu should have the following default top-level font
groups defined a priori by the operating system:
1. All fonts
2. San Serif
3. Serif
4. Recently used (contain n number of the fonts, can be defined by the user)
The user can also create his groups and drag and drop the fonts in it(figure 8). For example, he may define a
group named gothic and can put gothic fonts in it by dragging it from the all fonts group. This would ensure easier
access to the font during subsequent graphic design exercises.

VIIT CAUE-2008 90
 Figure 8. Hierarchical grouping of the fonts
The user sees the preview of the selected text in the desired font type by rolling over font in the drop down list.
The user can select the desired font by left clicking the font. When the user has not selected any text, he can see the
preview of the font by going to the drop down list and right clicking over the fonts. In this case, a small popup
window would appear displaying the font preview(figure 9).

Figure 9. The font preview of the fonts

6. CO(CLUSIO(S
From the usability audit we identified some usability problems in the font selection menu of the existing GUI of
Illustrator CS3. The FSM does not provide the preview of the selected text. The fonts are arranged in the linear and
alphabetic mode. It does not provide any option for grouping similar fonts. Moreover, to select a desired font, one
has to repeatedly go to the menu box and scroll to select the font which makes the task frustrating.
An alternative design proposed in the paper is to organize the fonts in user and system defined groups. Also, the
preview of the text selected can be seen by rolling over the desired font. This saves the number of clicks to select the
font, hence increasing the efficiency of the system. Future work would involve testing the proposed solution with
test users.
Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the students of Department of Design who volunteered
for the usability test. The authors also acknowledge Professor A.K Das for his timely contributions.
7. REFERE(CES
1) Donald A. Norman (1990), The psychology of everyday things
2) L Manovich (1991), The Language of ew Media
3) M Perry (2007), Hand Job: A Catalog of Type
4) R Bringhurst, Hartley & Marks (1996), The elements of typographic style

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 An Assessment of Factors Affecting Performance of Call Center Advisors in
India
Kiran Sabnis1, and Dr. Sanjay Tripathi2
1,2
User Interaction Design Group, Tech Mahindra
Off Karve Road, Pune, India
1
kiran.sabnis@techmahindra.com , 2sanjay.tripathi@techmahindr.com
1,2
www.techmahindra.com
ABSTRACT
In past few years, India is witnessing an exponential growth in business process outsourcing domain. A large
number of foreign companies are looking forward to take the advantage of skilled manpower abundance and
low operation cost in India. Previously many researchers have done research to optimize the operational cost
of such call centers, but almost no emphasis has been given to the interaction and usability aspects of call
center. However, call center is a classical example of computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) and
Human- computer –interaction which involves complex human- human as well as human computer
interaction. This paper is a result of usability study done in few call centers in India who provide customers
support to big telecom service providers. Telecom service provider is often interested to reduce their call
handling time. It is often ignored that system performance and application design contribute to the core
usability and interaction problem and results into increased call handling time. Many a times only call center
advisors (human performance) is taken into consideration to determine the overall performance based on
quantifiable time and number of calls related metrics. In this paper, we have tried to establish the fact that
system performance, application performance and user experience related factors altogether are responsible
for affecting the call center advisors’ performance. An analytical approach is being adopted to identify the
problems and outcome has been presented in this paper.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
“Customer Support’ has got deep routes with the Indian culture and its tradition of ‘Guru-Shishya’ (Master –
Disciple) relationship. In ancient days, the masters were supported 24X7 by their disciples in taking the appropriate
care. In the current context also the customers are treated as Masters and their care is taken by customer support
advisors when in difficulty [Bhagwad Gita, Book 1, verse 2.3]
Increasingly industries try to foster relationships with their customers. It is a well-worn argument that in a
competitive global business environment, companies are attempting to re-learn the lessons of village traders and get
up close and personal with their customers. The difference is that, instead of a few dozen customers, modern
companies have literally millions of customers. So attaining that personal touch is no mean feat. Billions of dollars
have been dispensed into customer relationship management (CRM) systems over the last decade, in the hope that
an overarching understanding of each customer and detailed, easily accessible customer information would enable
consistent customer communication – whether the contact be made by phone, email, face-to-face or through direct
mail. Overall, to date, providing good customer service is central to many organizations. It is more and more
common that a large part of customer service is provided through call centers.
However, at certain point of time US and Europe based companies realized that the cost involved in providing
customer support is rapidly withering as the local wages shooting up. In mid 90s India became the favorite
destinations of such companies to outsource customer support due to various favorable conditions like young
workforce, English language proficiency and of course lower wages. The voice channel based Customer Support
business in India has been started in mid 90s and got picked up rapidly to become a matured business model by
2001. As per the published data, BPO business generates about 23% of total IT revenue in India [CAI, 2007] and the
export from BPO is about 37% of total IT exports in 2006-07. There are about 10,000 customer support centers in
various parts of India [Dataquest, 2004]. As an estimate total of 4.25 Lac employees work in various call centers of
India.
Once the industries were able to reduce their operational cost they have soon realized that customer satisfaction is
one which contributes considerably to their successful business model. This is predominantly the case for telecoms

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companies, who face an environment of cutthroat competition and traditionally high customer defection rates, with
research showing that mobile operators suffering annual customer churn of 33.4%. Despite a relatively robust level
of investment in loyalty activity, the sector has still not managed to achieve a solid basis of customer satisfaction,
and with a historically fickle customer base, telecoms companies face rising inertia. By combining channels that
naturally reflect the behavior of the consumer, mobile operators are gaining market advantage and brand presence.
By using affinity collaborations, companies are starting to successfully nurture relationships with their customers,
building a brand that they are less likely to defect from. Call handling time, successful resolution, right first time
resolution etc. became the central theme to satisfy their customer to gain their loyalty and competitive edge over the
competitors. All this demands a high professional engagement of call service advisors (CSAs) and their emotional
commitment to support the remotely saying customers. This needs a deep drilled study on call centre system as well
as the user of these systems, their concerns and issues regarding the working environment. A research was indeed
necessary to understand the interaction aspects underneath the routine call center system. There are several
interactions that take place during the telephone call to a call centre. The customer is the person who is interested in
the product or service, but she is not directly interacting with the computer system. The agent is interacting both
with the computer and with the customer. As the interaction is carried out over the phone, the customer is not able to
see the computer. Indeed, the customer might not even be aware that a computer system is involved. We call these
sorts of collaboration Computer-Human-Human- Interaction (CHHI). Factors that affect performance are greatly
depending on interaction taking place in call centre kind of activities. The interactions that take place at a call centre
are ‘between the customer and agent’, the agent and computer, and indirectly between the customer and computer
[annete]. These complex interactions resulting in various problems such extended call handling time, problems
facing in using various integrated application tools etc.
The current paper presents research study done on reporting on interaction factors affecting the performance in
computer assisted customer support activities in a call centre as per the demand of one biggest telecom companies of
United Kingdom.
2. KEY (OTIO(S
There are number of call centre specific terms one needs to know to understand the overall mechanism of how the
call centre works. We are mentioning here those important terms for the ease of reader to understand the problem.
A call center is a set of resources (communication equipment, employees, computers, etc.) which enable the
delivery of services via the telephone [Avramdis & L'Ecuyer, 2005]). Often it is operated by a company to
administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Most major businesses use call
centers to interact with their customers. Examples include utility companies, and customer support for computer
hardware and software. Some businesses even service internal functions through call centers. Examples of this
include help desks and sales support. A classic example is the voice channel based Customer Support business.
Inbound calls are those initiated by customers calling in to the call center. A customer can be blocked, i.e., receive a
busy signal, if all of the center’s phone lines are busy at the time he calls. At first, calls may be connected to an
interactive voice response (IVR) unit. The most up-to-date technology of speech-recognition allows IVRs to
interpret complex user commands, so customers may be able to “self-serve”, i.e., complete the service interaction at
the IVR. Otherwise, calls are passed from the IVR to an automatic call distributor (ACD).
An ACD is a switch, which routes each call to an individual CSA; if no qualified CSA is available, then the call is
placed in a queue. Modern ACDs are sophisticated, allowing routing rules based on many criteria. A queued
customer may have choice to abandon without receiving service. Customers, usually aided by a predictive dialer
that tries to anticipate the number of free agents at the time customers are reached. A mismatch occurs whenever the
called party answers but cannot be served immediately.
Performance measures: Typically, call center managers are interested in many performance measures viz.
(1) the service level (SL); this is the fraction of calls that wait less than an acceptable wait time (typically 20 to 30
seconds), usually observed separately by pre-selected target periods (e.g., each hour, day, etc.) and, in multi-skill
centers, by call type;
(2) the abandonment ratio; this is the fraction of calls that abandon;
(3) the expected wait time;
(4) the number of outbound calls completed;

VIIT CAUE-2008 93
(5) the number of mismatches.
3. STATEME(T OF PROBLEM
Telecom service providers, in this case, wish to improve the overall service quality with their customer and
identified call centre operation as one of the major areas to improve. However, there are four entities involved
altogether to make this happen, service provider (one who contracts call centre to provide service to their
customers), application performance group ( one who provides application support services to the call centers), user
interaction design group ( one who determines the interaction pattern to provide better user experience for CSAs)
and finally the call centre itself. Business drivers for service provider here, are to improve system performance,
reduce call handling time (CHT), and improve customer satisfaction. Objectives for application performance group
are, to identify bottleneck in application performance and in network layer performance. It has been commonly
observed that call handling time is related to system performance, application performance, and CSAs interaction
with the various tools used to answer the customers query. To improve customer satisfaction, however, it was
indeed important to identify issues pertaining to tool usage and finding out the factors e.g. call handling time
especially common to affect the user experience. Interesting part of the call centre is the use of technological means
to support the customer in a very complex customer- client- support environment.
From a computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) and HCI point of view, we believe study of such settings
addresses a number of important issues. First, many authors in CSCW have argued for understanding technology in
a context that appreciates the work-oriented character of interaction with it and around it [Bowers, 1995]. Second,
CSCW has an appreciation of the fact that assessing factors of performance in measuring interaction level difficulty
of using information technology tools (as in call centers), and this is true even of traditional single-user computer
systems and the activities users perform in relation to them [Bowers, 2000]. In a typical call centre, employees are
often recruited and get trained in using the computer based systems. They do not possess thorough domain
knowledge about what they assist the customers but they are trained to fetch the required information to deliver the
answer. If we look at the performance measure from the industry perspective, this does not take the system usability
and human factors of interaction into account. Those performance measures are quantitative and measured in terms
of time fractions or no. of calls handled. Our client asked also to investigate indirect factors which may or may not
have direct influence on those performance measures.
A. System performance
- Application performance
- Network layer performance
B. Long call handling time (reduction of call handling time)
C. Problem with various tool integration
- Usability factors in using different applications
- Usability factors pertaining to a particular application
D. Lower customer satisfaction
4. SETTI(G A(D METHOD
4.1 Approach
A. System performance assessment has been done using ACE agents. (ACE is a monitoring tool)
ACE Agents were installed on Siebel Application Server and in two Client machines to collect the Network and
Application traces. Data regarding CPU utilization and memory utilization were also collected from the servers. To
assess the application performance ACE has been used to monitor the data and a Siebel server has been used to
record the data on CPU utilization. Also network and application traces were collected using these ACE agents.
B. As described below, two-tiered approach for the user experience study has been proposed
1.Overall usability assessment: including initial expert evaluation of the system, to rate the usability of
the project, identify issues and see what should be retained in the new design:

VIIT CAUE-2008 94
 2.Users study: with users from different groups and experience levels, to identify exactly how they are
using the system and how they want the new system to work: We conducted a field study at a call center in
India that supports retail telecom customers located in United Kingdom. There are about 110 Customer
Support Advisors (CSA) working in 2 shifts of 8 hours and provide support for 16X7. As the time taken to
respond a customer is a key to overall customer experience, the focus of our study was to look at the
association model between key parameters and their respective contribution for improving the productivity
of the advisors.
Apart from this, detailed interviews sessions were conducted with 11 advisors [5 Agents, 2 Team Leaders, 2
Managers and, 2 members of Quality department
4.2 Methodology:

Usability Objective Outcome

assessment
a. Expert • To identify issues related • List of usability problems,
evaluation of usability that can be potentially avoided categorized by severity and importance.
sample in the design of the new system.
functionalities
• To provide measures of
effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction
which can be used as a baseline for the
new system
User Study
b. Context of • To collect information about the • Identifying all factors that relate to
use analysis users of the system and their task use of the system.
• To know about the technical and • A basis for later usability analysis
environmental constraints
c. Diagnostic • To identify major usability • List of major usability problems
evaluation problems from user’s perspective. from user’s perspective.
• To gain an understanding of • An understanding is gained of why
difficulties with the system. the user has difficulties with the system.
• Identification of approximate
measures for the users' effectiveness,
efficiency and satisfaction.
5. Findings and Analysis
4.1 System performance
The Service provider has informed us that the Client machines at call center connect to the Siebel data base server
through the Application server and the data base server is not accessible from call center. But the network traces
indicate that the call center clients directly connect to the Siebel Database server and not through the application
server. So Even though the ACE Agent is installed on the Siebel Application server the study focused on the
performance of Data base server
The CPU utilization is peaking between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM and is touching 100% utilization most of the time.
The long term CPU utilization also confirms this trend. Due to such a heavy CPU utilization processing delay
happened and the most effected System was Oracle Database Server (Siebel). It has been found that average
‘Processing delay on Oracle Database Server was 85.9% of the total processing time. However, Threshold should be
remained 30%.

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4.1 Large call handling time
We conducted the detailed study of inbound calls received by the call center and identified that total of 5000 calls
are received every day. Average call handling time was found 11.41 minutes (N=43, SD= 1.482).

16

14
Avergae handelling time (in minutes)

12

10

6
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43

Figure 1. The caption comes after the illustration or photograph and is centered. Any diagram or
figure that has been previously published should be referenced. This photograph appears courtesy of
[XYZ, 2006].

Instances of customer being put ‘On Hold’ was found in 6 of the 15 studied calls. Average ‘Hold’ time was found
25% of the total calls duration (CHT).
We further analyzed these calls on various parameters such as nature of call (inquiry, fault guidance, complaint,
follow-up etc), total call duration, profile of the caller, type of the caller e.g. first time or repeat caller etc. The study

VIIT CAUE-2008 96
revealed that 10% of the calls are recorded everyday for quality audits. We further studied the 10% of the recorded
call in details and categorized them into four slabs.
a. calls shorter than 5 min
b. 5 min to 10 min
c. 10 min to 15 min
d. calls more than 15 min.
As our study focused on the impact of tools usage on CSA performance, we analyzed the calls between 5 min and
15 min and found out that 44% of the calls lie in this slab. Calls shorter than 5 min were not considered for
following reasons – there was negligible usage of tools, calls were made after support hours and couldn’t got
attended by CSAa, calls got abruptly cut before the customer had any worthwhile interaction with the CSAs.
Similarly calls exceeding 15 min were not considered since these calls involved relatively low usage of tools as
CSAs provide guidance to online customers for making some physical setup and it did not require using any tool
during such times.
There were few technical reasons which affected the customer’s satisfaction like some calls got abruptly cut before
the customer had any worthwhile interaction with the agent.
Also, incorrect selection in IVR (Interactive Voice Response) options - A common Scenario was found which
hampered the overall customer satisfaction. B2C agents receive calls regarding Order Chasing. They ask the
customer to‘re-dial’ and select correct option in the IVR. Agents could not forward the call to the relevant
department. Agents can neither put the customer back in the IVR menu
4.2 Appropriation of various tools integration
The detailed study revealed that the CSAs use 20 different types of software tools (3 COTS, 8 Web-based
applications, 9 Client- server applications) having diverse range of interfaces and functionalities e.g. Order placing
and tracking, line testing, fault finding, online help, service support and provisioning etc.

Frequently Used Tools

Other
10%
Siebel
Fusion Siebel
7% 17% Customer Info

Woosh Silver K-Runner

8% Customer Info ECO

Provision Bose 17% Provision Bose

10% Woosh
Silver K-Runner Fusion
ECO 16%
15% Other

Different entry parameters in different tools were supposed to use e.g. Tel. No. (in Cust. Info & Silver K-Runner),
UI Code (in Siebel), SEBU code (in Net Lynk), CBUK / Tel No. (in ECO). Many times CSAs were forced to use
some tools e.g. Customer Info / Silver K-Runner to get UI Code for use in Siebel. In doing so multiple ‘Searches’
have been done by CSAs and which hampered system performance and consequently increased CHT.
It was also observed that CSAs perform multiple tasks, often in parallel or in rapid succession and they face
intermittent interruptions and difficulty in shifting various tasks while talking with customers on telephone. The

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CSAs use multiple media types, such as sticky pads, calendar entries, electronic to-do list or reminders to support
customer queries e.g. scheduling out bound calls, escalations to their managers, their performance incentives etc.
In our study we found a number of usability problem among the software tool used by CSAs. Agents record every
customer interaction in Siebel. Entry parameter to Siebel was the UI Code – it does not allow ‘Search’ on telephone
number and therefore forces use of other tools (e.g. Customer Info) to get the UI Code. Customer details - Date of
Birth and Address not displayed upfront therefore authenticating customer thus involves an additional step.
Significant scrolling – both horizontal and vertical – was one major cause tod by CSAs which hampered their
productivity. 11% agents expressed that Siebel is the most complex to use Tool. 65% agents expressed that ECO is
the most complex Tool. We have recorded few of the agents Quotes regarding the use of ECO:
“ECO takes long to log a fault”
“Please make some amends in the tool such as ECO - as it is very slow and causes inconvenience to us as well as to
customers”
“ECO is very slow and it freezes all other tools”
“ eed to work on ECO as in priority basis as it runs too slow and never work when we needed the most.”
There are unnecessary multiple steps while logging a fault in ECO. After each step (a question > and a pre-decided
answer) there is a server trip which increases the time, this frustrates CSAs.
4.3 Duplication of work due to multiple tools
Multiple interaction models across various tools result in inconsistent user experience, which hampers productivity.
We have asked CSAs to rate problem caused by duplication of work on a scale of 1 to 7(relevant to non-relevant). It
was found a mean of 3.4.

3
Duplication of work

67% of the software tools are complex to use Call handling process not streamlined with business process.
Insufficient data in tools due to information scattered across tools. 68% of the agents expressed that “Slow (tools)
performance” was their biggest difficulty
A lot of Copy- Paste operation was performed by CSA e.g. taking notes between Siebel, Fusion and Lotus 123 /
Word / Notepad to maintain for his records.

VIIT CAUE-2008 98
We found that there was huge inconsistency in data format e.g. Address formats in various tools were different.
One of the major problem we found that lack of any set process for handling customer queries. Agents seem to serve
customers by their experience and theoretical knowledge more, than by processes. We asked one team proactively
created a ‘sequential tasking chart’ and after that we found that the CHT reduced significantly.
Agents were also not updated through any system about changes in Business Processes. ‘Knowledge-base’ not
updated regularly. Agents sometimes refer Knowledge Base while supporting calls related to error codes, but are
unaware of the latest changes.

0
Too many Tools Duplication of work Inadequate reference
Intra-navigation too Lack of training Insufficient data in

68% of the agents expressed that “Slow (tools) performance” was their biggest difficulty, which was caused by the
low system and application performance. “Too many Tools” is second difficulty in terms of severity, which also
results in “Duplication of work” and “Inter-tool navigation” Agents had to remember multiple usernames and
passwords. Agents committed mistakes; consulted colleagues while entering username / password. Session time-out
was also one major cause which hampered productivity and increased CHT. Multiple interaction / interface styles
resulted in inconsistent user experience. Insufficient data in tools is mainly due to information scattered across tools.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank a team of managers and advisors for their excellent support during the
user study at their Noida and Chennai call centers.
7. REFERE(CES
Avramdis, A. N., & L'Ecuyer, P. (2005). Modelling and Simulation of Call Centers. Proceedings of the 2005
Winter Simulations Conference (pp. 144-152). New York: ACM Press.
Bowers, J. and Martin, D.(2000). Machinery in the New Factories: Interaction and Technology in a Bank’s
Telephone Call Centre, CSCW’00, December 2-6, Philadelphia, PA. ACM, NY
Bowers, J., Button, G. and Sharrock, W.(1995) Workflow from within and without. Proceedings of ECSCW95
Computer Association of India, (2007). Retrieved from http://www.compassindia.com/news-main-bpo.php/ on
13th June 2008.

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Steel, A. (2003). “Understanding and Enhancing Call Centre Computer- Human-Human Interaction”,
proceedings of CHI 2003, April 5-10, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. ACM 2003
Steel, A. 2003. Understanding and enhancing call centre computer-. In CHI '03 Extended Abstracts on Human
Factors in Computing Systems (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA, April 05 - 10, 2003). CHI '03. ACM, New York,
NY, 690-691.
Data quest (2004). Retrieved from http://dqindia.ciol.com/ on 24th July 2007

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 A Strategic Approach Of “Interactive Web Application” For Human
Computer Interaction And System Usability Issues
Prof. Kirti Mahajan1, Dr. (itin (ayak2
1,2
Bharati Vidyapeeth University’s,
Institute of Mgt. & Entrepreneurship Development,
Erandwane, Pune-38, India.
1
kirtigi_m@yahoo.co.in, 2 nayaknitin007@rediffmail.com

ABSTRACT
The past decade has witnessed a significant rise in the web usage. And making such information and services
accessible in a convenient manner, there is a need for a unified interface in the form of a one-stop source for
information and service delivery. A ‘Web Sites’ of the country can ideally emerge as a tool to facilitate the user.
This increase has led to the recognition of need of websites, which can do the needful with ease and satisfy the user.
Developing a web site that satisfies all the needs of the user is not a simple task. It needs a continuous assessment of
user behavior and requirements. The Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) discipline is concerned with design,
evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use; and with the study of human
dimensions and the surrounding phenomena. HCI and System Usability Design have greater significance in
electronic government as the usability problems can adversely affect millions of people.
Various methods are available to evaluate the usability of a website. Applying all these methods to determine
usability is not only time consuming but also practically infeasible. There is a need to identify the scenario where
these methods are best applicable. This paper receives the existing usability evaluation methods and proposes the
situations in which they are best applicable. The needs or expectation of the user depends upon the type of the web
site. Our approach identifies those methods that are best suitable for different category of web sites. Such
identification shall reduce the overhead that will be incurred on efforts or cost to implement all the methods.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
In the digital era, dependence on web has increased for all purposes e.g. online shopping, online transactions, e-
learning etc. Therefore the usage of the web site plays a significant role. It is highly anticipated that worldwide there
will be a major shift from yesterday's static Web to the new dynamic and interactive Web applications. The demands
for e-government “Interactive Web applications” have been continuously increasing. As government organizations
have begun to enhance transparency, communication and interactions with citizens and businesses through e-
government offerings, developing “Interactive Web applications” has become an imperative for e-government. The
“Interactive Web applications” will increase citizen participation and awareness by making it easy to obtain up-to-
date maps and reports of services, facilities, and statistics and will empower citizens and businesses for true e-
democracy. Human factors and system usability are the ignored imperatives in most e-government projects. As per
the World Bank report, approximately 35% of e-governance projects in developing countries are total failures;
approximately 50% are partial failures and only 15% can be seen as full successes.
Under such circumstances, they shall be motivated to use those web sites that enable them to perform the task
sufficiently, effectively and satisfactorily. The term “Effectively” means completeness and accuracy with which user
can achieve specified goals. “Efficiency” means how quickly a task can be completed. Satisfaction helps in retaining
the user and motivates the user to revisit the web site. Web Usability, a field of Human Computer Interaction caters
to these aspects of web usage. Web usability, explores how and people access the web site. According to ISO9241-
11(Smith, 1996) usability is “The degree to which a product can be used by specific users to reach specific goals
with efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction in a given use context”. In simple terms we can define usability as a
quality of system that makes it easy to use, easy to learn, easy to remember and subjectively pleasing. Developing a
usable web site needs continuous evaluation/testing of the usability at each step. Testing is a destructive process that

VIIT CAUE-2008 101

reviews all the components and help in finding the weakness of the system. Testing usability of a web site helps to
understand the user behavior, user needs, and usability goals and provide a way to achieve these goals that leads to
improved overall quality of the web site. This paper reviews the existing methods to test web usability and identifies
the best possible scenario in which they can be applied; provide the facilities to the user. Web sites can be classified
into different groups based on the prime purpose the website is intended for. The needs and the objectives of each
type of web site are different and the expectations of the user also vary according to the type of the web site. So the
method needs to evaluate usability or state the user requirements depending upon the type of the web site.

2. EVALUATIO( METHODS
Various methods are available to evaluate the usability. These methods can be grouped into three categories
depending upon the involvement of the user: Testing, Inspection, and Inquiry [www.usabilityhome.com].
2.1 Testing Approach:
In this approach the user plays an important role. The usability experts assign a task to one or more representatives
of the users and observe them while performing the task. This information helps in identifying how the user
interface supports the users in performing their task and what is different from user’s expectations. Some of the
testing methods are:
2.1.1 Coaching Method: This technique can be used for usability test, where the participants are allowed to ask
questions from an expert coach while performing the specific task and the observer observe both how user interacts
with the system and interactions between he participant and the coach(Nielson, 1993). The observer analyzes what
kind of questions a user asks and what types of answers help the users. The objective of this technique is to define
the user needs, as well as try to avoid the need for the questions by redesigning. But this requires skilled and careful
coaches.
2.1.2 Co-discovery Learning: The observers assign a task to two test users and tell them to perform together. The
observers what they are thinking about while working on the tasks (Nielson 1993: Duman and Redish). Compared to
thinking-aloud protocol, this technique makes it more natural for the test users to verbalize their thoughts during the
test.
2.1.3 Performance Measurement: This technique is used to obtain quantitative data about users’ performance when
they perform the tasks during usability test. For example, the time required to complete a specific task, the number
of task of various kinds that can be completed within a give time limit, the ratio between successful interactions and
errors, the time spent recovering from errors, the number of user errors, the number of commands or other features
that were never used by the user, the frequency of use of the manuals and/or the help system, and the time spent
using them etc. This data when analyzed helps to draw the conclusion. In this method, the user is not allowed to
interact with others (Nielson 1993: Soken et al., 1993).
2.1.4 Remote Testing: This means that the tester(s) cannot observe the testing process directly. They observe the test
users’ screen through computer network, and may be able to hear what the test user says during the test through
speaker telephone (Harston et al.)
2.1.5 Retrospective Testing: In this method a test user performs a specific task during the test and a videotape is
made of this usability test session. The tester(s) can collect more Information by reviewing the recording of the
usability test session with the test user (Nielson, 1993). Ask the test user questions and let the test user describe what
he/she is doing and why.
2.1.6 Teaching Method: During a usability test, first the test user interacts with the web site, so that they get familiar
with it and acquire sufficient knowledge to accomplish the task. Then, the test user is asked to explain to the novice
user how the system works and demonstrate to him/her a set of pre-determined task (Vora et al, 1995).
2.1.7 Thinking Aloud: During testing, provide the test users a set of tasks to perform and ask them to explain what
they’re thinking about while performing the task. It allows testers to understand how the user interacts with system
(Nielson, 1993). The observer records the situation in which the sequence of steps dictated by the web site to
accomplish their task goal is different from they expected. The main objective of this method is to better understand
the user’s mental model and interaction with the system.

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2.2 Inspection Approach:
In the inspection approach, involvement of the user is up to a limited extent. Usability experts examine usability-
related aspects of the system on the basis of some predefined guidelines and point out the areas, which need to be
redesigned in order to improve the usability. Few of the inspection methods are as follows:
2.2.1 Heuristic Evaluation: In this method, evaluators or experts judge the interface and find the problem so that
they can be considered during the interactive design process. It is difficult for a single individual to perform heuristic
evaluation because one person will never be able to find all the usability problems in an interface. During the testing,
each evaluator goes through the web site a number of times and inspects the various elements and compares them
with a list of recognized usability principles (the heuristic). After completion of all the evaluations, the evaluators
communicate each other and list the usability problem and references to those usability principles that were violated
(Nielson, 1993, 94).
2.2.2 Cognitive walkthrough: A group of evaluators inspect a web site by going through a set of tasks and evaluate
how difficult it is for the user to access the information contained in the web site and how this information helps the
user to obtain the desired goals (Wharton, 1994). It takes into account the users’ through process that contributes to
decision making. It helps in refining requirements.
2.2.3 Pluralistic walkthrough: In this method a group of users and a developer act as a participants and usability
expert act as coordinator. The coordinator presents a paper prototype to the participants and states the task to
perform. The coordinator asks that each participant write down what action they wish to take for that particular state
in the system (Bias, 1994). Once each participant has written the actions that he wishes to take, the coordinator
begins the discussion. The members of the group present their opinion in the following order: the users, the usability
expert and then the developers. After the discussion, the coordinator will tell the participants what actions they are
supposed to take accordingly to the user interface design and present the new prototype. This process is repeated for
each task.
2.3 Inquiry Approach:
In this approach, usability evaluations obtain information about users’ likes, dislikes by asking questions verbally or
through some written forms. They observe them while using the system on their own site to specify the needs and
understanding of the system. Inquiry methods include:
2.3.1 Field Observation: Usability expert goes to user’s workplace and observe them, to understand how the users
are using the web site to accomplish their tasks. Prepare the list of questions that need to be answered and try to
collect as much data as possible there. Then analyze the data to define the requirements of user (Hackkos & Redish,
1998).
2.3.2 Focus Group: A group of users (approximately 6 to 9 people) act as participants and are asked for their
opinions, feedback and initial reaction to a design. A usability expert plays the role of moderator who needs to
prepare the list of issues to be discussed beforehand and seek to gather the needed information from the discussion.
It is useful for raising issues and capture spontaneous user reaction and ideas that may not come out during
interviews (Bruno et al., 2005; Greenbaum, 1997).
2.3.3 Interviews: In this method, usability experts take interviews of two or more users and ask the question based
on the usability issues (Nielson, 1993). It helps in gathering detailed information. There are two types of interviews
the structured and unstructured interviews. The evaluation begins with the unstructured interview. This involves
gathering as much information as possible about the user’s experience and their expectations about the web site to
be designed. The primary objective is to obtain information on procedures adopted by users and on their
expectations of the system. Structured interviews have specific questions to guide and direct the interview.
All these methods can be analyzed on the bases of usability issues that are Efficiently, Effectiveness and
Satisfaction. The following table lists the usability issues that could be measured by the corresponding evaluation
methods.

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Table 1: List of usability issues that could be measured by the Corresponding Evaluation Methods

Usability Issues &

Other parameters
Evaluation Effectiveness Efficiency Satisfaction
Methods

Coaching Method Y N Y

Co-discovery Learning Y N Y

Performance Measurement Y Y N

Remote Testing Y Y Y

Retrospective Testing Y Y Y

Teaching Method Y N Y

Thinking Aloud Y N Y

Cognitive Walk Through Y N N

Heuristic Evaluation Y Y N

Pluralistic Walk Through Y N Y

Field Observation Y N Y

Focus Group Y N Y

Interviews Y N Y

3. OUR APPROACH
3.1 Categorizing Web Sites: In the present scenario where several websites have been designed to help the user in
accomplishing their tasks, it is difficult to categories the websites into groups. Grouping of the web sites can be done
on the basis of the organization, data or information contained in the website and the purpose for which it was
intended for. One such categorization of websites is on the basis of prime audience of the site (Banati et al., 2004).
These are:
3.1.1 Information- Oriented Sites: These sites ideally present lots of information to its user e.g. an E-learning site.
The key factors that influence the usability in such websites is easy and reliable access of information. Users of
these sites are primarily interested in simple, precise and relevant information. So the focal issues of information
oriented web site are its content and the crucial factors that can improve the usability are Effective Search,
Consistency, Strong and Unambiguous Presentation Style and Navigational Ease.
3.1.2 Service-Rendering Sites: The main aim of these sites is to provide quality-oriented services to its audience e.g.
governance site. These types of site are characterized by numerous and timely transactions. Time is the crucial factor
for such type of sites. It was observed that the most important factor influencing such a site is the technique of query
processing both internally and externally. Good efficient internal searching implementation along with strong user
enabled interface influences the usability of the system. So the main issue of information oriented web site is time

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and the factors that can improve the usability are Site Structure, User Friendly, String Databases and Navigational
Ease.
3.1.3Business-Oriented Sites: This type of sites includes primarily commercial organization web sites e.g. E-
commerce web sites. A site deals and performs various types of business transactions like Internal sales, accepting
orders from the users and manages user details and customer services etc. User expects a secure environment for
their financial transactions. They prefer a personalized environment i.e. a customized interface as per their
requirements. So the focal issue of business oriented website is user response and factors that can improve the
usability are Customization, Security, Competitive Edge and Appearance.

3.2 Suitable Methods for Web Sites: However, this categorization is not pure because of obvious overlap. The need
and the objectives of each type of web sites are different and the expectations of the user also vary according to the
type of the web site. So the methods need to evaluate usability or state the user’s requirements depending upon the
type of the web site. Since it is impractical to use all the available methods, our approach is to select those methods
that are best suited for a particular type of web site.
3.2.1 Information-Oriented Sites: On the basis of the characteristics of Information-Oriented Sites it has been found
that the usability attribute “Learnability” is the most important attribute for Information-Oriented Web Sites (Bedi.
P. et. al., 2005). So the evaluation methods that enhance the learnability like Coaching Method, Co-Discovery
Method, Remote Testing, and Teaching Method. And Thinking Aloud will be more suitable for assessing these
types of web sites.
3.2.2 Service-Oriented Sites: It has been observed that usability attribute “Efficiency” is the most significant attribute
for the service rendering website (Bedi., P. et al., 2005). Therefore the usability evaluation methods those provide
the efficiency such as Performance Measurement, Remote Testing, Retrospective Method and Heuristic Method are
more preferable.
3.2.3 Business-Oriented Sites: It has been found that “Satisfaction” is the most important attribute for the Business-
Oriented Web site (Bedi., P. et. Al., 2005). Thus the evaluation methods that enhance the satisfaction like Coaching
Method, Co-Discovery Method, Remote Testing, Retrospective Method, Teaching Method, Thinking Aloud,
Plurastic Walk Through, Field Observation, Focus Group and Interviews are best suited for Service Rendering Web
Sites.

Identifying the methods which are best suited for each category of website helps in reduction of efforts, cost and
resources. This is of particular relevance as testing process often suffers due to resource crunch. However, this
approach only minimizes the efforts involved and can be applied under resource constraints. Assessing usability
through application of all the methods has potential of uncovering more usability defects (but is time and effort
consuming). Our approach proposes to assess usability with minimal efforts. The approach only highlights the best
possible application of the evaluation methods, but cases can exist where these methods can be successfully
employed for other category of websites.

4. CO(CLUSIO(
The Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) discipline is concerned with design, evaluation and implementation of
interactive computing systems for human use; and with the study of human dimensions and the surrounding
phenomena. HCI and System Usability Design have greater significance in electronic government as the usability
problems can adversely affect millions of people.
The paper reviews the different techniques to evaluate the web usability. However, it is not feasible to apply all
those methods to measure usability due to time and cost constraints. A need was felt to identify the best possible
method to access usability of websites. This paper presented one such way of categorizing the usability evaluation
methods based on the nature of websites. The approach considers the nature of website and the most significant
attribute affecting the usability of that kind of websites. Such an identification can help in minimizing the efforts and
cost incurred in usability evaluation in comparison to the resources expended if all the methods are applied.

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 5. FUTURE SCOPE
The Authors present study of assesses e-government web sites from HCI and usability perspective (specifically two
cases from Pune, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri - Chinchwad Municipal Corporation PCMC).).
The study is designed to provide new and timely knowledge for both the research community and for design
practitioners and users of interactive Web applications. It is expected that the results of this study would help in
understanding the integrated and/or innovative approaches, guidelines, and standards for analysis, design, and
development of interactive web applications not only for e-government but also for other commercial and non-
commercial organizations.

6. AK(OWLEDGEME(T
I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all those, who in one-way or other have contributed to
the study. At the outset, I would like to thanks Dr. Nitin Nayak, Director & Dean Faculty of Management Studies,
Bharati Vidyapeeth University’s, Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development, Pune, for providing
valuable guidance and support during the work. I would like to express my gratitude towards Dr. Sushil Sharma,
Associate Professor, Ball State University, Indiana, USA for providing valuable inputs and constant encouragement.
I would also like to thank Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune for all the administrative support during the work.

7. REFERE(CES
Banati, H., and Grover P.S. (2004), A Structured Approach to Study Usability, in Proceedings of National
Conference on Software Engineering Principles and Practices, Patiala, India.
Bedi, P., and Banati, H. (2005), Prioritizing Web Usability Attributes using Intuitionist Fuzzy Sets. Proc. Of the
2005 International Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practice, SERP’05, Las Vegas, Nevada,
U.S.A., Vol. II, pp.570-576.
Bias, R.G., (1994). The Pluralistic Usability Walk-through: Coordinated Empathies, in Nielsen, J. and Mack, R.
L.,(Eds.), Usability Inspection Methods. New York: Wiley.
Bruno V., Tam A., Thom J. (2005), Characteristics of Web Applications that Affect Usability: A Review Proc. Of
the 19th Conference of the Computer-human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG) of Australia on Computer-
human interaction: citizens 2005.
Dumas and Redish, A Practical Guide to Usability Testing “Co-discovery”. Ablex Publishing. p. 31.
Greenbaum, T. L., (1997), the Handbook for Focus Group Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Nielsen, J. (1993), Usability Engineering. Boston: Academic Press.
Nielsen, J. and R. L. Mack (1994), Usability Inspection Methods. New York: Wiley.
Hackos and J. C. Redish (1998), User and Task Analysis for Interface Design. John Wiley and Sons: New York.
N. Soken, B. Reinhart, P. Vora, and S. Metz (1993), Methods for Evaluating Usability (Section 5B), Honeywell,
Dec. 1993.
Robin, J. Handbook of Usability Testing “Testing two participants at a time.” John Wiley and Sons: New York, p.
240.
Smith, W. (1996), ISO and ANSI- Ergonomics Standard for Computer Products. A Guide to implementation and
Compliance (eds.). Prentice Hall: New Jersey.
Wharton, C., Rieman, J., Lewis, C. and Polson, P. (1994), “The Cognitive Walk-through Method: A Practitioner’s
Guide.” In Nielsen, J. and Mack: R. L., (eds.), Usability Inspection Methods: New York: Wiley.
Banati, H., and Bajaj M. (2007), A Strategic Approach to evaluate web Usability, In Proceedings of National
Conference on Mastering Change for Organizational Excellence, Gwalier, India.

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E-Government Toolkit for Developing Countries, Document UNESCO and NIC, Ministry of Communication and IT
Government of India.(2005).
Myers, B., Hollan, J. and Cruz, I., (1996) Strategic directions in Human-Computer Interaction. ACM Computing
Surveys, 28(4), 794-809.
Ting, I., Kimble, C. & Kudenko, D. (2004). Visualizing and classifying the pattern of user's browsing behavior
for Website design recommendation Paper presented at the International Workshop on Knowledge Discovery in
Data Stream, Pisa, Italy, 24 September 2004.
Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G. and Beale, R. (2004) Human-Computer Interaction (Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall).
Olson, G.M. and Olson, J.S. (2003) Human-Computer Interaction: psychological aspects of the human use of
computing. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 491-516.
Shneiderman, B. and Plaisant, C., (2004) Designing the User Interface - Strategies for Effective Human-Computer
th
Interaction, 4 Edition (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley).
Zhang, P., Benbasat, I., Carey, J., Davis, F., Galletta, D. and Strong, D. (2002) Human-Computer Interaction
research in the MIS discipline. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 9(20), 334-355.
Preece, J., Rogers, Y. and Sharp, H. (2002) Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (New York:
John Wiley & Sons).
Zhang, P. and Dillon, A. (2003) HCI and MIS: shared concerns. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies,
59(4), 397-402.
Anderson, R. J. (1994) Representations and requirements: The value of ethnography in system design', Human-
computer interaction, Vol. 9, pp. 151-182.

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Rapid RIA Application Development Methodology: A Simplified Approach of
Enhancing User Experience through RIA
Dr. Sanjay Tripathi1, Saurabh Agarawal2
1,2
User Interaction Design Group, Tech Mahindra,
Off Karve Road, Pune, INDIA
1
sanjay.tripathi@techmahindra.com, 2saurabh.agarwal2@techmahindra.com
1,2
www.techmahindra.com ,
ABSTRACT
This research paper proposes a methodology for developing Rich Internet Application (RIA) in a
tightly scheduled project timeline and also suggests guidelines based on industrial experience. This
paper also proposes a simplified approach to accomplish the goal when the developers’ team is
untrained in RIA development methodology. Rapid development hardly gives scope of staging the
application development lifecycle therefore, this paper also emphasizes to concentrate on all aspect of
application development viz. visual quality, usability and rich user experience besides coding
simultaneously
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
In the previous few years, web is attracting researchers and industry players as a medium of reference platform for
the development of a variety of integrated business solutions [1]. The trigger behind this is to take advantages of
rapidly increasing internet speed and processing power of desktop.
At the same time, it is quite ev
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supply-chain management systems, financial applications, e-government, distance learning, and entertainment,
among others. These applications have been incorporated into everyday life of both individuals and enterprises,
leading to increasing requirements of quality and performance, with ensuing growth in complexity.
Also, the impact of the internet technologies is forcefully reaching into new domains. Social based-computing is
fundamentally changing the way people and businesses interact with the Web and with each other. The Web is
becoming the platform of choice for delivering business services, and is being leveraged and marketed as a general
purpose computing platform. However, high complexity of integrated business solution application demands much
more user experience solution and rich interactivity associated with those than ever. Current web technologies have
their limits when it comes to the usability and user experience. Rich Internet Application has been newly proposed
to the solution for such a problem [2].
Introduction of any new technology demands skill updation, including domain specific formal trainings. Due to
various reasons it is not always possible for software service companies to provide adequate training and skill
updation opportunity for their employees. Authors’ company has started working in RIA domain at the very
beginning of year 2007. We have found that finding appropriate resources at reasonable price was another major
problem. To cope with such a situation where company was bound to deliver the product within the agreed time
schedule, started thinking in the direction of evolving rapid RIA development methodology.
In this paper we propose a methodology for rapid development of Rich Internet Applications (RIA). This
methodology has been evolved as an in-house experience while working on an immediate requirement placed by the
client to achieve in a limited period of time. We are claiming this as a simplified approach as this was completely
done in agile way and is extremely light weight to use at any level of operation. The emphasis of work lies
principally on two (key) words i.e. rapid development and untrained team. Rapid development is what we meant that

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full functional application was developed in 25 days which would have normally taken approximately 2 months
while adopting traditional software development approach. Secondly, this was done by a team which was new to the
technology and have had no prior experience if development environment.
2. RIA- A BRIEF I(TRODUCTIO(
All this is not accent of this research paper to explore the RIA technology or domain, we are not really concerned of
technical details but eventually we feel that a brief introduction will help readers to understand the critical
importance of work underneath. Rich Internet applications (RIA) are web applications that have the features and
functionality of traditional desktop applications. RIAs typically provide a "no-refresh" look to the user interface and
provide what is now being known as “High Definition User Experience”. RIAs typically transfer the processing
necessary for the user interface to the web client but keep the bulk of the data (i.e., maintaining the state of the
program, the data etc) back on the application server. For an end user, RIA applications bring the best of client-
server and web technology.
From software development perspective RIA follows a standard software development model with rich controls that
include powerful data and multimedia capability allowing us to present a rich set of information in an attractive
interface. From design perspective, RIA delivers highly customizable output with a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)
based model.
Timely completion of projects is one of the main concerns of various software service industries. May times client’s
requirements are coming in short notice and it is not always possible to get qualified resource and this affects
severely the in-time delivery of completed projects. These problems even become more prevalent when the service
providers have left with no option to use other than new and emerging technologies.
According to a study by The Standish Group:
Only 9% - 16% of software development projects are completed on time and on budget. Large companies have a 9%
success rate. Medium-sized companies succeed with 16% of projects. Small companies had the greatest success rate
at 28%.
Overall, 31% of software development projects are canceled before completion. Another 52% of projects eventually
do get completed, but end up costing 189% of their original budget. In terms of time, they take between twice and
three times as long as originally anticipated.
When software projects are completed, they only have 42% of the features originally intended.
More than 30% of software development projects are canceled before completion, primarily because of inadequate
user design input. The result is an annual loss of $80 billion to the economy.
Alone due to the fact that RIAs are rich in interaction, the use of RIAs is growing exponentially; nevertheless there
is a lack of full lifecycle of rapid development methodologies. Also being deficient in trained human resources in
this domain is the area of prime concern. This paper outlines the approach, which can be adopted in developing
rapid RIAs and proposes a methodical process in order to accomplish goal.
3. CASE DESCRIPTIO(
3.1 Opportunity
Our client specified the requirement of an application that is exclusively meant for a mobile phone store and selling
the cellular service plans. Multiple users would be able to use the application; and it needed to be configured so that
it could be used in many countries with multiple codes. The client wanted an application that to be used to select the
plans based on different criteria (no. of calls per day, monthly budget etc.), compare different plans and then finally
place the order for appropriate plans. This site would also provide selection of mobile phones to purchase from
online store. To provide first hand rich user experience, the users shall preferably prompt to choose the appropriate
phones based on different filter criteria such as price, features and brand name.

3.2 Problem statement and their implications

As the client expressed his desire to develop RIA, there were several problems and their likely implications in
executing the project. These are mentioned as follows:

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 • Client was asking for web solution using new technology which ensures high definition user experience.
Implication: demanding domain knowledge aligned with best practices of user experience design.
• Resources were not enough trained in such a technology. Implication: necessitates speedy facilitation of
required skill
• There was less time in terms of developing and deploying the application. Implication: insist to find best
match for learning curve and quality of deliverable.
• No full time dedicated expert was available for providing technical support. Implication: forcing to self
attainment of required skill
• Undefined set of technology i.e. not enough information is available to decide for the technologyoption.
Implication: It was hard to find out that which technology can address the problem in most effective manner.
Project team had to face various challenges at operational as well as execution level. The following three challenges
were found to be most prominent among others.

• Resource were needed to be skilled in tightly scheduled timeframe

• Application development was needed to be happened simultaneously to meet the specified delivery time
line.
• The application was needed to be in compliance with high definition user experience.
4. SOLUTIO( I(TERVE(TIO(
We have adopted a framework driven approach to propose the solution and recollected the necessary
participation of other associated disciplines (viz. Visual Design and User Experience Design).
4.1 Framework and process
This proposed framework combined coding & testing, visual design and user experience design altogether. The
distinctive benefit of combining visual designer and user expert simultaneously with developer team was to harness
the real time feedback given directly to the developers and time advantage gaining in deployment.

Figure1. Rapid RIA development framework

One utmost important feature of this framework was to incorporate synchronized training sessions during the whole
span of development lifecycle. As compared to traditional software development framework it has got only 50%
coding and testing of proportionate distribution where as other half ensured the visual and user experience quality
compliance.
Since the developers were not trained in any RIA development technology, an internal resource, who was expert in
RIA development technology kept always ready to support the developers to solve the critical problems faced by
them. Additionally he was conducting everyday one hour session on specific component of RIA (e.g. how to

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facilitate Drag and Drop in an application). The whole work flow is as shown in the figure 2. Let us elaborate this
process flow first to understand the framework.

A: Initiation, B: Exploration, C: Collation, D: execution, E: Finalization

Figure 2. Rapid RIA development process flow
This approach has five distinctive stages based on the operational activity. These five stages are namely Project
Initation, Project exploration, collation of knowledge base, Execution and Finalization. In Project Initiation stage
first step is to receive the client requirement in a stakeholder meeting and starting the project. Next stage i.e.
Exploration has further four parallel activities viz. tentative planning the application development structures,
exploring the domain via different available resources (e.g. books, Internet, Blogs etc.), reviewing the application
plan and structure based on resource research and finally get confirmed in client meeting. The most important part is
that all the activities are happening as parallel entity.
The next stage is to collate all the information, data and material at one place to decide upon the specification. Once
the specification is ready one heads forwards to next stage i.e. execute the project. Here execution comprises of

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coding, designing visuals and user experience review. Every piece of user interface coded here thoroughly reviewed
by user experience expert to proceed further. Apparently one may think that it shall increase the development time
but in practice it reduces the time as the changes suggested by user experience expert are immediately incorporated
in the application.
Since the codes are written here in modules, one person took the responsibility of integrating all the modules along
with modifications being done in visual design and at interface level. The finalization stage covers the testing and
deployment of the application to ready for delivery.
In the next section we will elaborate the methodology adopted in specifics.
5. METHODOLOGY
5.1 Collecting application requirements
Like typical maintenance and support projects we have been given with an existing application called Mobile
Showcase. A web based mobile phone ‘store’ and ‘plan details’ that were meant to be used by common user.
The prime objective was to provide maximum ease of use and rich user experience. The details were as discussed in
‘case description’ and ‘opportunity’ section earlier in this paper. The below pictures are showing screen shots for
mobile phone store and plan selection of final application.

Figure 3. Mobile phone Plans in Flex

5.2 Building development Team

There were 5 persons who had the responsibility for the development of RIA application. 4 persons were freshly
graduated in computer science whereas one in electronics and communications. All of them have undergone through
internal training in different programming languages. Therefore, all the five have had prior knowledge of Object
Oriented Programming (OOP). However, they were strictly unexposed to any industrial projects and in RIA
development domain. An additional ‘resource person’ was added to the team in the later stage of development to
support. He was having enough domain knowledge and industrial experience in deploying the project. One part-time
‘visual designer’ was engaged at the final stage of the project. The modular outcomes of the project were reviewed
daily by an expert user experience expert.
5.3 Time and material
Time provided to develop the application was 15 working days (approx. 900 Man Hours). 56 % of total time
allocated was spent in coding, 5 % in designing visuals, 10 % in integration, 17 % in reviews whereas 12 % of time
was spent in training sessions. Technology used for development: Flex 2.0

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 Figure 4. Proportion of major activities undertaken

5.4 Development Process

Developers were asked to use the components as of their ease to use in new application. Developers had quick wrap
up session on daily basis to share their knowledge with other team members. Twice a day user experience review
happened to provide them feedback on functionality and quality. Based on the requirement the target application
was modulated several times and work was distributed by project manager to different team member. Developers
have had opportunity to revisit the existing application and get connected with Flex expert to get resolved with their
query.
As a result of these above mentioned activities, following stages emerged as a part of methodology to execute the
project.

Figure 5. Stages of development process

Stage 1: Benchmarking: Project management decided that for rapid development there must have some target
application against which new application could be benchmarked.

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Stage 2: Study existing application: As the team didn’t have exposure of RIA, it was found quite useful to first study
the existing application. The advantage was that developers needed to concentrate on a specific functionality at a
time, which higher the clarity of understanding and learning curve for developers.
Stage3: Structuring/Architecting: This study helped developers in understanding RIA and they got the idea that the
architecture of RIA should be somewhat like the existing application.
Stage 4: Environment understanding: It was indeed needed to refer some books to understand the basic tools
provided by the environment.
Stage 5: Reactive development: reactive development is a new approach and an open paradigm that combines
adaptive and process-centric perspectives.
Applying this approach, we created two application first was the main application and second was the demo
application on which we first developed the newer concept and then integrated the demo application the main
application.
6. OUTCOME
6.1 Approach benefits
Companies are often hiring a bulk of new employees, and they do not have exposure to the fresh release of different
technologies (e.g. in this case we have used Flex 3.0 released by Adobe). Rapid RIA development methodology
helped us to solve this problem in a way that these resources were put to learn and use mode.
Other interesting outcome was to use this approach when the project completion timeline was too short. There was
hardly any time to arrange a formal training session.
The new application development in this approach was principally based on existing application. Therefore, it was
easy to retain the base architecture and manipulate with desired elements to get the output. Only certain features of a
technology were required to explore instead, and otherwise may have taken longer time to master.

6.2 Tangible Benefits: excerpts from developers’ team

The following comments were recorded from the developers’ team after delivering the application to client.
“As we were working in the tight schedule so that approach really worked”
“It was truly a practical experience and we got the time to play with the environment directly”
“For us it was a kind of challenge to solve some problem. We have done this by trial and error approach.
However, we got expert guidance for some problem; we have mainly referred to either Built-in or Internet help.
In that process, we sometimes got the additional information which was really a great help in this type of
learning”
“It was an excellent learning experience. Whatever we learnt was long lasting because after learning we
implemented that functionality immediately”
7. CO(CLUSIO(S
In this paper we presented an innovative methodology for developing Rich Internet Applications by exploiting
unconventional web engineering approach while mixing with different philosophies viz. agile development,
user experience and collaborative learning/working. In summary, it proved as a complete method for the rapid
development of Rich Internet Application where developers are not trained in using the technology.
At the current stage of development, by means of “unconventional design”, we build web application that can
run on conventional web technology that is at the same time ready to become a benchmark for other RIA
application. The development framework provides a set of guideline that facilitates development activity at
every stage, freedom to accommodate other disciplines across the development lifecycle. Two major learning
from this approach is that synchronized training sessions and frequent reviews can play an important role in
speedy deployment of web application. Our future research agenda, which we will schedule in parallel with the
proliferation and enhancement of standards, will concentrate upon empowering our development abstractions
by incorporating User Experience Design concepts as “first-class citizens” in the development process, lifting

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 them up in the artifact design hierarchy so as to further improve and simplify the development of native Rich
Internet Application components.

7. REFERE(CES
[1] Bozzon, A., Comai, S., Fraternali, P., and Carughi, G. T. (2006). Capturing RIA concepts in a web modeling
language. In Proceedings of the 15th international Conference on World Wide Web (Edinburgh, Scotland, May 23 -
26, 2006).

[2] Joshua Duhl, (2005 ). “White paper: Rich Internet Applications”, IDC.

[3] Brambilla, M., Ceri, S., Facca, F. M., Celino, I., Cerizza, D., and Valle, E. D. ( 2004 ). Model-driven design and
development of semantic Web service applications. ACM Trans. Inter. Tech. 8

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 From (umbers to Dashboard
Information Design Case Study
Sonali Bendre, Sinoj Mullangath
User Centered Design Group, Symantec,
Pune, INDIA
Sonali_Bendre@symantec.com, Sinoj_Mullangath@symantec.com
www.symantec.com
1. ABSTRACT
Traditionally summary views of management consoles list all the objects in various categories and
provide ways to drill into the details from where users can take actions. This method fails to achieve
the user goals or immediate tasks in an enterprise with thousands of objects.
We focused on the users’ primary goals and with some contextual information design, helped the user
to achieve these goals more efficiently. A summary view should allow the user to quickly comprehend
the overall state of the system and assist in doing the immediate and critical tasks. Instead of showing
"what" is out there, the user is really interested in knowing "how" it is out there. The users want to
know if things are fine, and if not, what they are supposed to do to make them fine.

2. I(TRODUCTIO(
Summery views are the most crucial entry point for a management console, and have different meanings for
different users. A summary view for an enterprise of thousands of objects should make information accessible and
usable to help people achieve such different goals.
The example used is from an enterprise tool for storage management. This tool which is used in data centers allows
configuring and managing the storage resources, allocating storage as per demand, monitor the storage usage and
report on the same to stakeholders. These all are done based on the service level agreements in between the party
who wants to use the storage and the party (data center in this case) who is providing and managing it for them.
For example: 5 Faulted Applications is some numbers or data. Application app_001 is faulted is a fact or a piece of
information Application app_001 is faulted because of the over-utilization of storage is knowledge which provides
high value to the user.
Responding quickly to the changing needs and market opportunities is a critical requirement in an enterprise. In a
traditional view, the user spends most of the time in locating an object and reaching a decision. Lack of access to the
right information is one of the very important factors impacting users’ performance. This exercise was an attempt to
reduce the decision taking time by providing analysis to collate information and possibilities related to any object or
incident.

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 Figure 1. ‘Before’ screenshot of summary page

3. THE CASE
3.1 The Product Analysis
The example is a centralized GUI for a storage management enterprise tool. It offers centralized monitoring of tasks,
alerts and generic grouping of objects using a polling mechanism to update the UI. Other performance factors
include quick discovery and display of enterprise wide objects like hosts, storage assets, etc.
At the same time, the product lacked some key features like trending information, capacity planning and forecasting
which are required for enterprise management software. It also doesn’t provide any help in analysis or decision-
making. It was clear that to improve the performance of user tasks, a different information design/display approach
than listing of objects, was required.
3.2 User Research and Task Analysis
The first step in designing the UI is to understand the users. Good summary view should address users’ primary
goals with respect to monitoring and critical actions. It should be able to answer all questions posed by the user.
For example:

How is the health of the enterprise or my business unit?

Does the summary view provide me alerts to issues or problems which are critical to my business needs?

Does it help me in making the decisions that impact my business?

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Below are some key points to analyze users in this domain and their tasks.

Key Audience Primary Goals Business Goals

CXOs - Look at the global storage status - Decrease storage

Storage Managers
Storage Administrators
use
- Check utilization, trending and
forecasting - Reduce costs
- Check infrastructure costs and global
billing reports
-Look at the global storage status, -Effective usage of
available storage storage
- Find needs of the users and prepare - Better utilization
plans using same set of
resources
- Direct and coordinate device
management tasks to storage admins - Prediction of
storage needs
- Check utilization, capacity, trending
and forecasting
-Manage and report one or many storage - Effectively
objects on a day to day basis manage the allotted
storage
- Monitor storage objects for availability,
utilization, capacity and performance - Ensure the state of
storage objects from
- Look at the bigger comparative picture
business and
performance
perspective

Findings of the analysis provided top requirements of strategic importance from the users’ perspective. For a storage
management product, achieving service level objectives through effective management of storage and reducing costs
are the performance objectives for all types of users.

The top level monitoring requirements for the enterprise storage tool summary view are:

Storage Availability: Make sure that the storage is available for all the users based on their business
requirements. Information about unused storage and best utilization methods and the next storage buy or
how long can one defer the buy

Alerts / Errors Alerts on the critical failures of storage objects, network and other services and also about
forthcoming problems.

Performance: Monitor and measure performance of storage resources and make sure that it is matching
with the business needs.

Capacity: Monitor the storage capacity and plan storage accordingly
Putting these requirements together provides a cross-analysis of ‘how’ the objects are instead of ‘what’ is out there,
in a well-analyzed form which helps users to take critical decisions.

It is difficult to arrive at a clutter-less view that comprises all the top goals across the user groups. We chose to
provide different views based on the user login, but as a typical dashboard view, we considered the Storage
Manager/Administrator view.

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 3.3 Just enough and Just in time
It takes a long time and number of views to gather different inputs to analyze the numbers. To achieve this
translation from data to information, users at any given point of time should deal only with the correct, exact and
current information.
Using filters based on the user requirements and scope of the view, we can get just enough

Fig 2. Information model for the dashboard.

3.4 Exploring the Information
To meet the goals like checking storage utilization, capacity and trending, users would need to explore the
information from two dimensions; time and scope.
Time dimension will help them to compare the current status with the past or see the trend. It gives an
administrative viewpoint of the current status and enables them to make plans based on that.

Figure 3. Exploring the information using ‘Time’ dimension.

For example: If the dashboard displays information for the last 8 days, users can change the time setting
to last one month to get a broader view.
Scoping allows users to drill down and focus on the specific information. Navigating using scope is very useful from
a scalability perspective.

For example: Dashboard shows the information at the enterprise level. But, if the user is interested in
the status of a specific business unit then the user just scopes the dashboard view to that business unit to
get a focused picture.

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3.5 Visual Design
The studies lead us to the blueprints of the required information, and how/where should it be prioritized on the
dashboard. Stitching those pieces of information in a meaningful way is necessary to portray a complete picture for
the user.
Visual design gives information the correct face for better cognitive absorption. Making the right choices for visual
representation of the information for the target audiences is very important to get maximum level of clarity.
In the dashboard proposal, we tried several visual representations to convey the information effectively. Finally, we
used the column chart to show the health of the global storage as it is a very effective to show categorized
information in the form of percent of a whole data. Unlike numbers, this provides a quick overview of the enterprise
which the user can drill down if needed.

Figure 4. Different visual representations explored for data visualization

4. THE DASHBOARD
Through the studies, we arrived at the top features of the dashboard:

Show overall health of the enterprise to enable a quick analysis of the global picture

Show faulted information from performance and business perspectives

Provide upfront knowledge and access to critical information of faulted objects

Show resources at risk, the one that is going to be faulted soon if no action is taken

Show critical alerts at enterprise level

Figure 5. After: summary view ote: Data information is not accurate.

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The above information model helps users to see the right data and dramatically saves users’ time by reducing the
number of steps/views to gather inputs for analysis which is described in the next section.

4.1 Displays
We introduced health information on the category tab. The number of such tabs is limited to the top level categories
of the enterprise, in this case – Application, Servers and Storage. This helps user to get an overall picture at a glance.
One category tab is active by default.
Faulted information and alerts are displayed in tables to offer a detailed view of the main information with its related
aspects as clues. Complementary visual cues offer easy analysis and assimilation.
The table below the category health tab shows the details of the faulted information of the active tab. User can click
on tabs to see faulted information details of those tabs in the table area.
Showing health in charts and relevant faulted information in tables help users to associate and remember things
easily. This provides a complete picture for the users.

Figure 6. Graphs used to show the global storage health in dashboard at a glance
4.2 avigation
Users can click on the summary health tab to view the faulted table below. Clicking on a link on the health tab takes
the user to the filtered information in the specific category. After drilling down to a certain level, the user can ‘lock
the scope’ which enables her to explore the dashboard and all other views at the same level.
4.3 Co-relating Information
Information displayed from a single perspective fails to tell the complete story to the user. Users may need to go to
other views to explore and troubleshoot. The dependent object information could be difficult to comprehend in a
complex environment like that of an enterprise.
To show a complete picture, the multiple facets of the information need to be explored to build a well integrated
information view.

For example: Application App_001 is slow gives the status of that application. But, it doesn’t indicate
any possibility of slow performance. But, information and status about the server it’s running on, the
storage resource it is using and its replication status gives a complete picture of the event.
Providing all the necessary possibilities in a single view saves time in identifying, locating and analyzing the status.
Arriving at a conclusion involves lots of analysis considering the increased complexity due to the varying

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importance of dependent object states with time. Considering the scope and time frame of the project, we decided
not to take up a complete analysis but to provide the dependent object information along with the object in view.
Even this considerably reduces the time taken by the user to correlate multiple statuses.

Figure 7. Related factors / clues about the main information with name of the faulted application as the key
information. The rest, database, servers, other related features coming into play, etc. are other related aspects
of the respective faulted application.
4.4 Threshold
Threshold settings allow the user to define a higher and lower limit on the monitoring parameters of objects. This is
directly linked with the performance and availability related service level objectives. Threshold helps the user to
monitor utilization; performance or growth levels of storage, the resources based on the limits, and read impending
problems, if any.

For example: If storage utilization by one business unit is nearing the threshold then it should warn the
user before there are any critical alerts and it fails to meet availability related objectives.

Figure8. Threshold in the dashboard. The figure illustrates storage usage for applications, and its state with
respect to the set threshold, in the selected time frame.
4.5 Actions
Dashboard makes the analysis of ‘why is it so’ but ideally should also recommend ‘what needs to be done’ at the
same place. In reality, the recommended actions need complete and perfect analysis of the possibilities. Again
considering the scope of the project, we suggested having common actions that can be arrived at directly, and do not
require applying fuzzy logic.

For example: If utilization of a storage resource is reaching its higher threshold limits, then it provides
the status to the user along with an appropriate action like ‘provision storage’ attached to it.

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 5. USE CASE A(ALYSIS
Let’s take a use case and see how the users’ interaction on the summary view is simplified. The user gets a
notification that the duplication of a storage resource called ‘vol_010’ is very slow.

With the earlier summary view, the user tasks would be like this:

1. User is on the Summary View

2. Clicks on ‘Storage Foundations’ sub-tab
3. Lands on the ‘Disks’ view by default
4. Clicks on ‘Volumes’ sub-tab
5. Lands up on the ‘All Volumes’ list view
6. Sorts and/ or Filters by Utilization or Name to locate the volume
7. Selects the desired one and finds that the utilization is within limits
8. Access the ‘Application’ view to check other reasons
9. Checks the ‘Servers’ view to see status of the server
10. Finds out that the server is overloaded causing the slow performance
11. Requests for maintenance for the server

Of the time spent to achieve this objective; the user spends ~50% to get the exact information through 6-7
views/steps and ~40% of time to assess the different possibilities. How could we reduce the time consumed?

Show the critical information upfront using different filters, threshold limits, minimizing the time taken to
reach the right information (Tasks 1-6).

Identify important related factors and bring to users’ knowledge of the different possibilities for the
events. It provides the clues with an integrated, ready-to-analyze information view, where the user can look
at all the factors simultaneously (Tasks 7-9).

Decide and act (Tasks 10-11)
With the proposed approach, the same use-case scenario would be:

1. On dashboard, user gets to see the critical storage resources listed and identifies the
desired resource from the list
2. Analyzes all the related factors like server, replication status with help of the clues
provided. (User can check the details, if needed)
3. Concludes that the server has problems causing the slow performance
4. Clicks to go to details for recommended actions or requests for maintenance of the
server

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 6. CO(CLUSIO(
The exercise was significant in using information design to fill the gap between data and knowledge. The building a
dashboard from numbers was based on a few key concepts:
1. Identify and prioritize user tasks
2. Set thresholds to reduce display data by approximation
3. Show information that requires immediate attention first
4. Abstract blocks of information with visual formats
5. Bring relevant and related information upfront
6. Translate the information to business logic
7. Suggest possible action to solve the problems
These processes and methods used for the analysis and the final outcomes are quite universal. These can be used as
design methodologies for solving similar problems.

The show-exceptions method is the key to handle the ever growing enterprise object scenario. The case study works
as a ready take-away template for other management consoles which could be used with minor tweaks if required.
7. ACK(OWLEDGEME(TS
We would like to thank Product Management and GUI Engg. Team who were part of the core team in the exercise
of dashboard building.
8. REFERE(CES
Domain specific:
Domain Architecture presentations by core stakeholders from product management and development
Design specific:
Microsoft System Architecture: Internet Data Center Solution / Operations Architecture Guide
“Dashboard Development and Deployment”, A Methodology for Success, a white paper by Noetix Corporation
“Identifying Information Design Heuristics”, a white paper by Rebecca Sukach, Technical Writer Manager at
Computer Associates
“About: Information Design”, by Sue Walker, a head of Typography and Graphic
Communication at the University of Reading and Mark Barratt, a partner in the information design consultancy
Text Matters
“Just in Time and Just Enough” an article by Thom Quine
“Designing for Understanding within a Context of Rapidly Changing Information”, an article by Maureen
MacKenzie-Taylor, Senior Research Associate, Communication Research Institute of Australia
“Information Design: What is it and Who does it?” by Terry Irwin, Design Consultant and Educator working
with businesses and design schools throughout the USA.
“Understanding umbers”, an introductory essay to Richard Saul Wurman’s book Understanding USA by
Nigel Holmes
White papers on dashboards, information management from www.bitpipe.com
Books
“Information Architects” by Richard Saul Wurman
“Information Graphics” by Robert Harris

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 Theme III
User Experience Design for New
Media

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 Designing a Speech Based Mobile Interface For The Low Literate
Diya Gangopadhyay , Pradeep Yammiyavar
Department of Design
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
INDIA
pradeep@iitg.ernet.in, diya.iitg@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
This paper studies the usability issues involved in the design of a speech based mobile interface for the textually
low/non literate user base in the Indian context to come up with a set of heuristics for an effective speech based
mobile interaction for the stated user base.
A study on 15 low literate subjects in Guwahati, Assam was conducted to identify the key usability issues involved,
the mental model of mobile phone of the focus group and the preferred alternative to textual interaction in a mobile
interface. The user research methods adopted were contextual interviews, task analysis and retrospective interviews.
The study indicated a preference for verbal interaction, a need for the interaction to be “human-like” and for the
speech recognition system to be tolerant to variations in spoken language.
In accordance with the results of the study a set of usability heuristics were developed for the design of a usable
mobile interface for the low literate involving audio-visual interaction and operated through speech input/output.
Certain specifications for the speech recognition system were also developed to ensure satisfactory accuracy rate
while keeping the input output process easy to use for the focus group. A prototype was created to demonstrate the
working of the interface as well as that of the speech recognition system.

KEYWORDS
Recognition, Template matching, Speech based navigation

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
About 35% of India’s population comprises textually non-literate individuals, which translates into a figure of
around 360 millions. Among women, the percentage of illiterates is around 45% according to the 2001 census.
Several others are only semi and marginally literate, that is though they have the knowledge of the alphabet; they are
not skilled enough to use it effectively for communication purposes.
The textually non/low literate population constitute a large section of the emerging user base for mobile handsets in
India and other developing countries.
The need for mobile communication, both synchronous and asynchronous, in the said user segment is accentuated
by the nature of their work, irregular lifestyles and frequently shifting bases.
The government provides several kiosk based services to the rural masses to facilitate communication. However,
non literacy becomes a barrier in the usage of such devices too. The most common mode of learning and
information transfer for this user group is the word of mouth

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in the following stages:
1) Literature Survey and analysis of state of the art research in the area
2) User Study Phase I: Interviews and Task Analysis to validate results inferred from literature survey and fix

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 mode of interaction
3) User Study Phase II: Fixing parameters and defining interaction
4) Formulation of specifications and heuristics
5) Conceptualization of the solution

3. KEY RESULTS FROM CURRE(T RESEARCH

Study of some of the state of the art solutions and research in the domain of non literate user interface reveals the
following results significant for the case at hand.
3.1 Visual Interaction- Images/icons graphics
The usability of such interaction is largely culture specific. The fact that the low literate users have a limited
understanding of the world due to insufficient access to information accentuates this factor, making the design of
universally acceptable visual representations difficult.
This point is established by the experiment described in the paper “Using Mnemonics as Part of Pictorial Interface
for Self-Identification of Illiterate Villagers” by Dr. Dinesh Katre, C-DAC ref[1]. This paper studies the usability of
an application that requires users to create user names and passwords using a sequence of pictures (selected out of an
available set of pictures) and use it as a method of authentication. It was found that the usability of pictures depends
largely on the ability of the users to be able to identify with their meaning. The relevance and hence the ease of
identification of the images are largely culture and region specific, making the task of creating universal applications
difficult.
3.2 Technophobia
Lack of trust on technology and own ability to use it effectively has serious implications on their usage of devices.
The use of a familiar medium (video in this case) can be effective in explaining the context of use of the device and
thereby motivating them to use it. This point is proved in “Full-Context Videos for First-Time, on-Literate PC
Users” by Indrani Medhi and Kentaro Toyama, Microsoft Research Labs India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore, India. Ref [2]
The success of video can also be attributed to the illusion of “human human interaction” that it creates as opposed
to a mechanised interaction as in voice over. This is found more reliable by the user base habituated to word of
mouth mode of information transfer.
3.3 Speech Interaction
Speech based interaction has shown high performance index as in the “Tamil Market” application as described in
“Tamil Market: A Spoken Dialog System for Rural India” by Madelaine Plauché, International Computer Science
Institute (ICSI), USA and Madhu Prabaker, Carnegie Mellon University, USA. Ref[3] . This paper studies the
usability of a dialogue based agricultural query system for rural users of varying levels of literacy. It is a speech
based application which requires the users to navigate using voice commands. It was reported that users did not have
much difficulty in using the application without training thus proving their ease of adapting to a speech based
interactive system.This test also emphasized the effectiveness of a multi modal interaction rather than a purely
speech based one.
A comparative testing of text based and text free interfaces Ref[4] with semi-literate users on a similar job search
application showed a marked preference for the text free version.
The text also indicated the following observations:
1) Images and icons used must be photorealistic and not too abstract. They should whenever applicable
portray an action taking place rather than a static image.
2) Audio feedback is important for all functions.
Through a series of contextual interviews and user testing, the results obtained in this phase were verified. Going
one step further, specific parameters of speech based interaction and the related usability issues were experimentally
determined. The rest of the paper describes the experiments conducted, results obtained and their application in the
interface design.

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 4. USER STUDY
A series of user tests were performed to verify the relevant results obtained through literature study and draw
inferences about modes of interaction, the details of which are as under.
4.1 Aim of the test:
a) To find out patterns of communication/interactions
b) To compare the usability visual (images and/or animation) and speech based interaction wrt mobiles.
4.2 The Experiment:
A group of subjects comprising 12 persons of varying levels of literacy was chosen for the study. The study was
conducted in two stages:
1) An interview to elicit background information about the subjects and their usage pattern of communication
devices
2) A small test was conducted to test the ease of identification of common metaphors used in mobile interfaces- both
static images and animations.
3) A comparative test was conducted between voiceover instructions with and without visual clues pertaining to
mobile usage.
4.3 The Subject Group:
Comprised 12 persons in Guwahati (a city in North East of India), most of them originally from rural background
and working in the city
Age: 12 to 35
Domestic staff and their family members
Gender: 10 female + 2 male
Literacy: Varied between non literate to fully literate
Economic background: Low to lower middle income group
Numeracy: All numerate (could read Arabic Numerals)
4.4 The Interview:
The questions for the interview were chosen to find information about the following:
1) Background: Literacy, numeracy, number of languages known
2) Preferred mode of distance communication: letters/SMS/mobilephone/phone booth
3) Media Usage: TV/ movies/ radio / newspapers/ books
4) Familiarity with mobile phone: the functions the subject is aware of, usage
5) Preferred learning method: Spoken instruction vs self learning
6) Mode of storing phone numbers/addresses etc
7) Proximate literacy (for the non literate)
4.5 Test1:
The subjects were shown commonly used icons and animations pertaining to mobile functions on a computer screen:
1) letter with envelope as metaphor for SMS (animation and image)
2) garbage disposal as metaphor for delete (animation)
3) icon for music and camera phone

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4) diary as phone book
It was noted if the subject could identify them as objects as well as in the context of mobile phones.
4.6 Test 2:
The subjects were asked to perform a series of actions with Nokia 1100 which involved navigating through the
menu. They were required to go to the message option and contact option
a) with no instructions
b) with voiceover instructions in Hindi
c) if b) was not easy then with voiceover supported by visual clues
The difference in performance was noted and retrospective interview conducted about the ease of following the
given instructions. The instructions were given through a computer.
4.7 Results
A Interview results
Table 2.1.1
Test 1: Identifiability of icons and animations
The subjects found the icons and animations easy to identify in the literal sense. (eg. a letter being put into an
envelope, waste paper being thrown into a basket etc)
However the ability to relate them to the context of mobile phones (functions like SMS, save, delete etc) was largely
dependent on the previous exposure to mobile phones. Those who could relate them (2-3 users) could do so because
they had seen these symbols used in those contexts rather than being able to form logical relations.
The images shown also gave similar results with around 3-4 users being able to from the connection totally out of
memory. Abstract icons were found difficult to identify (in congruence with results from published papers)
Test 2: Comparison of voice only and voice with visual clues instructions
1) The success rate of mobile operation with no instructions was very low with 3 out of the 12 users
This can be attributed to the high learning time required for the functions. Those (2 users) who were able to navigate
without any help again credited it to previous experience with the device (same or similar model).
2) Voiceover instructions which were designed to be
a) task oriented rather than application oriented
b) detailed and elaborate
c) in simple but “standard” Hindi
were found to make a significant difference to the performance level. The 5 users who were interviewed for this
particular aspect showed no difficulty in relating spoken instructions to physical actions like locating a particular
key, menu option etc.
3) For 2 users, lack of familiarity with the Hindi language acted as a barrier.
4) Due to the above reason or otherwise, it was found that some users (3 in number) faced difficulties in following
the instructions. They had no exposure with mobile phones altogether and hence terms used in the voiceover such as
“dial” or “keypress” were unfamiliar to them.
5) Visual support to the voiceover i.e. indicating with images which key to press and which icon to look at was
found helpful to a certain extent. However, some difficulties were noticed in relating the image shown to the actual
device. Paying attention simultaneously to the voiceover and the images was reported as straining.
6) 2-3 of the subjects were of the opinion that it would be easier if some mechanism is devised to highlight the
required key/icon at the right time in the mobile phone itself since it would not demand constant attention.

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7) Keypress as a mode of interaction also seemed to be an issue with 2-3 users with no previous exposure to such
devices.
8) Even though English literacy level was not high among the subjects, some of them could identify words like
“menu” or “contact” just because they had seen them used frequently.
4.8 Inferences and Implications:
1) Spoken words appear to be the easiest mode of communication and learning. Though some users did fail to
follow the voiceover instructions, it is likely that language barrier is the reason rather than the mode itself.
2) While multi-modal interface does have its advantages, it must be kept in mind that it is not overbearing to the
extent of distracting the user from the actual task or straining.
3) In case of an interaction where one mode is primary and the other secondary or supportive, it is better if the
secondary one does not involve constant attention and is used only at instances where re-inforcement is necessary.
4) Non literacy has not been a barrier for several people in learning new languages and skills. Observation and
verbal instructions are used for such learning. This implies that learning a “standard” or “structured” way of giving
spoken input to a device may not be too difficult for them. However this is time intensive and will result in low
learnability of the device.
5) Keypress as a mode of interaction is not intuitional enough for some users. It is worthwhile to compare it with
touch based interaction.
6) The physical distance between instructions and the actual operation (as in the experiment where visual
instructions were shown on a computer screen) makes it difficult to relate the two and should be minimized.
On the basis of the literature study and the promising results of speech interactions shown in the experiments, it was
decided to keep speech as the primary mode of interaction in the mobile user interface.
The key problems associated with speech based interfaces, both technological and usability related are as
follows:
1) The recognition accuracy in Indian languages is particularly low (around 50% for Hindi and Tamil). This problem
gets accentuated in the Indian scenario of multiple dialects for every language and varying dictions.
2) An interface based exclusively on speech is low on system state visibility which can cause a “lost” feeling among
users.
3) The lack of familiarity of the target users with any form of structured input.
4) An inherent time frame attached with the interaction (unlike visual interface) making the operation sequences
time consuming.
One possible approach towards tackling problem (1) is to replace voice recognition with voice template
matching as far as possible. That is, the voice data generated by the user is compared not to a standard database as
in the case of recognition but to a voice template of the same user.
Since the template generated is language independent, it does away with the need to create dialect specific
databases. It accounts for significantly high accuracy rate (> 95%). The training data being user specific eliminates
the need for the user to adopt a standard way of speaking.
This technique results in considerable reduction in the complexity of the algorithm used and removes the need
of creating a standard language database for the diverse Indian languages.

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 5. USER TEST II: DETERMI(I(G KEY PARAMETERS OF SPEECH BASED
I(TERACTIO(
After having fixed speech as the primary mode of interaction and identifying the critical usability issues associated
with it, a set of key parameters were identified which had to be fixed to make the interaction effective. To fix some
of these parameters a new set of experiments were performed. Some others were fixed based on heuristics and
results from User Test Phase I.
5.1Input Parameters
• Keywords to be detected from the spoken input string – Unfamiliarity with structured input is likely to
result in variations in the words used by different users to denote a certain message. It is therefore
important that the recognition system takes into account these variations and is able to decode the meaning,
i.e. it should be able to extract the “keywords” from a spoken string. The keywords to be entered into the
database should be independent of the likely speech variations.
• Acceptable range of loudness and pitch – determined on the basis of the normal range in day to day
conversation and to be adaptive to the level of background noise.
5.2Output Parameters
• The vocal quality – Friendliness and reliability are of paramount importance
• Verbosity – Kept enough for the instruction to be understandable and close to natural speech of the form
that the target group is used to. Redundancies should be avoided.
• Vocabulary – Closeness to natural speech and clarity are the key criteria. However, this aspect being
language specific was not explored in higher details. Words commonly used by the user group were
included. It was kept in mind that the input keywords would be dependent on the output vocabulary, only
those words which are easily distinguishable from one another were used.
• Word Rate – The aim is to ensure clarity without making the interaction slower than required. The rate
was kept slightly slower than that of natural speech.
• Visual: For the visuals and animations used as a supporting mode of interaction, the images were kept as
photo realistic as possible and abstraction was avoided (on the basis of user test Phase I)
Experiment to fix keywords
The keywords were fixed based on the frequency of occurrence of words in the mock conversations set up for
experimental purposes.
Number of users interviewed for the purpose: 5
Age group: 15 – 25 years
Background: Domestic Workers
Task used for determining input words – The users were asked to act out a scenario in which they instructed their
children (which is the usual case) to make a call for them or write/ locate a number in the telephone diary and the
usage of words were noted. Also they were asked to respond to pre-recorded prompt messages similar to the voice
menu on the telephone.
5.3 Important observations:
a) All the users usually responded in phrases or sentences. They found it difficult to perceive a single word as an
instruction or command.
b) In the case of pre-recorded prompt messages it was noted that they respond using words from the prompt message
itself.
c) Variances were noted in the way users responded to a prompt. Often two

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or more words were used interchangeably to denote a particular function
(eg phone/call, diary/phone book note a number/write a number)
d) Controlling entries in a phone book with the means of spoken words was found difficult to visualize. The very
notion of using a phone book without external help was found intimidating by some.
5.4 Inferences and Implications:
a) Observation (a) indicates a need for implementing key word spotting in the recognition mechanism. That is, the
device does not recognize the entire spoken input but identifies certain key words in them. For instance if the user
says “note number in phone book” , the key words “note” and “phone book” are noted to decipher the function being
referred to by the user.
b) Observation (b) makes it easier to define the key words as they are likely to be taken from the prompt string. All
significant words of the prompt string therefore are to be included in the set of key words for that prompt.
c) This gives rise to the need for parallelism in the acceptable input strings.
Two or more words close in meaning need to be acceptable as denoting the same thing.
d) Observation (d) implies a need to redefine the interaction with the phone book. Most of the users interviewed are
not familiar with any direct interaction with the phone book and use it via a medium (literate family member,
usually children). The fear element associated with the idea of “writing” and “reading” contact information led to re-
conceptualization of the interface.

6. FORMULATIO( OF GUIDELI(ES A(D HEURISTICS

Based on the two phase study conducted, the following guidelines were identified for the design of a usable speech
based mobile interface for the low literate.
The speech dialogue is required to be “human like” as far as possible i.e.
a) The vocal tone used in the spoken dialogue by the machine needs to be identifiable as a familiar
human voice and the vocabulary should be pertaining to day to day use.
b) The system should be receptive to natural input. It should be flexible to allow for input in the form
of phrases and sentences as in natural speech. Eg. “call”, “make a call” “make a phone call” should be
understood as the same function.
To facilitate this, “keyword spotting” Ref[6] in speech recognition is proposed where the keyword(s) would be the
minimum word(s) that uniquely denote certain function or command and are likely to occur in any variation of the
input string. Eg. Keyword “call” in the previous example.
Since the recognition accuracy for keyword spotting is not very high, it is desirable to keep the phone vocabulary as
small as possible. That is, for every input string, the number of functions/commands it can denote should be kept the
lowest. This can be achieved by minimizing the options given to a user at any point in the navigation. This has an
added usability advantage of keeping the speech menu short as a long list of options would be memory intensive.
User specific or personalized database enabled by “speech template matching” – This would help solve the difficulty
in recognizing variants of dialects and diction. The recognition system would be trained for a specific user in the
“configuration phase” and create a set of “speech templates” pertaining to that user. Further speech inputs would be
matched to those templates. However, personalized training for too many keywords should be avoided as it would
make the configuration lengthy.
The number of steps required to get to any functions should be minimum (<4) and must not require the user to know
the navigation model. For example, in order to make a phone book entry the user should not have to remember that
he/she needs to go to menu first and then choose the phone book function.
The metaphors used should not simulate any reading/writing task as they are unfamiliar and intimidating to the
users.

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Though speech has experimentally been proved to be the most effective “primary” mode of interaction for such an
application, a supporting visual mode is likely to enhance the usability by solving the following problems:
a) Improvement of system state visibility which is lacking in a speech based system
b) Re-inforcement of user action – In a situation where users do not have complete trust in technology,
input from two different modes is expected to increase the perceived credibility.
Graphics used should be photorealistic and abstractions should be avoided.

7. CO(CEPTUALIZATIO(
A solution was conceptualized based on the above mentioned heuristics to optimize usability and recognition
accuracy. A low fidelity prototype was developed of the concept formed. The following are some of the salient
features of the proposed solution:
7.1 “Humanizing” the interaction
On the basis of the observations in the testing phase II it was inferred that a perceived human presence is critical in
making the users feel at ease with the device. This is particularly true for accomplishing tasks that in their real life
they rely on others to perform for them. That is, the device here acts as an intermediary between the user and the
task, a simulation of the literate assistant.
Based on the above and correlating it with the effectiveness of video as a medium as demonstrated in one of the
reference papers, it was decided to use an animated “human assistant” on the mobile interface who could be seen
interacting with the users through spoken words and performing essential tasks for them.
Such an interface extends the similarity with human-human interaction further and therefore is perceived as more
familiar and congruent with the day to day experiences of the target user group. This is also in congruence with is
Nisbette’s theory of “Perception of Control”, Ref[5] according to which the East Asians (represented by Chinese
subjects in the experiment) are seen to perform better in a task when they have a perceived (real or illusory)
collective control over the environment as opposed to Westerners who feel more comfortable with a perceived
individual control.
Termed as “secondary control” (Weisz et al, 1984), this collective control over environment is brought about by or
accommodation to existing reality including group needs.
The perceived need for a human presence and reassurance of any action observed in the women under consideration
here can be linked to the collective (or secondary) control theory of Nisbette.
Finally this implies that the mobile interaction follows the same interaction model that the user is accustomed to in
real life, viz. instructing a literate person to help them achieve certain specified tasks. This ensures minimum
cognitive load and high learnability of the device. The personality and the vocal quality Ref[7] of the interacting
“human assistant” were fixed on the basis of a study of preferences conducted and was made to emulate a girl.
7.2 Keyword Spotting
Use of this technology enables receptiveness to natural speech input i.e. it allows users to:
a) Use more than one alternative word to denote the same input
b) Use phrases and sentences including the required keywords rather than input the keywords precisely – provision
for “unstructured input”
7.3 Binary Classification of input words
The navigation model was designed such that the user has only two options to choose from at any point. Though this
has the drawback of limiting the overall number of functions available, it aids in implementing heuristic 4.

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7.4 Visuals as a supporting medium
Images and animations were used to metaphorically demonstrate the system state (making a call, saving a number
etc)

8. CO(CLUSIO(
From the studies conducted, it was inferred that “humanization” of the interaction and sensitivity to natural speech
input are essential attributes for a usable speech based mobile interface for the low literate. Adherence to the
aforementioned heuristics is likely to enhance the effectiveness of the interaction.
9. TABLES, FIGURES A(D EQUATIO(S
9.1 Tables
Table 1: Results for Interview (Section 4.7)

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 9.2 Figures

9.2.1 User Test Phase I: task Analysis

9.2.2 User Test Phase I: task Analysis

ACK(OWLEDGEME(T

We would like to thank Nokia Research Centre, Beijing for sponsoring of the first author’s internship during which
this research was inspired. The support, discussions, and encouragement given by the Nokia team to both the
authors during their visits to Nokia center in Beijing is acknowledged. We would also like to thank the Department
of Design at IIT Guwahati and all the users (subjects) who participated in the interviews and experiments.

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 REFERE(CES
1. Dr. Dinesh Katre, “Using Mnemonics as Part of Pictorial Interface for Self-Identification of Illiterate
Villagers” C-DAC Design, 2006

2. Indrani Medhi and Kentaro Toyama, “Full-Context Videos for First-Time, Non-Literate PC Users”
Microsoft Research Labs India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India.

3. Madelaine Plauché, International Computer Science Institute (ICSI), USA and Madhu Prabaker,
Carnegie Mellon University, USA, “Tamil Market: A Spoken Dialog System for Rural India”

4. Indrani Medhi, Aman Sagar, and Kentaro Toyama, “Text Free UI for literate and semi-literate users”

5. Kwan Min Lee, Clifford Nass , “Social-Psychological Origins of Feelings of Presence”

6. Mitchel Weintraub, “Improved keyword-spotting using sri’s decipher tm large-vocabuarly Speech-

recognition system”

7. Nass, Ulla G. Foehr, Michael Somoza, “The Effects of Emotion of Voice in Synthesized and Recorded
Speech - Clifford”

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 The Effect of Multi-Touch Technology on User Interface Design
Shusheel Kewaley, Human Factors International,
Unit 7, Shrishti Plaza, Next to Killick Nixxon, Off Saki-Vihar Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai -72, India.
susheel.k@humanfactors.com
http:/www.humanfactors.com

ABSTRACT
Despite being in its infancy, multi-touch technology has generated considerable excitement about its potential
impact on interactive media. This paper summarizes some important studies on how multi-touch technology affects
user interface (UI) design principles. Based on such empirical findings, it also sheds light on fundamental principles
of UI design for touch interfaces, based on the general capabilities and physiology of humans.

KEYWORDS
Multi-Touch, User Interface (UI) Design, Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR), Human Computer Interaction
(HCI)
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
We are gradually moving into an era of information technology where end-user experience with UIs is being given
utmost importance. UI design technology is advancing rapidly to complement conventional HCI with advanced
forms of haptic interactions.
A haptic interface is a computer-pointing technology that is based on the sense of touch. These “Touch Interfaces”
enable users to compute without the use of conventional input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, etc., see Figure 1.

Figure 1. Illustration of a Haptic Interface in use

1.1 Multi-Touch Technology

While touch sensing is commonplace for single points of contact, multi-touch sensing enables a user to interact with
a system with more than one finger at a time, as in chording and bi-manual operations. Such types of sensing
devices are inherently also able to accommodate multiple users simultaneously. This is especially useful for larger
interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops. The domain of UI design for multi-touch technology is
still under exploration and focuses significantly on the aspects of visual and physical ergonomics.

1.2 Benefits of a Touch Interface

A “Touch interface” is operated by performing hand gestures. In his book Interactive Gestures: Designing Gestural
Interfaces (2008, OREILLY), Dan Saffer suggests the following benefits of gestural interfaces:

1.2.1 Portability: Consider the cost of making this technology usable on one side vis-à-vis the potential it has to
reduce hardware. For example, a usable on-screen keyboard, along with fingers, can render the physical keyboard
and mouse obsolete in the near future. Thus, such usable technology can not only optimize device space and
increase its mobility, but can also reduce hardware costs.

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1.2.2 Flexibility: The ability to have many controls in a small space can be a huge asset for designers and
developers, allowing them the flexibility for many different configurations depending on functionality needs. The
controls on the screen can also dynamically change their form depending on the current application. Thus a very
small screen (like those on most consumer electronics or appliances) can change its buttons as needed.

1.2.3 Subtlety: Different pointing devices like the mouse, keyboard, and stylus, though appropriate and excellent in
their contextual use, are not capable of conveying the subtlety that the human body can. Advancements in sensor
and microprocessor technologies are most likely to compel designers and engineers to design interfaces that are
based on natural human gestures conveyed by the hands, lips, eyes, tongue, etc. An appropriate amalgamation of
hardware and software can make these interaction techniques quite intuitive.
2 RESEARCH QUESTIO(
Until recently, best practices in UI design have been developed for interfaces that are designed to be manipulated by
conventional input devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, stylus etc. In his book, Design of Everyday Things, Donald
Norman suggests that when designing a product, the following principles should be taken into consideration:

Visibility – By just looking, the user should be able to identify the state of the device and alternatives
for action.

Affordances – The designer must provide a good conceptual model to the user, which has
consistency in the presentation of operations and results, as well as a coherent and consistent system image.

Good Mappings – It should be possible for the user to determine the relationship between actions
and results, controls and their effects, and system state and visible items.

Feedback – The user must receive full and continuous feedback about the results of actions.
How will these principles be affected by the different aspects of multi-touch technology, namely, angle of touch
surface, finger input, heavy data input, touch targets, layout, control behavior, gestures, and accessibility?

3 EXPERIME(TAL PROCEDURES
Technique: Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR) technology is the most widespread representation of multi-
touch technology today, as well as the cheapest. However, a detailed explanation of the FTIR technology is beyond
the scope of this paper. For more information on FTIR, please visit http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirsense/index.html.
Equipment: A cardboard box, plexiglass, tracing paper, and a webcam were used to build the hardware portion of
the multi-touchpad, see Figures 2 and 4, at Human Factors International (HFI). This hardware was then connected to
a PC via a USB port. Natural User Interface’s (NUI’s) MT mini software package v1 (visit
http://ssandler.wordpress.com/MTmini/ for free download), which processes FTIR-based interactions, has been
installed on the PC.
Sufficient ambient light is required for the functioning of this interface. The results are best when the room lighting
is even (no bright lights shining from any one direction onto the multi-touchpad).

Figure 2. User interacting Figure 3. Multi-touchpad hardware used for the

with multi-touchpad experiment

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Functioning: When fingers are placed on the surface of the device, shadows instantly form underneath the fingers.
The webcam captures these shadows and transmits the images to the tracking software which tracks the shadows as
they move around, see Figure 3.

Figure 4. Frustrated total internal reflection

In all contexts, interactions were observed and notes were taken during usage sessions for post hoc analysis.
3.1 Test based on multi-touchpad
In contrast to controlled user studies, these observational situations were taken in non-controlled settings, ranging
from casual to focused usage scenarios. Eight persons used the multi-touchpad to manipulate different applications.
These applications include C++ applications (smoke demo and Windows mouse driver) and flash demos (fire, photo
application, and musical keyboard). While analyzing their experiences, we observed several common patterns of
behavior across these varied usage scenarios and contexts. Most of the observations are based on tests conducted on
Windows mouse driver and photo application. In case of the photo application, people chose to interact with the
multi-touchpad of their own volition; their interactions were unstructured and free-form in nature. In some cases,
simple instructions were provided, while in others people simply walked up and started using the multi-touchpad.
3.2 Test based on existing multi-touch device (Apple iPhone)
The Apple iPhone was particularly used for tests related to buttons, on-screen keyboard, labels, lists, icons, heavy
data input, and layouts, see Figure 5 and 6.

Figure 6. Onscreen Keyboard of Apple’s

Figure 5. Apple’s iPhone used for the
iPhone. This image appears courtesy of
experiment
http://www.pspmyspace.com/

4 OBSERVATIO(S A(D RESULTS

Based on the user studies conducted on the experimental setup described above, we have come up with following
multi-touch related aspects that will considerably affect the UI design principles mentioned earlier, namely,
visibility, affordances, good mappings, and feedback.
4.1 Angle of Touch Surface
In his book, Designing for People (2003, Allworth Press), Henry Dreyfuss mentions that the ideal angle of
inclination for a keyboard is 15 degrees. The touch-screen will replace the keyboard as far as direct manipulation is
concerned. Therefore, the inclination of the touch-screen should ideally be the same, see Figure 7.

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 Figure 7. The inclination of the touch-screen should be 15 degrees

4.2 Finger Input

The size of the clickable items on Windows OS and Mac OS are currently designed to be targeted by mouse input.
On a multi-touch screen, the size of these items will have to be designed to be targeted by fingers. The size of the
area, therefore, has to be of at least the average diameter of the tip of the human finger, i.e., 8 to 10 mm. The blob of
this diameter will be created only when the coupling of the finger tip with the touch-screen is proper; which means
that the fingers will have to touch the screen at an ideal angle range of 70 to 90 degrees, see Figure 8, 9, and 10.

Figure 8. Interaction with

a touch-screen interface Figure 9. Formation of blobs on Figure 10. Ideal angle range
touching the touch-screen for touch - 70-90 degrees

The photo application, which was used for testing, offered the scalability of zooming in and out. The distance
between the clickable items was a very significant factor in deciding pointing and clicking by using the mouse
pointer, when compared to existing non-multi-touch Windows OS or Mac OS. It affects the affordances of these
items. When the user zoomed out to a considerable extent, the visibility of the item became negligible. To work
around this, the touch target can be made larger than the visual element representing it; such targets are called as
‘iceberg tips’. Alternatively, there are adaptive targets, by which you predict the next interface element the user will
touch.
Following are the problems with fingers as input mediums:
With a pointing device, one has to drag a cursor across the computer screen, whereas on a multi-touch
screen, one has to pick it up and place it.
Fingers have natural oils and can get slippery, which can make manipulating things difficult. Due to
friction, the movement of fingertips on a glass surface is not as fluid as the movement of a mouse on the
mouse-pad.
There could be smaller issues like improper formation of a blob if fingers have long nails; in such cases the
touch event can even go unregistered.
4.3 Touch Targets
In general, interface elements should be no smaller than 1cm (0.4"). The translation of 1 cm depends on the pixel
density or Pixels Per Inch (PPI) of the screen. The PPI of a computer display is related to the size of the display in
inches and the total number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions. This measurement is often referred to
as dots per inch (DPI), though that measurement more accurately refers to the resolution of a computer printer. PPI
is determined by dividing the width (or the height) of the display area in pixels by the width (or the height) of the

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display area in inches. The higher the PPI, the larger the interface elements will have to be to create suitable touch
targets.
Factors affecting ease of use:
Young users have smaller fingers
Older or heavier users may have larger fingers
Older, distracted, or users with disabilities may not have the motor control necessary to hit a small target
Unlike a mouse cursor, the finger will obscure a part of the screen while being used to interact with the
device
4.3.1 Buttons: Buttons may be smaller than a finger if they are spaced appropriately and if the touch-screen driver is
smart enough to determine the center point of the finger. Thus, the significant factor is the distance between buttons.
On Pepper Pad 3, program flags are 24px x 24px. At 133ppi, this works out to ~0.18" x 0.18". However,
each button is padded for a total width of 52px (0.4").
On Pad 3, the text-only page bar (used for pagination) is 24px high (0.18"). Users often have trouble hitting
the page bar buttons with their fingers, and end up hitting the tab directly above the target button.
Minimum button size for a finger-driven UI is a function of pixel density, not screen resolution, see Table 1.

Table 1. Some common screen sizes and the corresponding minimum button size. This table appears
courtesy of Ubuntu UME Guide Designing For Finger UIs
Size of Size of Size of Size of
Screen Aspect Screen 1/4" 1/3" 0.4" 1/2"
Resolution Pixels/Inch
size ratio dimensions button button button button
(px) (px) (px) (px)
(800 4.1" 800x480 5:3 ~3.5" x 2.1" 225 56 75 90 112
MID 4.8" 800x480 5:3 ~4.1" x 2.46" 195 48 65 78 97
~4.28" x
MID 5" 800x480 5:3 187 46 62 74 92
2.57"
Q1 7" 1024x600 5.12:3 ~6.0" x 3.54" 170 42 56 68 85
~7.63" x
8.9" 1280x768 5:3 168 42 56 67 84
4.58"
~1.94" x
iPhone 3.5" 320x480 2:3 160 40 53 64 80
2.91"
Pad 3 7" 800x480 5:3 ~6" x 3.5" 133 33 44 53 66
15.4"
15.4" 1440x900 8:5 13" x 9.2" 110 27 36 44 55
Laptop
15"
15" 1024x768 4:3 12" x 9" 85 21 28 34 42
LCD

A 90px button - sized to be 0.4" on the N800 - is more than 1" wide on a 15" LCD.

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4.3.2 On-screen Keyboards: iPhone's on-screen keyboard displays 10 buttons ('qwertyuiop') in 320px, for 0.2" per
button, see Figure 6. The keyboard buttons are too small for accurate typing. So, iPhone's keyboard is 'intelligent',
providing the following features:
Visual confirmation of each letter as it is typed
Built-in dictionary for auto correction of mistyped words
Pattern recognition to detect mistyped sequences of letters ('ouzza' is recognized as 'pizza')
Adaptive button sizes - each button's hit area is determined by predicting the next letter to be typed (after
typing 'tim', the hit area for the 'e' key is increased, and the hit area for the 'w' and 'r' keys is decreased)
4.3.3 Lists: List rows need to be at least the same height as a button, so that they can be manipulated. There are
several primary options for increasing the size of list entries:
Use a larger font
Add a second row of text
Add an image, such as an avatar
These options can be combined. A contact list might include the contact's name in large text on one list, the primary
contact number/address in smaller text on the second line, and an avatar off to the side.
Mail message list could use the first line of text for header information (date/from/subject) and the second line for an
excerpt from the message itself.
4.3.4 Icons: Generally the dimensions of width and height of an icon are same; also it is a special case of a button.
So icons will follow similar changes as buttons discussed above.
4.4 Heavy Data Input
Current multi-touch technology is not suitable for heavy data input and for long durations. As compared to a
pointing device like mouse, a finger does not float transparently in space because of the absence of wrist support.
Since the entire surface is touch sensitive, using that surface for wrist support might lead to unwanted touch events.
This poses an ergonomic problem with regards to the duration of usage and constrains heavy data input. Keyboard
programs in devices like the I-phone operate in very less space, do not offer hand rest and are therefore not ideal for
heavy text input. Also, a touch screen is a flat surface and therefore touching it offers very less haptic feedback to
the user. Most of the feedback is visual. This is a limitation but may not be a permanent constraint as technology
may solve this problem.
4.5 Layout
A finger does not float transparently in space like a mouse pointer. The dimensions of the mouse pointer on the
Windows systems are 32 * 32 pixels, which means that the user is able to see everything except the region under this
area. This area being very small, the user is almost able to see everything on the screen. However, with multi-touch
screens, the user will not be able to see the screen covered by the rest of the finger, hand, and arm. Therefore, factors
like the size of fingers, hands, and arms will be significant in designing the screen layouts. Thus, the placement of
important information like labels, instructions, and sub-controls below the touch targets will be obsolete. The font
sizes for labels should be not less than 16 pts, otherwise they will be difficult to touch, see Figure 11.

Figure 11. The area covered by hand of Avg. human on the surface is approximately 7.6 inches * 3.4 inches.
4.5.1 Label: In his book, Designing for People (2003, Allworth Press), Henry Dreyfuss mentions that the area
covered by the hand of an average human would be approximately 7.6 inches * 3.4 inches, see Figure 11, which

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implies that there are greater chances of missing the information below the finger. The width of the average male
finger is approximately 0.6 inches, which means that information like labels and sub-controls should rather be
placed on either the left or the right side of the control.
4.5.2 Pagination: Similar to the above conclusion, in multi-touch interfaces, the horizontal scrolling of information
might become more user friendly in the context of web design. The webpage pagination might then become similar
to that of the actual physical book, which is oriented horizontally. This might also introduce implications to the
design of the physical dimensions of the device, see Figure 11 (the average area and related ergonomics of the
human hand is also crucial factor in the design of the device).
4.5.3 Menu: Menu items are generally placed on the edges of screens so that the mouse pointer stops at the edge of
the screen and the user does not go beyond the target. In the case of a touch-pad, however, this is not the case as
there are no such boundaries. Also, the user seldom drags the cursor, which imposes a limit on the drop-down and
cascading levels.
4.6 Control Behavior
4.6.1 Drop-Down Menu and Hover: The drop-down and hover actions are designed for mouse input and essentially
depend on dragging the cursor persistently. Fingers as input devices limit the number of items in a menu because of
the larger size of the items. The number of sub-levels should ideally be not more than one, because it is very difficult
to persistently drag with fingers.
4.6.2 Cascade: For the same reason as above, the number of cascading levels should also be not more than one.
4.6.3 Double-Click: This paradigm is successfully accomplished on touch-pads, but due to the physical constraints
of most touch-screen interfaces, it might be registered as two separate events. The time taken to complete a double-
click on a touch-screen is also much greater than when done with a mouse on non-multi-touch interfaces.
4.7 Gestures:
The human body poses physical constraints on performing gestures, especially across users of different ages. If the
gesture is more intuitive and simple, more is the chance of the user successfully completing it. Although the
complexity of a task should define the complexity of the gesture, there are many reasons to avoid or minimize
complex gestures in direct manipulation:
4.7.1 Inappropriate for Context: Many contexts may not be conducive to perform gestures either to avoid
embarrassing the user or for privacy reasons. For example performing hand gestures in official settings may be
4.7.2 Matching Gesture to Behavior: Multi-touch and gestural controls make the usage more humane. The effort is
to metaphorically map the use of software applications with the use of everyday things, so that the user is
independent of any prior interaction knowledge and his/her approach to using the interface is natural and intuitive.
The biggest challenge is to make such an interface discoverable to the user; because all the information has to be
provided on one layer/ level. For example, Anand Agarawala’s BumpTop is an innovative new desktop interface
with a satisfyingly three-dimensional physicality and a fresh approach to interactivity. BumpTop lets one pile and
toss documents like on a real desk and interact by pushing, pulling, and piling documents with simple, self revealing
gestures. Visit http://bumptop.com/ to see BumpTop’s presentation at TED 2007.
4.8 Accessibility
As there is no haptic feedback in the case of a touch-screen, users with disabilities, such as vision
impairment, motor restriction etc., will have to be given feedback via auditory and visual stimuli.
A screen reader user controls virtual navigation by using the keyboard, relying on its haptic feedback.
Therefore, when the multi-touch touch-screen replaces the keyboard, an alternate form of feedback will be
required.
In the case of screen readers, conversion to auditory information will be challenging as most of the textual
information will be presented in a visual form in “Touch Interfaces”.

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 5 CO(CLUSIO(S A(D FUTURE SCOPE
Observations of, and experiences with, the touchpad were collected over a period of six months and are sufficient to
conclude that this technology will significantly affect the UI design principles as discussed in the “Observations and
Test Results” section. Although the observations were done in a range of non-controlled settings (from casual to
focused usage scenarios) and across a range of applications (from collaborative to independent to competitive), we
discovered a number of common usage patterns. These and other observations will surely offer further insights into
UI design principles for multi-touch touch-screens. Even though our experiments were restricted to our multi-touch
pad, the results bear implications for the design of UIs for all touch-screens.

6 ACK(OWLEDGEME(TS
Our sincere thanks to the NUI (Natural User Interface) community for providing the MT mini software v1 that was
utilized to create the experimental setup. We also wish to thank our colleagues at Human Factors International who
have participated in and supported our research.

7 REFERE(CES
Dan Saffer, (2008), Interactive Gestures: Designing Gestural Interfaces, OREILLY
Donald Norman, (2002), The Design of Everyday Things, Basic Books
Henry Dreyfuss, (2003), Designing for People, Allworth Press
Anand Agarawala’s BumpTop (2007)
(http://bumptop.com/)
Han, J. Y. (2005),
http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirsense/index.html
MTmini Software Package v1

(http://ssandler.wordpress.com/MTmini/)
Ubuntu UME Guide Designing For Finger UIs (2007),
(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UMEGuide/DesigningForFingerUIs)

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 Understanding Web 2.0 : Design approach to a Portal for e- publishing.
Debayan Dhar1, Pradeep Yammiyavar2
1,2
Department of Design IIT Guwahati
1
debayan@iitg.ernet.in , 2pradeep@iitg.ernet.in
1,2
www.iitg.ernet.in

ABSTRACT
Web2.0 is more a marketing concept that came into existence after a brainstorming session between Tim O’Reilly &
Media Live International. It changed the way user interacts with the web and opened a new dimension in the way
users’ collaborate among themselves. The research is carried out to understand the basic difference between Web2.0
& Web1.0 in order to develop a user interface for selling e-books as well as hard copy books that combines the
features of Web2.0 in it.
Key words: Web 2.0, user activity, scenario, Web1.0.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
The term Web 2.0 is a concept that has revolutionized the way the Web interacts with its users today. As already
stated above it came into existence after a brainstorming session between Tim O’Reilly & Media Live International
but became notable after the first O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.
According to Tim O’Reilly:
“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an
attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform”.
Since the term has been coined, technologists have given numerous definitions of it. Some relate it from the user’s
point of view while some from the technological point of view. But what exactly do we mean by the term Web 2.0 is
the question of the hour. Without going into much detail of what philosophers are defining it today we will be
following some simple exercises to find out for ourselves the meaning of Web 2.0 since our aim is to develop a user
interface for selling e-books as well as hard copy books that combines the features of Web2.0 in it.

2. WEB 2.0 VS. WEB 1.0

For understanding the term Web 2.0, first of all we have to understand what do we mean by Web 1.0?
To understand this we will study the difference between Netscape & Google. As people around the globe believes
that Netscape is the standard bearer of Web 1.0, so our question is what is the Web 1.0 ness in it that makes it the
standard bearer of Web 1.0.
Netscape’s flagship product was the web browser that used to control the contents and applications in the browser
but on the other hand Google which can be called as a Web 2.0 site always delivered the service. It did not sell
products but encouraged usage for which customers were charged directly or indirectly. So we can’t say Google is a
web browser or a server but it provides us with the desired service by inter linking the web browser, search engine
and the destination content server (Tim O’Reilly, 2005)
So analyzing all these we can conclude that Web 1.0 sites had strict control over the contents and the applications
that were to be used by the users. Users had no control over the things that were in those sites. We can say the
interaction was only between the destination content servers and users.
2.1 Study of Web 2.0 sites:
During the research and analysis phase we categorized the Web 2.0 sites into five categories:
i) Music.

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 ii) Web publishing.
iii) Directories and classifieds.
iv) Office tools.
v) Press releases.
In case of music websites we studied last.fm, musicstrands.com, Pandora.com, upto11.com, read.io,
musicovery.com, my bloop.com. Here we should mention that all the websites we reviewed was basically of US
origin, since the interface that we will be developing will be for US citizens only. So as we were going through the
music websites we found some interesting Web 2.0 features in them like forums, groups, widgets, folksonomy-
collaborative tagging, RSS, messaging, uploading, chatting etc.
For Web publishing we saw clipclip.org, movino.org and the features we got from them were simply innovative and
amazing. Features like cut, copy & paste on the web, broadcasting live videos from a mobile phone into a website
were among the interesting ones.
In Directories and classifieds we saw go2web20.net, oodle.com, vflyer.com and the features we observed there were
like the former one is a directory of Web 2.0 applications and services; others provide professional design templates
to help create eye catching ads, uses users language to communicate with the users.
Desktoptwo.com, notify.org, freedictionary.biz, zcubes.com, zoho.com are the sites that we covered under office
tools .Here we found features like user communities, blogs, user can track products, can track texts, can customize
their WebTop.
Last but not the least under press releases we covered dig.com, newsvine.com, clipmarks.com, newsgator.com,
wired.com, newsique.com. These websites had more vivid features than others and also had the most interesting way
of presenting information to the users. Features like comments, creating own widgets or gadgets, RSS feeds, forums,
finding groups of people who are reading a particular article at the same time and share the same interests, added
timings with each news stuffs.
After the survey of all these sites some question arises;
a) How does these features are related to Web 2.0?
b) How the design of Web 2.0 sites different from Web 1.0 sites?
c) What our Web 2.0 site should have?
First of all if we try to delve deep into the real meanings of these features we will see that these features came out of
some word groups that describes Web 2.0 in a more fascinating way. These word groups are user participation, user
content generation, holistic interaction; social networkings are some of them. It means that most of the features we
saw in these sites encourages their users to participate in social networking processes and as such users build their
own contents. Website do not control contents, users collaborate among themselves to build upon their own
database. So now if we try to differentiate between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 we can say that Web 1.0 is like a radio
whereas Web 2.0 is like a mobile phone that we use nowadays. Web 2.0 is more like understanding the users
activities, how he collaborates with his fellow users, share his activities, it’s more like a platform where he comes
again and again to actively participate in various activities with his friends and foes. Technically we can say Web
2.0 moves around XML whereas Web 1.0 moves around HTML. Web 2.0 is more about wikis, blogs, podcasts, RSS
& Web application programming interfaces.
2.2Trade Websites
In the next level of our research we studied various websites that sell books .In fact this part is of fore most
importance since we tried to get the essence of what is currently happing in the industries, what are the trends and
how they do their business? The websites we surveyed are as follows:
1. www.redcrane.com Alexa, Compete- No ranking available.
2. www.antiquariat.com Alexa-3855899, Compete- No ranking available.
3. www.allenandunwin.com Alexa-330622, Compete-332549.
4. www.asia2000.com.hk Alexa-4575328, Compete- No ranking available.
5. www.bancroftpress.com Alexa-7408229, Compete-730330.

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 6. www.bosonbooks.com Alexa-3148193, Compete-924042.
7. www.cadmuseeditions.com Alexa-8906073, Compete-No ranking available.
8. www.whsmith.co.uk Alexa-26900, Compete-173597.
9. www.thebookden.com Alexa-5289073, Compete-837068.
10. www.exeterhousebooks.com Alexa-11271698, Compete-No ranking available.
11. www.footprintbooks.com Alexa-1175097, Compete-No ranking available.
12. www.gcpress.com Alexa-6979785, Compete-No ranking available.
13. www.hnabooks.com Alexa-359696, Compete-13010.
14. www.hmcobooks.com Alexa-20071, Compete-5654.

P.S: Alexa and compete are service providing companies which operates websites that provides information on web
traffic to other websites. The data was collected on 10/06/08 and hence there may be difference in the present data
offered by these companies.
In these websites we found various sections devoted to various groups of users, such as:
a) Parents.
b) Kids.
c) College students.
d) Artists.
e) Teaching staffs.
f) Professionals.
g) Administrators.
h) Investors.
i) Poets.
And the products they concentrate on are mainly, e-books, hard copy books. They have also classified the types of
reading materials such as journals, magazines, practice papers, teaching guides, academic books, travelling guides.
They also provided stationeries that are related to such types of users who visit their sites on the basis of their
interest, DVD’s, games and PC’s, gifts and cards. The features of these websites which are of utmost importance to
us are compared in the tables below:
Table 1. Features comparison
Features Links to Reading What’s free Recording’s Signed and
various groups and broadsides limited
Websites
websites editions
www.allenandunwin.com Y
www.asia2000.com.hk Y
www.bosonbooks.com Y
www.cadmuseditions.com Y Y

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Table 2. Features comparison
Features announcements rare books Author Top 10 best
events/ about sellers
Websites
authors
www.redcrane.com Y
www.antiquariat.com Y Y
www.allenandunwin.com Y Y Y

Table 3. Features comparison table 3

Features Bargains Top sellers Track recent Reviews and Map location
orders exam copies
Websites
www.whsmith.co.uk Y
www.thebookden.com Y
www.exeterhousebooks.com Y
www.footprints.com Y
www.gcpress.com Y
www.hnabooks.com Y
www.hmco.com Y

Table 4. Features comparison table 4

Features Announcements Author Youth catalog
events/ about for broadband
Websites
authors and dial-up
connections
www.asia2000.com.hk Y
www.bancroftpress.com Y Y
www.bosonbooks.com Y Y
www.cadmuseditions.com Y

3. DISCUSSIO( OF FEATURES I( COMPARISO( WITH USER ACTIVITY

The websites that we visited during this research phase had many outstanding and special features. Like some
provided rare books, author events as their features. Now several users have this uncanny knack of collecting rare
old books that are priceless. Like philately they also have this habit of collecting books that are out of the market
and are hard to get, similarly various users have their own author models whom they adore and follow very much
and as such they can’t miss a chance to interact with them or if possible can’t think missing their functions or
speeches. Moreover they go crazy to get a signed edition of a book from their favorite author. For them service
providers have provided features like author events, signed and limited edition books, author contacts. For those
who like to share their views on any subject or books they had read, feature like reading groups are available. Some
of the users like to have the free stuff’s, for them What’s free like features are available; it is a very tricky feature
that helps in getting good advertisement among the groups, such users have, who like such free stuff’s and also there

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 is a possibility that eventually some of them may land up in buying some serious kinds of products. Some of the
outstanding features are tracking orders and bargains. Users who are busy and hardly can visit the website to track
any order he/she may have emails coming to their inbox directly once there is any information regarding any
product or may have sms alerts directly to their mobile phones. Such service increases the reliability of the service
provider and increases its reputation. Users who want to have a low cost edition or even a second hand one may
bargain the editions available and can have the low cost edition as well, for them the bargain feature is provided.
Features like free maps and links to various websites are also given in order to increase the services provided by a
company so that the user can find more relevant information in a single service provider.

4. DESIG( PHASE
This is the last and final phase of our research .Up till now we had collected various data regarding what is
happening in the world today and the trend of the present industry. Now we will concentrate in answering the
question that how we can incorporate our ideas in the present trend of selling books. So first we started creating a
factual scenario.
We identified one profile by visiting various social networking community sites. A nursery school teacher of US
whose name is Celia James, has migrated from one nursery school to the other, now she wants to deliver the same
lectures (presentations) she gave in her previous school to her present school students. The problem is that she is
unable to share her thoughts with her fellow colleagues of the previous school while she is reading some books .So
she wants to interact with her past colleagues as she used to be with her colleagues while reading books in a reading
room.
Now using this scenario we began analyzing the user’s activities and we came up with this model:

Users

Registe Unregister
red ed
Wants to see the present trends
in the industries / what new Wants to register /wants to
products are arriving? find registered users.

Wants to find his/her queried Wants to see the present trends

products/services? in the industries / what new
products are arriving?
What his/her friends are doing?
Wants to find his/her
Wants to find the registered queried products/services?

Wants to see what the site has

to offer him/her

Does no want to register but

wants to get regular updates.

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 5. POSSIBLE SOLUTIO(S
1. Classification of users into kids’, teens’, college students’, educators’, browse by categories section includes
browsing by various interests, professions etc.
2. Kids’ section to have a parents’/ guardians’ section.
3. Kids’ sections to have educational games.
4. Teens’ section to have “Ask a question-Get the answer” feature and college students section to have “Ask the
expert feature”.
5. Educators’ to have features like “checking the section” where they can check the answer script of the students,
they can provide assignments to students, can contact with their parents, can maintain a data base of the students
submitting his assignments, recommended books for various topics taught in the institute.
The proposed solution for the community section of the registered users’ are as follows:

Registered
My book Books pending to be
bought/ books
His important bought/wish list

Friend’s shared items Likeness or

compatibility meter
Recommended between two unknown
registered users.
Author His tags/bookmarks/comments
given and comments received
His uploads/ shared items
Last login activity/wants
What friends are currently to go back to his reading

Last reading activities/ reading summary/reading

6. READI(G ROOM DESIG( SOLUTIO(S

Read Tags/Pull out all the

er tags/bookmarks/share
Read
it/image clipping

View
Search within the
book/search wiki / search
Google
Change font style
/background color Shared items/ related
items/comments/reading
groups

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The design solutions given can be added as an improved feature over the existing ones.

7. SCREE( SHOTS OF THE DESIG( SOLUTIO(S

Figure 1. The screenshots of the web interface the main page and the user’s profile page.

8. CO(CLUSIO(
For a successful design of an interface we have to understand the activities of the users first. We have to provide
such kinds of services that help in their tasks /activities but do not interfere with it. The primary motto should be to
make them do their task in a more lucid way. If the design solutions interfere with the activities of the users or
hinder his/her natural way of working then it’s a rather disastrous solution. The solutions should always act as a
catalyst in his activities.
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to Mr. Nizar Jamal ,COO, Impelsys Inc.for his valuable encouragement extended to the author on
a training program at Bangalore which resulted in the inspiration to work further.

9. REFERE(CES
1. O'Reilly Tim “What Is Web 2.0;Design Patterns and Business Models for the ext Generation of Software”
(http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html) last viewed on 20/08/08.
2. Anderson Paul “What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education”
(www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701bword.doc ) last viewed on 15/08/08.

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 Theme IV
User Experience Research

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VIIT CAUE-2008 156
 An Expert System based User Assistance for Software Suites
Vamsi Chaitanya.P1, Ramachandra Kishore.V2 and Pradeep Yammiyavar3
1,2
CDG, Infosys Technologies Limited,
Electronic City, Bangalore, INDIA
3
Department of Design, IIT Guwahati
North Guwahati, Guwahati, INDIA
1
vamsi_pasupuleti01@infosys.com, 2ramachandra_v01@infosys.com, 3pradeep@iitg.ernet.in
ABSTRACT
Most help tutorials for software application suites, as it exists today, is neither intuitive nor user friendly. Almost
always it is only disclosed upon users’ request and might not be relevant to the users’ immediate problems. This
paper presents a novel approach to learning software packages. The paper describes a new user assistance technique
that is intelligent enough to guess the task that a user is trying to accomplish, and present task-specific help tutorial
to the user. The technique follows a user-centric approach where information is extracted whenever a user commits
an error, and stored in a database which can be used intelligently. This technique takes instructional packages to new
heights by integrating Artificial Intelligence Systems. The concept presented in this paper is supported with the help
of a case study of a 3D modeling software.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Expert system, Chaining, Error handling, Instructional design, usability.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
Users tend to get frustrated when working on complex and confusing software applications. As a result, users make
mistakes when working with these applications. There are many error handling techniques available, but almost all
of them are non intelligent; they neither keep track of the errors nor the operations of the user. The help prompts are
mostly abrupt, which not only annoys the users but also wastes their valuable time. Moreover, when working on a
new software application the user may not know where exactly to start looking. Searching for ‘Getting Started’ is
time consuming.
Software displays error messages when users commit a blunder or follow a faulty work path. This leads to the
key idea behind this paper: Can the software intelligently guess the kind of task the user intended to perform
from the errors generated? Can it 'understand' and present a task-specific help to the user? How do we make the
software understand the intentions of the users and help them complete their tasks? The only solution is to make
the software think, In other words, make it intelligent.
The need for such applications in the coming generations is required so as to enhance the user experience using a
more collaborative approach. Such applications can assist users in completing tasks easily while working on any
software application. This brings about learnability and error free usage of the software.
For the software to act as an intelligent system it should have a pre – saved database of different types of errors
users make, with which it can compare when the user actually commits an error. The system will be based on a
knowledge database of errors. The Knowledge Base is an inherent part of an expert system.

2. RELATED RESEARCH
2.1 Expert Systems
An expert system, also known as a knowledge based system, is a computer program that contains the knowledge and
analytical skills of one or more human experts, related to a specific subject. This class of program was first
developed by researchers in artificial intelligence during the 1960s and 1970s and applied commercially throughout
the 1980s. An expert system is a software system that incorporates concepts derived from experts in a field and uses

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their knowledge to provide problem analysis to users of the software. The most common form of expert system is a
computer program, with a set of rules that analyzes information (usually supplied by the user of the system) about a
specific class of problems, and recommends one or more courses of user action. The expert system may also provide
mathematical analysis of the problem(s). The expert system utilizes what appears to be reasoning capabilities to
reach conclusions. A related term is wizard. A wizard is an interactive computer program that helps a user solves a
problem. Originally the term wizard was used for programs that construct a database search query based on criteria
supplied by the user. However, some rule-based expert systems are also called wizards. Other “Wizards” are a
sequence of online forms that guide users through a series of choices, such as the ones, which manage the
installation of new software on computers, and these are not expert systems.
2.2 Expert Systems – Chaining
There are two main methods of reasoning when using inference rules: backward chaining and forward chaining.
Forward chaining starts with the data available and uses the inference rules to conclude more data until a desired
goal is reached. An inference engine using forward chaining searches the inference rules until it finds one in which
the if-clause is known to be true. It then concludes the then-clause and adds this information to its data. It would
continue to do this until a goal is reached. Because the data available determines which inference rules are used, this
method is also called data driven. Backward chaining starts with a list of goals and works backwards to see if there
is data, which will allow it to conclude any of these goals. An inference engine using backward chaining would
search the inference rules until it finds one, which has a then-clause that matches a desired goal. If the if-clause of
that inference rule is not known to be true, then it is added to the list of goals. For example, suppose a rule base
contains two rules:
(1) If Fritz is green then Fritz is a frog.
(2) If Fritz is a frog then Fritz hops.
Suppose a goal is to conclude that Fritz hops. The rule base would be searched and rule (2) would be selected
because its conclusion (the then clause) matches the goal. It is not known that Fritz is a frog, so this “if” statement is
added to the goal list. The rule base is again searched and this time rule (1) is selected because its then clause
matches the new goal just added to the list. This time, the if-clause (Fritz is green) is known to be true and the goal
that Fritz hops is concluded. Because the list of goals determines which rules are selected and used, this method is
called goal driven.
The system/ technique that is mentioned in the previous sections can be categorized as a wizard which takes the
errors by the user as inputs, processes these errors and deduces the tasks that the user is trying to perform and assists
the user by presenting to him the task specific video tutorial. The whole process is data driven and follows the
forward chaining process.

3. IMPLEME(TATIO(
3.1 Methodology
The idea is demonstrated using a 3D modeling software named ‘Solid Works’. A 3D modeling software is complex
enough to learn and confusing enough to work with. It has a variety of options which can lead to various types of
errors like Capture, Mode and Description. The main challenge was to find out the errors that are frequently
committed by the different groups of users with limited and medium level expertise with the software. For this, a
think aloud testing was carried out on the software with 7 users to extract the most frequent errors that are
committed while working on the software. A video was also recorded when the task was performed to support the
retrospective verbalization sessions with the user. Out of the 7 users, 5 were novice users and 2 were intermediate
users. These errors were later categorized based on the task the user was trying to perform and a database of task
specific errors was created. This database is used as a knowledge base for the expert system.
3.2 Experimental Set-up
The think aloud test was performed with 7 users out of which 5 were novice users and 2 were intermediate users.
The users were multi dimensional and their concepts and mental models change which created a big difficulty to
find the errors. The path that was followed by each user was different in accomplishing a task. The various paths
followed by the users in accomplishing a task led to different kinds of errors. The testing was aimed at extracting
and documenting all such kinds of errors. Each user was given three tasks:

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 1.3 To create a cuboid of length, breath and height of 100 x 50 x 30 (in mm) and to select a face and chamfer
by 10mm and fillet the opposite face by 5mm.
Objectives: To explore the workflow, various methodologies to complete the task, identification of tools,
problems faced while sketching, dimensioning, and 3D manipulation.
Time: 10min
1.4 To perform a lathe operation on any sketch drawn
Objectives: To find the workflow, concepts of lathe in user’s mind, exploring the software
Time: 10min
1.5 To replicate a given 3D drawing (bolt, a part which is used for fitting).
Objectives: To find the work flow, testing the usability attributes of the software such as learnability,
effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction, and common errors.
3.3 Analysis and Results
Each video of the user performing the above mentioned tasks were recorded by Camtasia Studio Software. Later
these videos were analyzed. Each user possesses entirely different notions of sketching which they retrieve from
their past experiences with 2-dimensional drawing software. Novice users had made many mistakes compared to
other user segment. Interestingly they found many ways to complete the task.
For the first task, the common errors were: directly sketching with the mouse pointer, confusing the plane for a
sketch profile and editing it, searching for sketching entities, drawing directly without selecting appropriate tools
after selecting the sketch option and so on. The errors for all the tasks are listed in Table1.
Through this experiment we now have the maximum possible error data base for specific task flows, which are
used for the generating pseudo codes.. Pseudo code is a compact and informal high-level description of a
computer programming algorithm that uses the structural conventions of programming languages, but omits
detailed subroutines, variable declarations or language-specific syntax. It consists mainly of computer
comprehensible if, for and while loops The transformation of the inferences from the testing phase into pseudo
codes can be done using two algorithms:
1. Workflow based error detection
2. Action based error detection
1. Work flow based error detection:
The database has a record of various workflows for specific actions and if the user is missing the workflow at
any point of time then the software can prompt the user for help. Let us consider an example here. In Solid
Works, generally a 2D sketch is drawn first and then converted into 3D using various options in the 2D to 3D
menu. Then the user fails his attempt to sketch and breaks the workflow trying to draw a 3D object directly. At
this point, the help menu prompts the user. How can the software detect that the user is trying to draw a 3D
sketch? Here is where we use certain cues like some specific actions registered while the user attempts to do
some manipulation on the sketches or objects. Here we also use the action based error detection. This is data
driven and follows the forward chaining method for expert systems.
2. Action Based error detection:
In this algorithm the user actions are recorded and based on these actions conclusions are deduced about the task
the user is intending to perform. This algorithm follows some basic if and for loops. If the user performs some
action x and then tries to perform some task y, then the video for the corresponding y task is displayed for the
user from the nearest level of operation from x. This algorithm is task driven and follows the backward chaining
method in the expert systems. The pseudo codes for this algorithm can be found in the next section in detail.
Pseudo codes:
This section is divided into 4 task specific sections. The actions for each error are given in a particular loop for a
particular task which pops up a window for a particular video tutorial.

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 Here is the example of user trying to sketch, how errors are tracked and the subsequent video that is related to the
task pops up.
E1 – Plane to be a sketch profile
E2 – Select option and direct sketching
E3 – Viewport to be sketch tool
E4 – Dimensioning errors
Below is the Pseudo code for the E1
Cues for E1:
1. Edit plane (reference)
2. Select origin and try to edit origin
3. Select planes (if action repeated 2-3 times)
While (document = empty || document = new) {
If (edit plane || scale plane) {
Output video ‘sketch 1’;
}
If (select origin || move origin) {
Output video ‘sketch 1’;
}
a = 0;
If (select reference plane) {
a = a++;
If (a > 2) {
Output video ‘sketch 1’;
}
}
}

2.4 Technical Documentation

The concept of intelligent video when incorporated into actual working software, it needs to track the user actions
and workflow. When we generally work on software we use undo and redo options. For the software to perform
these operations it should somehow record these actions in a database and when ever these actions are called for
then retrieves the action history and performs the undo/redo operation. The same technique is used for the intelligent
video but the only change is that after recording the software it tries to extract the information about the task and
gives the user an intelligent help. Now how does the software record these operations?
The undo/redo operation in software:
Every action in software is a command. The action that is performed by the user is stored in a stack and this
stack can be accessed very easily using some lines of code. Stack is a kind of data structure used in
programming. The stack is used in the intelligent video package and thus the for/if loops which guesses the
action performed by the user takes the input from this stack and prompts the corresponding video tutorial.

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Table 1. Task specific errors.

Users/oper Sketching 2d to 3d Manipulation Common

ations errors

User1 1.Direct sketching with the 1. Tick operations 1.Cut option is

mouse pointer really
are generally
2.Confusing plane to be a difficult to find
neglected
sketch profile itself and
2. Does not know
editing 2. Confuses between
that he has to
3.Dimensioning is done the revolve
manually select a face and
tool and extrude
4.Prone to make Sketch on it.
tool
mistakes while
3. Draft and
dimensioning the
revolve tool
sketch

User2 1.Direct sketching 1. Tick operations 1.Cuts the profile

with the mouse are generally before selecting
pointer neglected the sketch
2.Confusing plane 2. Extrude confused
to be a sketch for viewing
profile itself and modes after
editing sketching
3. Viewport navigations 3.Selects the fillets
Options are confused as
before selecting a
sketching operations
face or an edge
4.Dimensioning is
4. Confuses between
done manually
the revolve
5.problems related
tool and extrude
to deselecting
tool

User3 1.Direct sketching 1.Tick operations 1. Does not know Finds

problems
with the mouse are generally that he has to select
related to
pointer neglected a face or plane
Discard
2. Uses off set tools 2. Unclear about and sketch on it

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 for sketching the workflow of changes
the lathe

User4 1.Direct sketching 1.Unclear about 1. Does not know

with the mouse the workflow of that he has to select
pointer the lathe a face or plane
2.Confusing plane 2. Confuses between and sketch on it
to be a sketch the revolve 2.Confuses between
profile itself and tool and extrude the cut tool
editing tool and extrude tool
3. Searching for 3.Problems facing
sketching entities wile deleting the
4. After selecting sketch
sketch option,
he draws directly
without selecting
tools
5.Dimensioning is
done manually

User5 1. Confusion regarding 1.Off set tool for

sketching extrusion
on a plane. 2.Document grid
2.Editing the view set up for extrusion
plane mistaking 3.Adding relations
it to be a sketch for extrusion
profile 4. Confusion
3.Errors in dimensioning between view port
4. Sketching navigation and
in different extrusion.
tabs.(property
panel)

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Results.
Sketching:
Error1-Direct sketching
Error2-Plane to be sketch profile
Error3-Dimensioning errors
Error4-Viewport as sketch tools

Figure 1. – Percentage of users v/s errors for the first task.

2D to 3D conversion:
Error1-Tick operations neglected
Error2-Confusion revolve/extrude
Error3-Workflow of revolve
Error4-Viewport as sketch tools
Error5-Draft/revolve – confusion
Error6-View modes/extrude

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 Figure 2. – Percentage of users v/s errors for the second task.
Manipulation:
Error1-Cut option – abstruse
Error2-Sketching on a plane
Error3-Cut profile before sketching
Error4-Cut/extrude – confusion
Error5-Deleting the sketch

Figure 2. – Percentage of users v/s errors for the Third task.

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 4 CO(CLUSIO(

The ultimate goal of any software tutorial is to help the user to learn quickly, efficiently and effectively. Many
software applications these days are being tested for their learnability and performance. Systems are transformed
into intelligent systems and the concept of artificial intelligence is being applied in a variety of fields.

Why shouldn’t the magnificent concept of AI be applied to software applications? The ultimate task is to
generate and build intelligent software which can guide users to perform tasks effectively, with minimal input from
them and without subjecting them to undue stress.

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank our user segment for providing us some valuable suggestions and
interesting findings.
5. REFERE(CES
Patent number: 5659747; Filing date: 22 Apr 1993; Issue date: 19 Aug 1997 Inventor: Satoshi Nakajima Assignee:
Microsoft Corporation
www.wikipedia.org
www.google.com
A guide to Artificial Intelligence and Expert systems.
Project: Intelligent Video, Department of Design, Indian Institute Technology Guwahati, Departmental Working
papers -2007
Error Handling for Business Information Systems, version 1.1, Klaus Renzel, software design & management,
München.

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 Strategic User Experience Design Framework and Evaluation Methodology
Neha Saraswat1, and Dr. Sanjay Tripathi2
1,2
User Interaction Design Group, Tech Mahindra
Off Karve Road, Pune, India
1
neha.saraswat@techmahindra.com , 2sanjay.tripathi@techmahindr.com
1,2
www.techmahindra.com
ABSTRACT
This research paper is an attempt to develop evaluation methods, of User Experience in achieving
business goals and strategizing User Experience. This User experience research revolves around users
and focuses to provide better experience to user. For years user experience professionals are trying to
quantify the user experience in interaction with products or system. The presented paper is an attempt
to develop methods of quantifying and evaluating user experience using new paradigm of
incorporating business goals parameters into the overall framework. to identify the scale and amount
on which the strategic implications of delivering the desired user experience to achieve business goals.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
User experience design is being recognized as an essential factor of business strategies to earn sustainable
competitive advantage in present business scenario. It is also understood that the user experience is one of the core
factors which forms the customer’s impression of the company’s offerings. It helps in building the brand by
providing a distinctive differentiation to the company from its rivals. [12]
User experience design is being recognized as an essential factor of business strategies to earn sustainable
competitive advantage in present business scenario. It is also understood that the user experience is one of the core
factors which forms the customer’s impression of the company’s offerings. It helps in building the brand by
providing a distinctive differentiation to the company from its rivals. [12]
Before getting in to quantifying an experience it is necessary to know what is it and how it can be defined for
purpose of our research .There are innumerable concepts, terms and definitions for user experience. Few of them
have a solid empirical foundation.
In trying to define experience we come across a simple yet comprehensive approach to define this vague entity as
follows
Experiences can be defined as “the apprehension of an object, thought, or emotion, through the senses or mind” [1].
How ever we understand, every moment the mind reacts and as these emotions change, the experience takes shape.
Since these reactions in the mind are subjective to the individuals, the experience they produce could also be called
subjective. [2]
Every designer tries to stimulate the right kind of emotion in a majority of people to give them the desired
experience. This research project is to figure out what are the factors which contribute to a desirable customer
experience and different ways to evaluate the same to generate business benefits.[2, 3, 4, 5]
It is believed that customer experience and reaction to design are most lucid and important in ecommerce domain.
For establishing this research goal and for the benefit of further research, ecommerce domain has been chosen for
this research study. From here on the research concentrates on Ecommerce domain to establish its methodology.

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 2. USER EXPERIE(CE A(D BUSI(ESS GOALS
Business goals have always been dependent on the customers, since the customers have become more and more
powerful in decision making; slowly but surely online marketplace has also realized the importance of the user; thus
the user experience has become a very important tool to attract content and retain customer in an online scenario.
Many researches have been conducted in this field to understand the multidisciplinary nature of Ecommerce and
factors affecting them. It has been observed through research that user experience is one of the greatest tools to
achieve business goals. [6, 7]. The user experience that actually fails to deliver value to customers has negative
impact on business. It is mostly due to the lack of crafting desired user experience that actually translates and
reinforce relationship with customers. Therefore user experience strategy must better link company’s profitability
goals and business success to the usability and usefulness of their electronically mediated experiences. In e-
commerce domain, customer’s conversion, increased retention, loyalty and increased transactions are the most
critical measures of success. These are aggressively related with the engagement and interaction process (including
content and transactions) and contribute to the satisfaction of customer’s goal. All this involves competing agendas
from the view of market, technology, design and ultimately users. However, successful user experience provides
equilibrium of value for the end users and value for the company to enhance the profitability.
3. THEORATICAL APPROACH TO EXPERIE(CE
3.1 User experience
There are many ways to define the term ‘user experience’, for the ease and benefit of this research it could be
defined as ‘encompassing all aspects of the end users’ interaction with the company, its service and its products’ [J
Nielsen]. As a theory, the user experience could be called a product of following process for business oriented
scenarios.
Stimuli ------- Stimulus ------- Stimulant

While a stimuli works as the core philosophy of the company to produce various sub channels;(could be called
stimulus) as the manifestation of this philosophy which in turn and in time produces various end stimulants to
stimulate the customer to a designed and desired experience. A designed and desired experience has to have a
narrative to drive it; so user or customer experience also takes the user on a drive on a defined path. The better the
storytelling, the better is the experience. It is also very important to notice that a desired experience is not only about
a good story told brilliantly but also about an unbroken narrative; a story which has many manifestations and the
user finds ways to come back to the main narrative while traveling through the complex of space and time. Here we
can see the importance of the stimulants as the end of a complex process which can manifest in different forms to
stimulate the user to the same experience.
An example of an unbroken narrative could be the ‘Apple’ products which existing in different space time frames
hold a strong common bond and thus the customer can relate to them every time it launches a new product.

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3.2 Designing for experiences
All human activities can be defined as a result of three driving forces needs, wants and desires. While needs and
wants are the primary and secondary stimulus respectively they might lead to non pleasurable experiences as well.
Humans prepare themselves for these non pleasurable experiences through seasoning. It is the tertiary domain of
human activity which fulfills their desires, asks for the finest experience which should almost all the time be
pleasurable.
The definition of a pleasurable experience depends upon the context, scenario, and user personas which are part of a
material culture complex. This research takes account of the very fact and quantifies the effect of a user persona as a
product of material culture complex on the user experience coefficient of the product.
This in turn also lays the path for better, desired experiences to be designed based on the findings of the research
3.3 Evaluation challenges
This research sets out to produce a way to measure and evaluate an almost untouched entity which is more
metaphorical than physical in nature so, it demands rethinking every terminology used.
The process starts with defining each term starting with the frames. “Frames are mental structure that shape the way
we see the world, as a result, they shape the goal we seek, the plans we make, the way we act, and what counts as a
good or bad outcome of our action”….[Dennis Sparks]
Because language activates frames, new language is required for new frames. Thinking differently requires and also
results in speaking differently.
In this research various principles of cognitive psychology, behavioral science and linguistics are used to reach a
framework to evaluate user experience in commercial set ups like E Commerce.
Cognitive theory contends, that solutions to problems take the form of
Algorithms—rules that are not necessarily understood but promise a solution, or
Heuristics—rules that are understood but that do not always guarantee solutions.
In other instances, solutions may be found through insight, a sudden awareness of relationships. In this research we
have taken the help of reaction theory for formulating relationships between the action and resultant experiences.

4. EVALUATIO( FRAMEWORK BASICS

Looking at the complexity of the subject it was realized that a comprehensive frame work is needed to be designed.
This framework should elaborate the interdependencies of each factor contributing to UX and could figure out each
impact precisely.
Steps to framework:
The evaluation framework consists of three main stages
- Pre-test know-how
- Data capturing, tests and pilots
- Analysis and assimilation of data

Methodology diagram towards the evaluation framework for e-commerce is been worked out as follows.

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4.1 Pre-test know-how

Knowledge of business goals, aspired results from branding, intended user experience, Triggers and drivers, Target
audience, are some which we should essentially know before evaluating UX of any application. These facts help us
provide a ground to evaluate the UX of any product.
Based on the pre-test know-how an insight in the form of observation and inferences should be developed.
Following are some insights to be developed:
Making the user personas depending on business goals, mapping users with personas with the help of tacit
information, Time and budget-volume/expenses mapping, Mapping users by explicit information gathering and
figuring user experience requirements. These insight lead to a favorable test conditions
4.2 Data capturing, tests and pilots

The entire pre-test know-how gives insight as to what is to be tested in user experience and the benchmarks to test it
with. It is also very important to figure out what to capture, as these requirements change from application to
application. In this regard we must know, what to capture. This information should then be verified with tests and
pilots. Various other effects should also be measured at this point, such as quantifying the effect of technology used
and features of the site
4.3 Analysis and assimilation of data

This assimilation would produce a framework of user experience evaluation which would map business goals, user
personas, technology, and user reactions.
Assimilation of results: Assimilation of various results and interdependencies of reaction matrix and driving factor
to analyze the effect of each on the other. This would provide a greater insight and narrowed problem areas

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 5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To know the effect of user experience on achieving business goals we would need to know the four main facts which
coexist and react to each other to produce user experience and business benefits.
These four could be quantified in various ways and the effect of these on each other could be summed up to achieve
user experience quantum. These could be listed as follows:
1. Market- This could be gauged as business goal index
2. User- He or She could be gauged by persona quantum.
3. Technology- It could be gauged as technology quantum
4. Design- It could be gauged by reaction mapping of user
These four coexists and react to each other to produce user experience and so user experience quantum could be
achieved by quantifying these four.
5.1 Definitions
1. Business goal index: This specifies the importance of various events and triggers in user journey according to
the business strategy. A rating of the experience that the company wants to provide to the user and its
transformation into business proposition is done to signify the importance of the task or effect in the user journey
2. Persona quantum: Some users expect the site to be of one kind, others expect it to behave otherwise. In order
to serve a variety of users the site could behave differently to different users. User persona quantum gives us rating
of the user in different events. Depending upon the expected reactions the users could be categorized and quantified
for different events. The reaction matrix could adjust itself depending upon the persona quantum provided at the
start for streamlined results
3. UX technology coefficient: A coefficient which signifies the importance of technology used in the user
experience generation. The feature of the application which are technology driven could be rated and an index
could be generated to help us get the role of technology in user experience and thus in achieving business goals
4. Reaction matrix: It is a compilation of indirect questions which could be answered in yes/ no or ratings. These
are asked at strategic events in user journey by reaction mapping techniques. These reactions could then be used in
combination of other three quanta to produce user experience index of specific nature
5.2 Calculations
The user’s experience on any commercial website could be assumed to be a result of coexistence of four components.
These four are recorded independently and then are reacted to produce the User Experience Quantum.
1. Business goal index: three steps in calculating business goal index
a. Every question in the reaction matrix is rated for its relevance to the application and the importance
of the area it is tagged to.
b. The stakeholder of business venture precisely figure out what aspect of user experience is targeted
by the product and what results they are looking for.
c. The user experience specialist then tag’s the question at various stand points in user journey and rate
their importance.
This numerical value is then multiplied with the user reaction result to visualize the interdependencies of the two.

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Reaction matrix BGI Calculation
Que stion
Releve nce
Ques tion Tagging Num arical according to Num arical
Bas ic Ques tions Exte nded Que stions Are a Im portance Rating 0-5 businnes goal Rating 0-3 bus ines s goal index
can I connect?
to the story
to the content
to the product ( object to be bought)

Business goal Index of a question = (Question tagging area importance rating) x (Question relevance Rating)

This index is multiplied to the rating of reaction matrix to find the relation between user’s goal and business goal.
(Please refer the excel matrix)

2. Persona quantum: Each user is valued against set factors as follows

a. Personal information: Name, Age, Gender, Aspired picture to identify with(a set of representative
pictures)
The most needed attributes in desired user persona are rated best, Age group targeted could be rated best and age
group lower and higher could be rated descending from this
b. Skills: Education level, Occupation, level of internet exposure, IQ and EQ
Stake holder can specify the target user’s skill set and the actual user is rated based on that. Ratings on this would
determine the ease of use or interaction
c. Attitude: towards life, towards society, towards buying.
The business strategist with the help of user experience specialist, determine the most desirable attitude in user.
The most preferred attitude could be rated best and then it can descend from that
d. nvironment: cultural background, ethnicity, work environment and neighborhood.
User’s persona is built in an environment and the business strategy is also build to serve a particular set of
environments. This segment helps user experience specialist to know the targeted environment of user with the help of
business strategist and the actual user is rated based on this information.
e. Goals : life goal, long term goal, short term goal, visit goal
This helps determine the importance of the act of user. The growth of a user in his personal life can determine product
usage and buying habits. The UX specialist with the help of business strategist finds out the most desirable users
growth and goal achieving pattern and rate the actual user based on this information.
The above stated attribute ratings (a.,b., c., d., e.) are added together to result in user Persona Quantum.
3. UX technology coefficient: every experience rating done by a unique user is rated on the basis of technology
used by the user and technology used for designing the experience.
a. Technology at user’s end: screen resolution, browser programme, speed of connection, mode of
connection.
These are rated against the desired technology specifications to achieve desired UX.
b. Designed technology: designed Experience level, tools used to build the experience.
These are rated against the best available technology practices in the domain.
The above two (a., b.) are added together to form UX technology coefficient.

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 4. Reaction matrix: It is a set of ratings and answers to a set of questions asked to rate the experience of a user
through the web server. It is the base to calculate experience quantum.
The user fills in the reaction on his journey which in turn determines the level of user experience. Every question
in matrix is tagged to a typical designed experience and thus rates it precisely.

bas ic que s tions e xte nde d que s tions

logic

f irst and f ormost step in

c ommunication is to connec t w ith
target , if user could c onnect to
the product then only they w ould
can I c onnect? be able to experience

5.3 Final Calculation

Experience quantum =
∑ UX technology coefficient ∑ (Business goal index for individual question X Reaction of individual question)

Number of most valuable customer*

Where:
*Number of most valuable customer = ∑ individual persona quantum / most valuable user’s persona quantum
Most valuable user’s persona quantum = highest persona quantum user from matrix (supplied with the paper)
..\uxresearch\test\test.xls
6. CO(CLUSIO(S
Based on the UX evaluation framework various factors which can be quantified are the effect of persona, the effect
of technology, the effect of design and the effect of the business goal. With this information, the interdependence of
these factors can also be calculated. The effect of each factor on other shows where the user experience is lacking
and thus could be rectified quickly and easily. This also provides pathway for new design interventions.
Acknowledgements: members of design team, UIDG Tech Mahindra Ltd for providing suggestions and resources
for carrying out the research and compiling the results.
7. REFERE(CES
[1] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved May 06, 2008, from
Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/experience
[2] Dorothe´e Legrand , 2007 Subjectivity and the body: Introducing basic forms of self-consciousness, CREA –
CNRS, 1 rue Descartes, 75005 Paris, France, legrand@shs.polytechnique.fr
[3] Kim, J., Lee, S., and Kim, S. 2006. Understanding users in consumer electronics experience design. In CHI '06
Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montréal, Québec, Canada, April 22 - 27, 2006).
CHI '06. ACM, New York, NY, 189-194.
[4] Morville, P. 2005. Experience design unplugged. In ACM SIGGRAPH 2005 Web Program (Los Angeles,
California, July 31 - August 04, 2005). N. Kothary, Ed. SIGGRAPH '05. ACM, New York, NY,
[5] Blythe, M., Wright, P., McCarthy, J., and Bertelsen, O. W. 2006. Theory and method for experience centered
design. In CHI '06 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montréal, Québec, Canada, April
22 - 27, 2006). CHI '06. ACM, New York, NY, 1691-1694.
[6] Minocha, S., Petre, M., Tzanidou, E., van Dijk, G., Roberts, D., Gassman, N., Millard, N., Day, B., and Travis,
D. 2006. Evaluating e-commerce environments: approaches to cross-disciplinary investigation. In CHI '06

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Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montréal, Québec, Canada, April 22 - 27, 2006).
CHI '06. ACM, New York, NY, 1121-1126.
[7] Hornbæk, K. and Frøkjær, E. 2004. Two psychology-based usability inspection techniques studied in a diary
experiment. In Proceedings of the Third Nordic Conference on Human-Computer interaction (Tampere, Finland,
October 23 - 27, 2004). NordiCHI '04, vol. 82. ACM, New York, NY, 3-12.
[8] Fogg, B. J., Soohoo, C., Danielson, D. R., Marable, L., Stanford, J., and Tauber, E. R. 2003. How do users
evaluate the credibility of Web sites?: a study with over 2,500 participants. In Proceedings of the 2003 Conference
on Designing for User Experiences (San Francisco, California, June 06 - 07, 2003). DUX '03. ACM, New York,
NY, 1-15.
[9] Shelat, B. and Egger, F. N. 2002. What makes people trust online gambling sites?. In CHI '02 Extended
Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, April 20 - 25, 2002). CHI '02.
ACM, New York, NY, 852-853.
[10]Bloomer, S. and Croft, R. 1997. Pitching usability to your organization. Interactions 4, 6 (Nov. 1997), 18-26.
[11]Minna isomursu, 2008. User experience evaluation with experimental pilots (April 2008)
[12]Richard Windischhofer 2003 The role of E-Business for competitive advantage in the transforming European
food and non food retail business

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 Enhanced User Experience Through Search Engine Optimization
Mudit Mittal Chaitr Hiremath
Human Factors International, Mumbai, India
mudit.m@humanfactors.com, chaitr.h@humanfactors.com
www.humanfactors.com

ABSTRACT
This paper is targeted towards the usability professionals and designers to understand how Search
Engine Optimization (SEO) is integral to their work in delivering holistic user experience. We
highlight key areas of SEO that all stakeholders of web development process need to be aware of to
create designs optimized for function and positive user experience. We present some pointers that
allow designers and usability professionals to verify and validate their designs based on the needs of
the user and the search engine alike.
Keywords: User Experience, Search Engine Optimization, Optimization Techniques

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
While building web interfaces, we often build efficient and elegant ways to accomplish user experience goals, but
many times our users do not use them. Most of the times it is not sufficient to just design the content or the web
interface alone. We need to analyze the entire interaction pattern of users with the web to deliver better user
experience. Figure 1 depicts how most users like to reach an online content; search being the most popular activity.
In August 2007, 95% of the worldwide internet audience conducted 61 billion searches with an average of 80
searches per user in a month [14].

Figure 1. Users browsing pattern diagram.


With over 70% of site traffic [18] coming through search engines, searching online is the most popular activity [16].
Studies also show that people seem to value relevance over accuracy [10]. What seems evident from such online
browsing behavior is that people pick the first link that gives them a scent of the value it is worth for, and not
necessarily choose the one which might be the best for their needs. As search engines enable this access of content,
we need to consider optimization for search engines as an integral part of the process of creating an application.
Section 2 of this paper establishes the model of prevalent web development life cycle and identifies the problem
area. A brief discussion on the suggested solution establishes the importance of SEO in context of creating an
application. Section 3 of the paper details of how to achieve optimization for search engines by categorizing
activities based on the roles of the stakeholders involved. The discussed issues form basis for these stakeholders to
account for various pitfalls which otherwise might prove to be major hurdles towards the end of a project.

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 2. WEB DEVELOPME(T LIFE CYCLE
2.1 What is current scenario?
As web upgraded to the era of 2.0, allowing users a smooth access to richer content, the design focus has shifted
from delivering a ‘can do’ service, to delivering a ‘will do’ experience. The paradigm shift from designing for user
needs to designing for user emotions calls for refining the design process too. We can categorize an iterative
development lifecycle into three phases as illustrated in Figure 2 – gather insights from stakeholders; create
application based on feasibility; and launch, and iterate the designs at every stage of the process.

Figure 2. A Typical Web Development Life Cycle.


2.2 What is the problem?
In the web development life cycle, the linear process to create an application is further classified into different stages
of designing the web pages; developing the interfaces; and optimizing the entire application. Every stage has its own
challenges and requirements and hence the roles of designers, developers, and optimization specialists are played by
different individuals who often have limited visibility of each others domains. This often leads to more iterations
and unwanted designs which delays the projects and affects the quality of user experience.
2.3 How to improve?
To avoid the above pitfalls, it is essential to bring more visibility for the designers and the developers on how to
optimize their designs for function and performance. We recognize a need to account for intricate optimization
issues by designers and developers at an early stage of the development life cycle. This helps retain the essence of
the design throughout its life cycle and allows to retain the envisioned user experience. Since most users access
content through search engines, we need to understand the needs of the search engine and how it enables access.

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 Figure 3. User Experience Design Process – A mechanism to account for optimization intricacies
during early design stages to provide seamless user experience.

3. SEARCH E(GI(E OPTIMIZATIO(
3.1 How Search Engines Work?
Today search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Baidu and many others are virtual gateways of information. As of
July 2008, Google is the most popular search engine globally with a share of 64.1% searches largely ahead of Yahoo
at 14.6%, and an emerging Chinese engine Baidu at 12.9% [13].
Every search engine has its own algorithm for listing pages, but the overall behavior largely remains the same [23].
The web crawlers or spiders roam the entire web to create an index of the webpage content based on keywords.
Though, keywords are a crucial success factor in SEO, but they alone are not sufficient to provide required visibility
to the content. In order to achieve high Search Engine Ranking Position (SERP), the owner of the website needs to
consider numerous parameters which play crucial role in deciding the rankings against a set of keywords.
3.2 What is Search Engine Optimization?
The content of your website is valuable only if it is relevant and reachable. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a
set of methodologies aimed at making a site and its content highly relevant for both the search engine and the site
users; and attempts to increase reach. There are two aspects to SEO that one needs to be aware of:
1. Understand needs of search engine, and make search engine understand what is to be delivered
2. Make the search engine believe that the site is genuine, and provides relevant and quality content
Most of the issues in the purview of the first aspect can be handled during design and development stages. Though
the look-and-feel of the site and interactions influence user perception, there are a lot more aspects that contribute to
the entire experience. While there are some definitive measures to account for the first aspect of SEO, the second
aspect is a lot more subjective and highly competitive to achieve.
3.2 How to Optimize?
As a rule of thumb we must always design pages primarily for users, while aligning with search engine best
practices. The focus should remain on improving content quality and avoiding grey tricks to generate organic traffic.

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Remember, often our pages do not get indexed by search engines the way it appears on the screen. Their indexing
capabilities and hence visibility of our design, are limited by the intelligence of crawlers coming to the site. To
achieve effective SEO we perform a host of interrelated activities which can broadly be classified into three
categories [9] based on the roles we defined in Figure 3.
1. On-Page Optimization Issues: Apart from the usability and aesthetics aspects of page design, a
designer can take care of the content quality, titles, images, links, and structure of a specific web page.
2. On-Site Optimization Issues: These issues have more to do with the site navigation structure and
interaction of the pages within the site. Hence with some better understanding, a developer can account for
these issues.
3. Off-Site Optimization Issues: These are highly subjective set of tactics adopted as per the business
and competition situations and hence highly subjective by nature and require a dedicated specialist. They
involve link building and strategy planning to determine site popularity apart from keyword research and
web log analysis.
3.2.1 On-Page Optimization
• Content is king – No website can sustain without relevant and quality content. Each page should be
fresh, and unique. Remember that spiders read like normal people (from left to right and from top to bottom
for conventional languages like English). They feel that the most important information is located towards
the top of the page [27]. Use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links [19].
• Links are queen – Use simple text links. This makes it easy for the crawlers to interpret the design and
navigation as they do not recognize text contained in images. When linking internally, try to use keyword
phrases as anchor text [24]. It is better to use phrases instead of single words as that helps both users and
crawlers identify the context.
• Title defines content – Search engines use page title as a key indicator of the page’s content. They also
show it as the first line in the search result pages. Hence, focus on a single topic per page and use that topic
as the page title. When reading specific tags (title, h1, h2, etc.) search engines value words to the left more
highly than words to the right. Keep page title under 66 characters, use ‘|’ symbol to insert different
keyword phrases in the title [22].
• Images attract attention – Images are highly effective in drawing user attention, but increases the page
size. Providing alt text with images increases the chances of people visiting the page as it allows search
engines to display page in image search results [19].
3.2.2 On-Site Optimization
• Clear structure – Having simple and clear navigation structures ensures that crawlers have indexed all
the pages of the website and makes it a lot easier for the users to browse. Make sure that there are no
broken links in the website and each page is accessible by at least 1 static link [21].
• Follow W3C standards – Ensure that you have predefined standards for implementing various web
technologies; this brings uniformity to the code and allows scalable development. Avoid tables deeper than
3 levels as some crawlers find it difficult to handle, use <div> layouts [24].
• Test with Lynx – Before inviting crawlers, test the web pages with unix based Lynx browser [19]. This
gives an idea of how a page looks to a crawler.
• (omenclature is fundamental – Having nomenclature guideline for filenames allows easy maintenance
of various media types and helps better categorize in the long term [22].
• Light pages reward heavy – Try to keep page lean and mean, they are best optimized if they contain
350-550 words [25]. Also keep an upper limit of 800 characters on the keywords and around 150 characters
for page description [25]. Keep in mind that some search engines may exclude a page if it is above 100Kb
[25].
• Order meta-tags – Defining robots, content-type, title, description, keywords in respective order helps
achieve better optimization performance [22].

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3.2.3 Off-Site Optimization
The third category of issues is off-site optimization which is essential to ensure performance and visibility of the
website. Involving an optimization specialist here is key to success of a website as they require dedicated efforts in
terms of research and analysis both, within and outside the website.
• Robots helps – It is essential for any website to define robots.txt in the root folder as this file defines
permission for a crawler and specifies which areas are to be indexed and which are private. The file also
helps crawler to update its index regularly [21].
• Sitemap is essential – A sitemap defines structure of the website and helps crawlers verify structure of
their indexed data. Divide the sitemap into multiple pages if it has more than 100 links [20].
• Give link Love, get link Love – Have more and more relevant sites link to yours. Link building is the
most crucial aspect of optimizing for search engines as backlink determines popularity of a website [25].
Be cautious to build a quality network of websites around yours as that creates a lot of value and brings
trust for users and search engines.
• Get keywords right – Think words that users think [19]. At times it helps to go for keyword phrases
rather than single words. Choosing keywords is a huge exercise in itself and the final selection of keywords
must align with the positioning strategy of the website.
• Analysis is key – Web logs can answer very interesting queries like who are your visitors, where are they
coming from, what are they viewing on your site, what they like and what creates a problem. Analyzing site
visitor patterns and comparing with market trends give a better understanding of the competition. Studying
the competition regularly is the only way to beat them [25].
• Update regularly – As search engines keep evolving their algorithms, techniques that works today might
not work tomorrow. The SEO landscape changes every 6-12 months [26], hence it is essential that the
deployed techniques and strategies for a website also keeping evolving.
4. CO(CLUSIO(S
In this paper we briefed on why it is necessary to consider optimization as an integral part of the design process and
what are the different aspects of optimization. The paper focuses on delivering a holistic user experience by
reducing on unwanted design iterations. The discussed approach classifies SEO activities into three categories
depending on the role of the stakeholders involved in creating the application. The tips provided in each section acts
as a checklist to validate the designs and accomplish goals in a unified manner.

Acknowledgements: We thank our colleagues, seniors and the management at Human Factors International for
their guidance and valuable feedback.
5. REFERE(CES
[1] M Thomas, University of Hildesheim (2006), Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia, Implementation and
Evaluation of a Quality-Based Search Engine, pp. 73-84.
[2] X Bo, L Zhangxi (2006), ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, The Impact of Search Engine
Optimization on Online Advertising Market, pp. 519-529.
[3] L Effie, R Virpi, P O S V Arnold, K Joke, H Marc (2008), CHI '08 extended abstracts on Human factors in
computing systems, Towards a shared definition of user experience.
[4] W Melius, M Mongezi (2004), SAICSIT '04, Website navigation architectures and their effect on website
visibility: a literature survey.
[5] S Craig, H Monika, M Hannes, M Michael (2005), Analysis of a Very Large Web Search Engine Query Log.
[6] Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines, US Department of Health and Human Services,
Chapter 2, Optimizing the User Experience.

VIIT CAUE-2008 178

[7] M L Alan, F Christos, Carnegie Mellon University, Identifying Web Browsing Trends and Patterns.
[8] M Aaron, President, Aaron Marcus and Associates, User-Experience Planning for Corporate Success.
[9] Australian Web Industry Association, seo - search engine optimization choosing the right provider.
[10] ZDNet, Research study data, http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-134493.html
[11] December Survey, http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/Internet_Activities_8.28.07.htm
[12] User Experience Definition, http://www.nngroup.com/about/userexperience.html
[13] Search Engine Market Share statistics, http://seekingalpha.com
[14] Global number of searches statistics, http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1802
[15] Worldwide Internet Users time spent online, http://www.internetretailer.com
[16] Topmost online activity in US, http://www.itfacts.biz/category/www
[17] Traffic generated through Search Engines data, http://www.customermagnetism.com/
[18] IntactInfo for data on percentage of traffic coming to sites, http://www.intactinfo.com/
[19] Google Webmaster Guidelines, http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin
[20] Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO, http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/
[21] 55 Quick SEO Tips Even Your Mother Would Love, http://www.searchenginejournal.com
[22] Top 10 Search Engine Optimization Tips, http://www.top10seotips.com
[23] SEO - Search Engine Optimization Ranking Tips, http://www.submitawebsite.com/blog/
[24] 21 Essential SEO Tips & Techniques, http://searchengineland.com/070628-074149.php
[25] Building a search engine optimized Website, http://www.pandia.com/optimization/
[26] Search Engine Ranking Factors, http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors
[27] SEO and Your Website, http://www.digital-web.com/articles/seo_and_your_web_site/

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 Search Engine Usability - Asia Pac Perspective
Harshit Desai1 and Manisha Belvalkar2
1
Co- Founder, Pure Information Technology P. Ltd.,
Vasantrao Deshmukh Road, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA
2
Usability Research, Pure Information Technology P. Ltd.,
Vasantrao Deshmukh Road, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA
1
harshit@pureuse.com, 2manisha@pureuse.com
1,2
www.pureuse.com
ABSTRACT
While across globe there is need to standardize and unify usability and its diverse methodologies this paper case
study re-emphasises the importance of cultural and geographical diversity.
This paper re-enforces the importance of 'Cultural Usability Testing' and the impact in can have on Search Engines-
the very heart of Internet. There is need for diversity in unification of methodologies and its application one different
digital interfaces.
The objective is to make the practitioner aware of drawbacks which one faces while trying and implementing best
practices which are devised in different cultural and geographical backdrop.
This Paper aims to give a quick glimpse into the methodologies which are not standard but have shown results
which are very impressive considering the growth of search engines in the Asia-Pac part of the world.
Need for creating new User Testing Formats and applying attributes (performance measurement parameters) which
are fine tuned for specific industry domain and geography is also one of the strong points which this Paper high
lights

KEYWORDS
Homepage Testing, Portal, User Evaluation, Prototype Testing, Usability
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
“Search” emerged as the boundary-less medium in the era of globalization. The leading Indian portal had
organically grown homepage. As per Alexa rating, client being one of the top 5 Indian web portal and the only
India-based website to appear in first 100 websites wanted to revamp the homepage to compete with other portals
and to give users a delightful experience
2. BACKGROU(D
2.1 Problems faced by leading Indian Portal:
The market is now in its second stage of evolution, where the USP of any particular site is likely to be its user
friendliness. While leading Indian portal has been offering innovative and user friendly products, it understood that
its revamp must also be perceived to be user friendly. It therefore, found it imperative to test its revamp amongst its
users to identify any usability bugs that may exist.
The study objective was to understand if the organically grown homepage is a deterrent for users. Client wanted to

Obtain a Go-No go decision on the new homepage designs created by Client for active users of client
portal, existing users of portal services and new users of portal.

Understand navigation paths and usability frustration points of new users of portal for each of the
homepage options

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 3. SOLUTIO(
In order to get a Go-No go decision on the new homepage it was imperative to conduct usability test of the
homepage prototypes amongst the users and non-users.
There were two prototypes- Intermediate and Short. The diagram below explains the study approach.
Figure 1. Process Overview Diagram.

3.1 Definition of user matrix:

Two prototypes were tested amongst the following target groups. Users need to be understood in terms of their
demographics and behavior. We intended to conduct the lab amongst:

Males – 70% and Females – 30 % - since majority of internet users are male in India

SEC A – 70% and SEC B – 30 % - since these two SEC group consist most of the internet users in India

Age 18 to 35 years – since majority of internet users fall in this age category

Students or Working or self employed professionals or businessmen

Who have been browsing the internet for at least one year – since the respondent will be familiar with
internet reasonably

Who have been residents of the test city for at least one year. We recommend that the study be conducted
in Pune to ensure that we cover mature market.
Users were also classified based on their usage. The users profiling was done as follows:

Email Users (EU): Existing active users of portal - access once in 4 weeks

Email & Service Users (ESU): Existing active users of portal & content/shopping/other - access once in 4
weeks

New Users & Non Users (NU): Have just opened an account or who do not have an account on the portal
Usability labs were conducted in Pune. The sample spread that we achieved was a good mix of target audience.
3.2 Recruitment field work:
Since all users for the Lab are existing users of client portal, we needed to recruit using the database of users. Thus
sampling was purposive. Client provided us with a database of each user type per city. Name, address and contact
details for the users were provided.
A structured questionnaire was used by tele-callers to recruit users at the first level. Our Usability Analysts
themselves confirmed each appointment for the study.
3.3 Lab execution:

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Once users were brought to the lab, they were made to go through the following steps sequentially:

Users were confirmed on the basis of recruitment criteria

Users were taken to the set lab

Prototype 1 was exposed and users were asked to use the site for doing anything he wants on the site for 5
minutes

Prototype 2 was exposed and users were asked to do the same tasks he did on prototype 1 on prototype 2

Usability Questionnaire A was administered that made user evaluate both prototypes using monadic
assessment and paired comparison assessment. The Usability questionnaire had questions such as overall
rating, attribute rating – monadic, and attribute rating paired comparison.

Current homepage was exposed in front of the user. Usability Questionnaire B was administered that
made user evaluate current homepage using monadic assessment and benchmarks it against both
prototypes. This questionnaire was very similar to Questionnaire A.

The prototypes were diagnosed using Depth Interview. The Depth interview was conducted using a
Discussion Guide. Information such as reasons for preference, usability pain areas, navigation roadblocks,
etc were obtained in this phase.

The Lab was conducted by our highly experienced Usability Analysts. The entire proceeding was video
shot and audio recorded. Use of the site was recorded using Screen Grab Pro

Figure 2. Actual Test.

3.4 Usability Algorithm:

We used usability algorithm to address usability aspects. Usability score was defined on the basis of the following
usability aspects
Table 1. Usability Aspects

Usability Aspects Measure

Expose for 30 seconds and respondent draws out the screen on

Users recall of homepage
paper

Users’ awareness of services on Sorts cards with services/products into two piles – service
homepage and ability to access the exists/does not exist .Points out link where service can be
service availed

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 Users understanding of the service Meaning of link label and accurately expresses expected service

Ease of Use Monadic and comparative assessment of two prototypes

Stated Preference Marks given to each prototype on a scale of 10

Figure 3.
Study

Evaluation.
3.5 Study evaluation
Each usability lab was evaluated and identified following zones on the homepage.

blind zones

hidden zones

confusing zones

mystifying zones

unpleasant zones
3.6 Findings
3.6.1 Overt Stated preference among prototype: Ranking

60% respondents ranked intermediate prototype as 1

Not a single respondent ranked short prototype as 1

40% respondents ranked current IA as 1unpleasant zones
3.6.2 Overt Stated preference among prototype: Marks on 10

Mode value for intermediate was 8

Mode value for Short was 6

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Mode value for Current IA was 6
3.6.3 High Level IA Design
In the new design free association was incorporated and user driven nomenclature was used
3.6.4 Paper Prototype and New Design
Based on the findings a paper prototype was created and That paper prototype was used to get the new design.
4. CO(CLUSIO(S
The design given below that we presented to client was accepted and appreciated by client.

Figure 4. The Solution

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 Eye-tracking: What They See is What You Get
Gautam Karnik1, Sunil Ganesh2 and Abhijit Thosar3
1
Unified Experience Practice,
Financial Services Strategic Business Unit, Capgemini India Pvt. Ltd.
A-1 Technology Park, MIDC, Talwade, Pune 412 004, INDIA
1
gautam.karnik@capgemini.com, 2sunil.ganesh@capgemini.com, 3abhijit.thosar@capgemini.com
123
www.capgemini.com
ABSTRACT
Usability testing, an indispensible part of the User-Centered Design (UCD) process, is used iteratively
throughout the design life cycle. It is used to baseline the usability of an existing application and
subsequently validate new designs against qualitative and quantitative usability metrics such as:
• Percentage of tasks: completed, completed with assistance or aborted
• Time to complete a task
• Number of tasks completed over time
• Use of optimized navigational flow
• Error recovery and effectiveness of feedback messages
• Subjective ratings on ease of use and ease of learning

Typical data points from a usability test are the moderator’s detailed notes and recordings of screen
flows combined with video captures of participants’ facial expressions. While this data is crucial for a
meaningful analysis of WHAT, WHEN and HOW, it does not satisfactorily answer the WHY in
researcher’s mind.
Eye-tracking, as a technique can provide insights to help the researcher understand WHY the
participant interacted with the interface in a certain way. It effectively captures details such as a
participant’s eye movements and fixation points across the screen during task progression. It provides
valuable data about screen elements which were looked at frequently as well as the ones ignored by
the participant during the task flow. Eye-tracking data coupled with detailed notes from the think-
aloud protocol can fetch valuable insights in improving the effectiveness of the interface design.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
Usability testing aims to understand not only where the user fails to accomplish a task but also why the task is
difficult for the user. Test moderators with good interviewing skills probe and encourage users to think aloud so that
researchers can get an insight into what the users are thinking.
User comments may not always be clear or as descriptive as researchers would like them to be. In such cases,
‘looking’ through the users’ eyes can help the researchers. The physiological functioning of human eyes provides a
spontaneous and an almost coherent connection between user behavior and process of cognition.
This technique of seeing and capturing the interface through users’ eyes is eye-tracking.

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 2. WHAT IS EYE-TRACKI(G?
2.1 Definition
Eye-tracking is a research technique to capture the information about where users are looking while interacting
with the interface. The information captured is the point-of-gaze or the relative movement of the eye to the head.
The device used to measure eye positions and eye movements with respect to the interface is an eye tracker.
2.2 Visual fields, Eye-movement states and their utility in eye-tracking
2.2.1 Visual Fields: The visual field of humans spans about 120 degrees horizontally. This includes three levels
of visual acuity:

Foveal vision: This is the sharp central vision from the central part of the retina that is used by
humans for any activity where visual detail is of primary importance. The cone for foveal vision is as
less as 2 degrees from the centre of the eye.

Parafoveal vision: This is the vision that surrounds the foveal cone and spreads to about 10
degrees from the centre.

Peripheral vision: This vision spans the rest of the visual arc of 120 degrees.
Human beings capture detail using foveal vision and move our head and eyes to focus on objects of interest that
are perceived by the parafoveal and peripheral vision.
2.2.2 Eye-movement states: Eye movement has four states:

Saccade: Eye saccades are quick, simultaneous movements of both eyes in the same direction
The movement is very rapid taking only about 30 milliseconds.

Smooth Pursuit: Pursuit movement is the ability of the eyes to smoothly follow a moving
object. Most people find pursuit extremely difficult, if not impossible, to initiate without a moving
visual signal.

Fixation: Fixation or visual fixation is the maintaining of the visual gaze on a point or a
location. The eye fixes on content intermittently between saccadic movements.

Vergence: Vergence is the simultaneous movement of both eyes in opposite directions. To
look at an object closer by, the eyes rotate towards each other to converge, while for an object farther
away they rotate away from each other.

Fig 1.a Fig.1.b

Figure 1. Fig 1.a shows the saccadic movement of the eye when shown a picture of the bust of
efertiti. This picture appears courtesy of Yarbus in "Eye Movements and Vision" Plenum Press, ew
York; 1967. Fig. 1.b. illustrates the heat maps generated on the picture of Mona Lisa. This
photograph appears courtesy of Thierry Baccino, 2005.

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2.2.3 Capture of saccadic and fixation data through eye-tracking: Eye-tracking reveals parts of the interface being
looked at and parts being ignored. Important content may never be seen by the users if it is improperly designed or
inadequately located on the screen. Eye-tracking helps identify these areas through capture and analysis of gaze
plots and heat maps.

Fig 2.a Fig.2.b

Figure 2. Fig 2.a depicts the plotting of gaze pattern of an individual user. Fig 2.b shows the heat
map of a group of users after the test. These pictures appear courtesy Matteo Penzo, 2005.
2.2.4 Fields for eye- tracking research
Eye-tracking research spans a lot of disciplines such as cognitive science, psychology and psycholinguistics, human-
computer interaction (HCI), marketing and branding research, adult-adolescent-infant research, gaming, virtual
reality and vehicle simulations to name a few.
Usability professionals are using eye-tracking to test Web usability, advertising, marketing, desktop applications,
and even in environments such as ATMs.
3. EYE-TRACKI(G DEVICES
3.1 Eye-tracking devices
There are three main types of devices that are prevalent in the industry.

Head-worn eye-tracking gear: The user wears the eye tracker on the head. The eye tracker uses
infrared light reflected from the cornea for this type of eye tracking. It also uses mechanical eye trackers
that use corneal movement to track gaze direction. This is a comparatively inexpensive apparatus,
however it is obtrusive as the user has to wear it throughout the test.

Reflected infrared but not worn: This device uses reflector equipment that throws infrared light and
captures the reflection of one or both eyes. This reduces obtrusiveness as the user does not have to wear
any gear. The user is however conscious of the equipment, as it is placed between the monitor and the
user.

Integrated eye tracker: This is the new generation Eye Tracker. The eye-tracker is integrated with the
LCD monitor. Users may not notice the eye tracker. The user is therefore looking at the interface on the
monitor without any obtrusive element and can focus completely on the task.

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 Fig 3.a Fig 3.b Fig 3.c

Figure 3. Fig 3.a. shows a head worn eye tracker. The image appears courtesy Daniel C. Richardson
and Michael J. Spivey, 2005. Fig 3.b shows a table mounted eye-tracker. The image appears courtesy
Live Research, 2008. Fig 3.c shows an integrated eye tracker. The image appears courtesy Steve
Outing, 2004.
4. PROTOCOLS FOR EYE-TRACKI(G RESEARCH
4.1 Protocols for eye- tracking research
Use of eye-tracking in usability testing is a relatively new phenomenon. The eye tracking tool captures
comprehensive data about gaze paths based on saccades and fixations. These gaze paths and heat maps can be
generated using the eye-tracking software.
Researchers cannot tell from the data alone the reason for a user to fixate on a particular area. Fixations on
content or an image can be for various reasons such as difficulty in comprehension, fluctuation or lack of
interest, complexity of content or inability to recall to memory. To overcome the lack of interpretative strength
of the eye tracking tools, researchers rely on the users to give valuable feedback on where and why they are
looking at certain screen elements on the interface.
Some protocols that can be used in testing with eye trackers include:

Think-Aloud Protocol: Users are encouraged to describe their thoughts while they are
interacting with the content on the monitor. This helps capture spontaneous comments in real time
while the test is on.

Retrospective Protocol: Users give feedback after the test. However there is a chance of the
feedback being erroneous due to possible inability to recall to memory, and possible editing or
fabrication of thoughts.

Post Experience Eyetracked Protocol (PEEP): Experienced moderators notice the points
where more probing needs to be done. After the test is done through mostly unobtrusive task
completion, user is shown the video recording of the eye tracking and encouraged for retrospective
reporting. The comparison between protocols is as under:

Think-aloud Retrospective PEEP

Advantages
Allows
Allows users to focus on task
Allows users to focus on
moderator to probe undisturbed. task undisturbed.
based on

Helps calculate the correct
Helps calculate the correct
spontaneous user
task completion time. task completion time.
comments

Can be used in critical task
Can be used in critical

Users do not
situations such as a surgical or task situations such as a
have to rely on
operative environment surgical or operative
memory in giving
environment
feedback after the
test.
Users do not have to rely

VIIT CAUE-2008 188

 test. on memory in giving
feedback after the test.

No extra time is
needed to
Users tend to report more
accommodate problems.
feedback from eye-
tracking.

Disadvantages
The task
Users have to rely on
Test has to

completion time is memory in giving feedback accommodate for the extra
not realistic after the test. time

Cannot be used
Users may not remember
in critical task correctly or tend to fabricate
situations such as a thoughts
surgical or

Test has to accommodate for
operative
the extra time
environment

Moderator has to verbally
recreate tasks to give context to
user

5. EYE-TRACKI(G RESEARCH I( THE UCD CYCLE

5.1 Eye-tracking research in the user-centered cycle
Eye-tracking can be used through the design stages of a project. The table 2.5.1 illustrates how eye-tracking can
be used to get inputs at various stages of an interface design project.
Table 2.5.1

Data Gathering Formative Testing Iterative Design Summative

and High Level Testing Testing
Ideation
Artifacts
Simple
Low fidelity
High fidelity
High fidelity
prototypes, wireframes wireframes with prototypes with
interface paper detailed visual finished content
sketches design

Methodology
Think aloud
Think aloud
Depending on
Retrospective/

protocol for protocol to test phase, Think PEEP protocol
comparing high evaluate how aloud/ for performance
level ideation ideas are Retrospective/ tests.
translating into PEEP protocol for

Capture of
Measurement
design performance tests
intuitive search of usability
for information
Insights on
Capture of success
and grouping and interaction related parameters such
identification of immediacy issues issues as ease of
missing location, and
information gaze capture.

Benefits
Clarifies
Identifies
Identifies
Measures user

mental model of potential usability usability issues performance
users and helps issues due to and aids iterative accurately
understand what wrong immediacy. refinement of the
information design.

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 calls for
Unearths design.
attention design challenges
before too much
time is invested in
design

Recommendation
(ot
Good-to-have
Highly
Strongly

for using eye- required as it as it supports user recommended as recommended
tracking may not provide feedback it scientifically as it validates the
any significant validates whether success of design
value over the design is and provides a
standard test refining towards strong case to
methodology. its final stage demonstrate
value add to
business.

6. CO(CLUSIO(
Eye-tracking technique provides unique insights into users’ mental models and their behaviour online. Looking
through the users’ eyes can reveal a lot about an interface – what is attracting user’s attention and what is being
ignored or not seen at all.. This is more than just screen capture recording. The screen capture may give
information about where users have clicked on the screen, but the preceding eye movement indicated by the gaze
plots helps understand the decision making process. Understanding factors influencing a user’s decision help
designers redesign to better the experience for the users and add value to the business.
Acknowledgements: We would like to sincerely thank following for their contribution to this research paper:

1. Barry Po, Senior User Researcher, HSBC

2. Praneeta Paradkar, Content Development Lead, Capgemini
7. REFERE(CES

Tobii Technology , Product Description Manual (2004)

Agnieszka Bojko, Journal of Usability Studies (May 2006), Case Study: Use of Eye Tracking to Compare Web
Page Designs, Atlanta, pp. 112-120.
Lizzie Maughan, Jon Dodd and Richard Walters, Article ‘Video Replay of Eye Tracking as a Cue in
Retrospective Protocol…Don’t Make Me Think Aloud!’ on http://www.thinkeyetracking.com.
Nicola Eger, Linden J. Ball, Robert Stevens, Jon Dodd, Paper: Cueing Retrospective Verbal Reports in Usability
Testing Through Eye-Movement Replay
Thierry Baccino, Article on http://www.unice.fr/LPEQ/pagesperso/thierry/thierrybaccino.htm
A. L. Yarbus (1967), In Eye Movements and Vision (Plenum Press, New York)
Daniel C. Richardson and Michael J. Spivey, Papers: Eye-Tracking: Characteristics and Methods and Eye-
Tracking: Research Areas and Applications
Article on ‘Eye tracking’ on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_tracking

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 Theme V
Offshore Usability

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VIIT CAUE-2008 192
 Offshore Usability
1
Nireesha Yallanki, 2Prachi Sakhardande
Usability Engineering Practice,
1
yallanki.nireesha@mphasis.comc, 2prachi.sakhardande@mphasis.com
MphasiS, an EDS Company
www.mphasis.com

ABSTRACT
Global companies are increasingly looking at off shoring the usability engineering aspect of software projects.
This paper examines why India would be a preferred as an offshore center for Usability. The hybrid offshore
usability models adapted by the Usability Engineering Practice of MphasiS are elaborated along with cases studies
to discuss the off shored usability.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
In the new global industry trends, Usability has gone beyond a mere concept and has become an important activity
of the software development lifecycle. Companies worldwide are looking at software service companies for User
Experience Design solution as part of software development lifecycle. Offshore usability is gaining importance as it
helps to minimize the project cost.
The term Usability implies a large scope of activities ranging from understanding user requirements to performing
usability tests. Apart from the obvious monetary savings, offshoring usability offers advantages such as a
availability to a larger pool of trained practitioners, exposure to larger user base across geographies that can be
leveraged using techniques such as remote usability testing. For projects where development has been off-shored,
having a usability specialist ensures that the usability will not be given the short shift in the race to meet deadlines.

2. WHY OFFSHORE USABILITY TO I(DIA

User experience has matured from a nice-to-have-service to a necessary aspect essential for the cutting edge
advantage in the market today. Companies with mature software processes are exploring the offshore option to
integrate usability in their products/web applications/web sites etc. Software services companies like IBM,
Accenture, Wipro Technologies, Infosys Technologies, Tech Mahindra and MphasiS are offering Usability
Consultancy as one of their service.
Reasons for outsourcing User Experience Design work9

Figure 1. Reasons for Offshoring design work

9
Forrester’s Q1 2007 Customer Experience Peer Research Panel Report

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Key factors that tilt the balance in favor of India as the destination of choice for offshore usability practices:
2.1 Availability of skilled workforce
The Usability community has been a minority across the world. In India, the usability community is a pool of people
who have varied backgrounds such as design, psychology, library sciences and sales marketing. Many Indian
designers too continuously work on their skills in usability by teaching themselves useful techniques to carry
usability evaluations, user studies and software prototyping.10
Renowned educational institutes are offering internationally recognized academic programs in Interaction Design
for students and working professionals. Following are the few institutes who offer academic programs in interaction
design:
Industrial Design Centre in Mumbai, Department of Design in Guwahati, National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad
and Srishti School of Design in Bangalore11. Besides these, regular workshops are being offered by IDC, IIT
Bombay and HFI India to Usability professionals at various levels.
2.2 Support from Professional Communities
International Usability Organizations such as Usability Professionals Association [UPA], InteractionDesign.org
[IXDA] have chapters in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. The usability professionals
from India participate in discussions with global community and facilitate local events and forums to promote
usability.
2.3 Labor costs in India are low
Typically, a US based firm would be able to hire 2-3 full time employees or contractors in India for the salary of a
single professional in the US.12
3. CHALLE(GES I( OFFSHORI(G USABILITY
3.1 Client concerns regarding potential risk of quality and credibility
Most clients feel apprehensive about offshoring work to India as they are not confident of the quality processes
followed by the Indian companies. Clients feel that in absence of robust the UET processes their projects and that
might have an impact in terms of schedules and quality.
3.2 Identifying the tasks for offshore usability
Clients are not confident of offshoring tasks that involve continuous and direct interaction with users. They feel that
distance, cultural differences, and time zone differences might affect the interaction.
Well-designed User Experience design and quality processes help in getting credibility from customers.
4. USABILITY SERVICE AT MphasiS
4.1 MphasiS User Experience Design process in SDLC
MphasiS User Experience Design process is integrated with mainstream MphasiS Software development life cycle
(SDLC).
This enables continuous co-ordination between the designers, development stream across different phases of the
Software development life cycle.

10
Joshi, A, Interaction Design in India – Past, Present and Future
11
Dr. Katre, Dinesh, Article on website, Opportunity India: Interaction Design Market Potential ,
www.hceye.org/HCInsight-KATRE12.htm
12
Vidya Lakshmipathy with Kerry Bodine and Steven Geller (Sept 6 2006), Forrester Best Practices, in Usability
Moves Offshore - Best Practices For US Firms Working With Usability Teams In India

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Figure 3. MphasiS User Experience Design process aligned to the Software Development Life Cycle
4.2 MphasiS User Experience Design process
MphasiS follows its 4D User Experience design process for all its User Experience Design projects.

Figure 2. MphasiS User Experience Design Process

Key features:
• Data Gathering & Analysis, Design, Develop and Deployment & Testing are the four phases of MphasiS
User Experience Design Model.
• Tasks at different phases of User Experience Design process are clearly defined.
• Deliverables at different phases are clearly defined.
• All the projects go through the quality check before delivering it to the customer.

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MphasiS UET follows an established peer and senior review process before any deliverable is shipped to the client.
In addition, a formal Quality assurance (QA) process is implemented for managed offshore projects with
participating bodies from MphasiS as well as the client organization.
4.3 MphasiS Operational models for Usability
4.3.1 Onsite model: All the phases of the User Experience Design process are executed at Onsite.
4.3.2 Onsite-Offshore model: Some of the phases/activities of phases are executed at Onsite and the remaining are
executed at Offshore.
4.3.3 Offshore model: All the phases/activities of the phases are executed at Offshore.
4.4 Identifying tasks for Offshore Usability
Tasks for Offshore usability are identified based on:
• Direct user interaction
• Client requirements
• Time allocated for usability engineering in Software Development Life Cycle [SDLC]
• Availability of End-users

Table 1. Challenges involved in offshore adaptation of the 4-D model

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 5. CASE STUDIES
5.1 Case Study: Offshore model
5.1.1 Client: One of the largest global financial company’s engagements with MphasiS User Experience Team.
5.1.2 Challenge: The Customer Experience (CE) Team of a large financial bank was solely responsible for
monitoring and enhancing the usability of all its customer facing websites and applications. The merger with another
large Financial Services company made customer experience management of websites an overwhelming activity. As
a result, the CE team was strained. They had to focus on strategic development of web properties in a limited time;
due to which focus shifted to task completion rather than delivering high quality products.
5.1.3 Role of MphasiS UE Practice: MphasiS UE Practice was able to step in with a large pool of trained customer
experience resources with low cost to aid the CE group in the completion of daily deliverables. The result was an
improved and faster turn-around time on project delivery supported by consistent and up-to-date reusable artifacts
and processes.

Figure 4. Offshore MphasiS Delivery Model

Benefits:
• Cost Savings from offshoring
• Speedier time to market
• 24-hour workday (time zone advantage)
• Extended team model provides a scalable pool of specialized skills to assist in day-to-day customer
experience management
• Proven project management and delivery tracking methods
• MIS Reporting

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•
Table 2. Break-up of activities for offshore model

Daily task allocation through Mercury Quality Center Communication Server.

Salient features of the tool include
• Enables work allocations on a daily basis
• Reviewer can update comments and rate each task
• Reports provide transparency for quality status
• Complemented by email triggers at key stages of each task E.g. New Request creation, or changing the
request status to review, closed, in progress or rejected.
5.2 Case Study: Onsite- Offshore model
5.2.1 Client: The Broker – Dealer arm of a leading US-based finance company wanted to redesign the legacy
application used for entering complex Tri Party Schedules.
5.2.2 Challenge: The entire process of entering securities for tri-party schedules is extremely complex and
supplemented by numerous offline artifacts and traditional human based decision making. This logic had to be
transferred to the interface without loss in functionality or usability.
Table 3. Breakup of activities for an onsite-offshore model

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 6. CO(CLUSIO(S

The future will see more of offshore usability to leverage the larger pool of talent available at offshore locations,
faster turn around time as teams work 24x7 in tandem with the delivery teams and a greater saving in terms of
project costs.
In order to successfully meet the challenges involved in offshore usability, companies must have a well-defined user
experience design process, quality process and deliverables integrated with different phases of the User experience
design process. User experience professionals stationed offshore must work in close collaboration with onsite
counterparts using multiple channels of electronic and audio-visual communication. A well-defined process and
clearly defined deliverables can mitigate risks associated with offshore usability and ensure that the solution is
implemented. Companies should invest in training to hone usability skills and evangelism to integrate the process
strongly with the larger software development lifecycle.

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 In a RUT! Addressing Challenges of Remote Usability Testing
Sushmita Munshi
User Experience Capability, Accenture
Mumbai, INDIA
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to identify and address challenges in remote usability testing (RUT). It provides insights into real
issues faced while conducting remote sessions, quick how to tips to pre-empt and over come challenges.

Key words: Remote Usability Test, User Experience, Human Computer Interaction, User requirements, User
Centered Design Methodology

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
Moderated remote usability testing is an alternative usability testing technique. In a remote usability test the
tester/moderator utilizes technology and the internet to moderate, observe and record sessions with users/participants
sitting in different geographic locations.
Remote usability tests are now ubiquitous and popular. Improved internet and fast broadband connections have
made it easier to conduct, observe and record remote usability sessions. Screen sharing software and remote control
applications ensure moderators and observers get a real time view to the user’s actions and comments.
2. BE(EFITS OF REMOTE USABILITY TESTS
Conducting a remote usability tests are similar to conducting classical in-person usability evaluation, but there are
some facts that have to be considered prior to beginning the session- scheduling, recruitment, environment setup and
test execution. Well executed remote usability tests have numerous benefits in terms of cost effort and time.
Some of the key benefits have been elaborated below.
□ Reduced costs: Classical in-person tests are expensive and time consuming today, as user groups are
geographically dispersed. Formal usability labs in many cities are few and far between. Prices of hiring facilities and
recruitment agencies in emerging economies like China, India and Brazil are very high. Remote usability testing
reduces dependence and expense on third party facilities. Expenses are avoided in the following ways:
o Reduced travel expenses both for usability experts and for participants.
o Parallel testing and no travel ensure start to finish timelines are shortened. Thus engaging moderators and
usability specialists is cheaper.
o Facilities and recruitment costs are substantially lower for RUTs as they require less specialized facilities.
o Incentive to participants is lower.
□ Reach a wide group of participants: The most convincing advantage of remote usability testing is that it
allows moderators to reach a geographically wide and culturally heterogeneous user group with minimal effort.
□ Strategic participant recruiting: Remote usability tests allow a strategic participant recruiting because
hard to reach participants or specialized user groups can be hired without excessive effort.

□ Real environment experience: Remote usability testing provides insights which are missed in a sterile
laboratory environment. A crying child at home or a ringing phone in office are real distracters which participants
need to deal with on a day to day basis while attempting tasks on the application in question. Participants are less
anxious and uncomfortable as they are in a familiar environment or in the comfort of their own homes.

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 □ Reduced timelines: It decreases turn around time of tests as sessions can be conducted in parallel or in a
shortened time frame.
□ Reduces time needed to perform usability evaluation because recruiting, environment setup and test
execution can be done with less effort.
□ Easier logistics & lesser risks: Conducting multi-location, in-person usability tests is logistically
complicated and dependent on variable like facility availability, travel schedules and recruiter schedules. These
variables are often not under a tester’s control, thus there is high likelihood of schedule and effort slippage. Remote
usability tests are easier to arrange as they have less dependencies on external factors.
Challenges
The advantages make remote usability testing very appealing when compared to traditional usability evaluation.
However there are bottlenecks and challenges often unforeseeable to the inexperienced tester.
1. Uncomfortable participants: Most people are uncomfortable when put in the hot seat of a participant.
Participants regularly feel under the scanner. In remote tests participants are doubly uncomfortable as many feel they
are being judged by strangers using unfamiliar software.
□ How to fix:
i. The moderator needs to actively ensure participants don’t feel ill at ease by providing adequate information
prior to the test.
ii. Informal, friendly and accommodating communication prior to the session ensures participants do not feel
uneasy.
2. Cold sessions due to lack of physical proximity: The lack of physical proximity is usually cited the
greatest hindrance in the success of remote usability tests. Moderators across the world cite that it is tougher to build
a rapport with participants remotely, especially with participants from closed Asian cultures which have high power
distance.
Limited visual feedback makes it tough to capture nonverbal cues and reactions.
□ How to fix:
i. Moderation techniques like the ‘Talk Aloud Method’, ‘Listening Lab’and ‘Buddy’ techniques ensure better
participant engagement.
ii. Retraining moderators about the soft aspects of RUT moderation usually ensures moderators are aware of
pitfalls of remote moderation and are alert to mitigate risks.
iii. Tracking voice intonation and encouraging participants to articulate their feelings provide cues.

3. Unfamiliar technology negatively affects user performance: Success of a RUT is dependent on the level
of familiarity the participants have with the technology being used to test. The more familiar and comfortable the
participant feels working remotely and using online meeting/application-sharing technology, the better the results.
□ How to fix:
i. It is recommended to use technology that is simple and ubiquitous over a sophisticated but unfamiliar tool.
ii. Check participants comfort levels with the different applications available prior to finalizing testing mode.
For instance Webex is not the smoothest screen sharing application, but as it’s widely used among office goers. Thus
it is often the preferred application as participants are already comfortable with it.

4. Intrusive testing instruments discourage participants: Participants are uncomfortable and not keen to
install appellate or tools on local machines. In a recent multi country remote usability study, 40% of total participant
group refused to install applications prior to the usability test.

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 □ How to fix:
i. To avoid impasse host applications remotely as far as possible.
ii. If it’s imperative to make installation on the local machine, communicate the perquisites of participation
during recruiting.
iii. Send details and instructions upfront.
iv. Call prior to the session to ensure the participant has successfully installed applications.

5. Unreliable technology makes RUT infeasible: Software crashes, tele-conferencing lines that don’t work,
unreliable internet connections are a reality of technology dependence.
□ How to fix:
i. Careful planning, dry runs, pilots usually catch major obstacles before they occur.
ii. Research participant’s environments to identify possible technology limitations.
iii. Many regions like Brazil, interior China, countries from the former eastern bloc and south-east Asia only
have dial up connections at home. Thus conducting a RUT using a screen sharing application is not feasible. In a
resent study, participants were requested to take the test from a chosen location which had dedicated broad band
connection. The recruitment agency provided a hostess who greeted the participants and assisted them with the
technology.
iv. It is advisable to keep the voice and visual communication on two different media. This ensures that incase
one goes down, the moderator can still guide the participant to recover.
v. During pre-test introductions, provide a contingency plan or phone number if catastrophe hits and all fail.

6. Long and badly designed sessions test participant’s boredom levels: Remote usability tests are more
tiring for all parties involved than in person tests. Classical usability test protocols are too long and inefficient.
□ How to fix:
i. Tests should be limited to 60-90 minutes. Beyond this most participants loose interest and just go through
the motions.
ii. Test protocols should be designed carefully. A group of short micro tasks work better than one long macro
task. Thus, try and break tasks down to ensure participants are not confused.
iii. Action intensive tests should be kept at the beginning of the session while opinion based light discussions
towards the end.
iv. Provide the participant with a participant’s protocol to ensure they comprehend the task correctly.
v. Be more active with probes and follow up questions to keep the energy levels up.

7. Unfamiliar diction and third language simultaneous translation are challenging: Conducting tests in a
language that the user is not 100% comfortable always proves to be a hurdle. Using a translator to translate a
moderator’s questions and vice versa usually doubles the total test time and is very inefficient.
□ How to fix:
i. As far as possible tests should be conducted in the participant’s language of choice. Moderator’s diction and
accent should ideally match the participant’s. However this is not always possible. English language moderators
should work towards cultivating a flat global intonation. A distinct regional drawl, be it Texan, Irish or Indian is not
desirable.
ii. Incase test need to be conducted in a third language the following double conference call set up can be used.

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 8. Fig 2: Diagrammatic representation to address simultaneous translation in a Remote
Usability set up

9. Inappropriate scheduling & logistics: Though a minor issue, scheduling and logistics usually become a
massive sore point during the project. Often incorrect time difference calculations have led to missed test sessions,
skewed schedules, overworked moderators and tired body clocks.
□ How to fix:
i. To ensure scheduling is worry free, correctly gather the locations of all parties involved.
ii. Use a multi location scheduling tool or create one on Excel. Do not try doing it manually. It is never error free
and not worth spending time on.
iii. The participants and moderator should be given the first and second preference of time slots.
iv. Never push a participant to take a test at the crack of dawn or at the end of the day. They are likely to be pre-
occupied or too tired.
v. As far as possible try and ensure moderators do not have to stay up too many nights.

10. Remotely testing handheld embedded devices are challenging: Due to lack of good, cheap and
ubiquitous screen sharing applications, remote testing of embedded devices is not very common.
□ How to Fix:
i. One can overcome the issue by conducting the test on a PC based simulator. However such tests are usually
restricted to testing the interface of the embedded device. Data for form-factor, size, hard key interactions and
weight can only be partially collected.
3. CO(CLUSIO(

The days of the vagabond usability tester who covered 7 countries in 4 weeks, sat through numerous sessions behind
a one way viewing mirror while a local language moderator conducted the test are numbered. With each passing day
the challenges of remote usability testing are diminishing. Specialized remote testing software further simplifies the
process. Remote testing techniques ensure moderators are equipped to address cultural and interpersonal issues. In
an era when users are dotted across the world, techniques like remote usability testing are imperative, not an
optional experiment.

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 4. REFERE(CES
Moira Dorseywith Bob Chatham, Bruce Temkin, Michelle Amato (2003), Best Practices For Remote Usability
Testing, Forrester Research
Vidya L. Drego, 2006, Usability Moves Offshore Best Practices For US Firms Working With Usability Teams
In India, Forrester Research
Moira Dorsey (2004), Usability Lab Testing Without A Lab
Carol Farnsworth (2008), Getting Your Money Back: The ROI of Remote Unmoderated User Research, User
Experience Magazine: Volume 7, Issue 3, 2008

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 Challenges in Onsite-Offshore Usability
Pushkaraj Mirajkar
Sr. User Experience Designer,
Cognizant Technologies
India
pushkaraj.mirajkar@cognizant.com
ABSTRACT
Along with off shoring software development services to India, China and Russia [1],
business today also recognize the need for usability engineering as a part of the emerging IT Industry. Client,
companies are open to off shore usability and creative design services as well. Many companies and Usability gurus
have expressed concerns about off shoring “Usability”. Issues dealing with hiring “Skilled Usability Professionals”
due to lack of practical knowledge and also the fact of separating “Interaction designers” from the products end
users are typical concerns [3][4].
Recognizing this need, young usability professionals are striving to make a quality mark on the deliverables [4].
Many companies are now proposing an onsite-offshore usability engagement. Although the offshore usability team
can perform a range of services there are several challenges for both the onsite and offshore teams of the offshore
companies to deal with.
“Time”, “Skills” and “Communication” are the most critical and key factors affecting execution in the onsite-
offshore model. Having limited resources and infrastructure [3] , the few skilled offshore team members
complaining about their skills being underutilized, the onsite UE professionals getting burned out by managing
onsite as well as offshore projects and sharing myriad details of every project with the offshore team are all very
challenging.

KEYWORDS
Onsite Usability, Offshore Usability, Onsite-Offshore Usability methodology, Usability Engineering, Remote
testing.
PURPOSE A(D SCOPE
This paper attempts to address
1. The grass root level problems and challenges between the onsite and offshore usability teams within an
offshore organization who have executed several projects in this onsite-offshore model and
2. How to bridge those gaps effectively and efficiently amongst themselves
BACKGROU(D STUDY A(D FI(DI(GS
A total of 17 projects were studied and 12 usability professionals were interviewed. Given the area of offshore
usability being still in its nascent stages [4] and the small sample size of interviewees, the findings are reported
informally here.
Mature Clients:
In 11 of the projects studied, the client had a complete understanding of Usability and also had an in house Usability
team. This model had a Sr. Usability specialist leading the offshore team from onsite and was a key part of the
client’s onsite Usability team. He had to work closely with the on-site’s Usability team, stakeholders and the
business analysts, gather and analyze data, have a few concepts made (if required). This data along with their
understanding was passed on to the offshore team as a work request which would clearly state what is expected to be
delivered, as per the project plan. The onsite usability specialist would then follow-up by calling the offshore team
to clarify doubts/ queries.

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The offshore team would spend some time in understanding the work requests sent and clarify their doubts during
the call. They would further work on the data and conceptualize, wireframe the concepts and convert the wireframes
into visual designs. Sometimes informal usability tests were also conducted with the offshore target users whose
profiles closely matched with the actual users.

Embryonic/Puerile Clients:
The other 6 projects were executed where the client had minimal knowledge of Usability or User Experience
Design. In this model the Sr. Usability specialist would handle the entire project right from data gathering, analysis,
suggesting solutions based on the research findings, project scoping and planning and testing the product with the
actual users. The offshore team was involved in building concepts, converting the concepts into wireframes and
further developing visual designs adhering to clients branding guidelines

Table 1. Background study and findings

Mature Clients Embryonic/Puerile Clients

Ecommerce, Banking and
Type of software projects Banking and Finance
Finance, Health
Complexity of UI Medium to Complex Complex
Duration 1+ years 3 to 6 months
Offshore Country India India
Team Size 4-5 2-4
Team Age 25 - 35 25 – 35
Human Factors Specialist,
CUA, Graphic Artists, HTML
Academy Background CUA, Graphic Artists, HTML
Programmer
Programmer
Language Marathi, English Marathi, English

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 CHALLE(GES FACED I( O(SITE-OFFSHORE MODEL
Below are some challenges reported as faced by the onsite coordinators.
Onsite Challenges

Time Pressures
o A lot of time initially is spent onsite understanding the

Existing system/ product

Onsite Usability team working methods (if client UE team exists)

Client processes and culture
Since one is working as a consultant/contractor the basic challenge is to gel with the clients working environment
given a short timeframe.

Skills & Communication Gaps

Serving as a “middle-man” the essential challenge here are
Lack of role clarity/ expectations
o Interact with various business analysts/ research groups and understand the basic problem
statements, analyzing the research data and communicate it with the offshore team
Since Usability is in the nascent stages in countries like ours, young usability professionals are typically focusing on
quality deliverables. They lack the maturity of client relations.
Example Projects: in one of the projects, the onsite research group of the client company thought of carrying out a
new activity of evaluating tasks which they thought would add value to the ongoing research. Since this activity was
not planned and there was a lack of resources, the onsite Sr. Usability specialist (consultant) was expected to
proactively suggest if they could off shore this activity, while the other onsite team members could carry out other
onsite activities as planned.

Gaps of Understanding
o Prepare a detailed offshore work request which is focused on the

Problem statement

Precise analyzed data

Initial thoughts/ Initial Concepts

What specific deliverables are needed by the offshore

Concept sketches

Wireframes

Informal Testing

Visual design

Before the Sr. UE specialist could fathom the requirements to be off shored they had to spend extra hours
understanding the requirement in details. They then had to start offloading work giving the offshore team precise
instructions what needs to be delivered at the end of the day. The challenge was to understand the requirement,
analyze it and then communicate it with minimal knowledge sharing gaps to the offshore team within a very short
time frame.

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Communication Barriers
o Follow up with a confirmation call with the offshore UE team if they have understood the request sent
A call had to be made confirming if they had understood the task and in some cases the Sr. UE specialist had to
carry out this activity along with the offshore team till they got a hang of it.
o Evaluate the deliverables sent by the offshore UE team, add or subtract to it if the deliverable if not as
expected and further present it to the onsite team (UE, Business Analyst, Key Stakeholders, Development team)
There is always a gap in what was expected of the deliverable. The onsite team members have to spend considerable
amount of time and efforts checking its quality and sometimes would have to put in their own ideas and thoughts
before they shared the deliverables with the client.

Burnout of the Onsite UE professionals

o The UE professionals are working under a lot of pressure where they have to understand and
manage the client’s expectations during their working hours and work extra hours with the offshore teams trying
their best to transfer the understanding of the client and their expectations to the offshore team and basically
maintain the 24 hour quality deliverable cycle effectively and efficiently.

Offshore Challenges
Some of the challenges that the offshore team faces are:

ot adequate knowledge about the client or project

o exposure to real users

o direct coordination with the onshore clients UE team members

o knowledge of the working methods of the onshore UE team

Interaction limited to only one onsite Usability professional

Exposed to only the data sent across by this professional

Limited time to explore/ research due to quick turnaround deliverables

o feel of career growth path as offshore UE team members do only focused and often mundane work
which builds frustration
These are issues pointed by most of the offshore usability professionals interviewed. They don’t feel belonged or
connected or a part of the client team or project. They feel they are working with “Blinders on” and who are “only
dictated to”. This in turn builds dissatisfaction within the team.
SUGGESTED SOLUTIO(
However we try to lessen the gap between the onsite – offshore team there are bound to be gaps, many of which are
related to effective and timely communication. Let us look at how we can have these gaps minimized.
Below are mentioned some suggestions that are not “tried and tested” however believed to be potential solutions to
smoothen out the issues between the onsite-offshore models.

Onsite Activities

Once the onsite usability specialist is oriented with the client and the projects, they need to educate the
offshore team with the same.

They can send pictures of the client location and each project member, their name and attitude with whom
he/she works

The offshore resources who work for a particular project should be formally introduced to all the onsite
project teams

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They need to educate the offshore team completely about what kind of process the team follows

Have knowledge sharing activities onsite-offshore with each member’s new learning’s

Help the offshore team participate or at least remotely observe the usability tests conducted onsite

Share the entire background of the project and the detailed analysis data rather than having the offshore
group do only focused jobs

After the deliverables have been evaluated by the onsite team, update the offshore team with the onsite
team’s reactions to those deliverables

Have the offshore team video conference with the onsite team where they can

Brainstorm together

Present new concepts/ findings

Individually learn from each other

Depending on the project size, delegate few more Sr. Usability specialist who could balance the project
load between the onsite-offshore model

Each Sr. Usability specialist could have dedicated resources whom they have built a rapport with, this will
help bridge the knowledge sharing gaps.

Offshore Activities

Conduct research on the domain from other sources to supplement the gap in knowledge and to bridge the
gap

Brainstorm with the other offshore team members while coming up with different concepts/ interactions

Participate in onsite remote usability tests

Conduct remote usability tests

Members from vernacular background need to work on their communication gaps

Members also need to get some client communication training

CO(CLUSIO(
Offshore companies who work on the onsite-offshore models would definitely faced some or more of these
challenges. The proposed solutions would help these teams to work efficiently and effectively.
REFERE(CES
[1] Offshore Usability
Jakob Nielsen's Alert box, September 16, 2002 http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020916.html
[2] Meeting the Demand for Usability Expertise: An Offshore Model
Eric Schaffer, Ph.D., CUA, CPE, Kath Straub, Ph.D., CUA, Human Factors International
[3] Usability Engineering – an Emerging Opportunity for Indian IT - Jhumkee Iyengar
[4] Usability Issues in Offshore Development: an Indian Perspective - Jhumkee Iyengar
[5] Atlas, Terry. Bangalore Big Dreams, USNews.com. 2005
[6] Katre Dinesh S. HCI in India is catching with On-duty-self-learning
HCI Practitioner, HCI Inspirations, www.hceye.org, June 2005

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 Theme VI
Other Related Topics

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VIIT CAUE-2008 212
 Significance of Design Management in User Experience Design
Prasadd Bartakke
User Experience Design Group, Persistent Systems Limited,
"Pingala - Aryabhata", 12A/12, off Karve Road, Erandwane, Pune, INDIA
prasaddbartakke@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
In most of the organizations working in user experience design, a methodology is already in place. It is popularly
known as User Centered Design (UCD). Generally, the design practitioners are content with a well-developed UCD.
However, is UCD solely enough to carry out winning projects that make the organization proud?
During every project, designers often restrict themselves from doing many important things - because they are
simply unaware or are anxious about timelines. This generally leads to project performance that is not of an
excellent caliber. Though, your client might accept the deliverables, applying design management principles will
ensure client delight and organizational success.
1. I(TRODUCTIO(
Client: “Seems like you have not looked at our requirements. This is not what I wanted, or what we discussed.”
Manager: “Why are we spending time on this for so long? Have you read the proposal? Is this adding any value to
the project?”
Peer: “I think we discussed this in our meeting yesterday. This screen should have been ready by now. I am afraid
this is going to delay the deliverables.”
Designer: “The design is not yet signed-off, but if you are running out of time, you can use this screen to develop the
HTML”
We hear such interactions during the course of a design project. It’s assumed that designers need to take care of lots
of things in parallel - designing screens, maintaining quality, managing teams, delivering on time, managing
customer expectations, and so on. While different situations demand different approaches; designers usually get
overwhelmed with what to do, why, how and when. With speed being the most important aspect these days, certain
critical steps are overlooked. By the time their impact is realized, the engagement quality has suffered a dent.
How can we address this issue? How can we reduce the frustrations, stress and fear?
Here is an insight, compiled after interacting with many design managers, project managers and designers. The
common theme that surfaced was Design Management. It is ‘managing’ design – delivering good design without
losing customer focus, while achieving the (UE) organizational goals. In addition, some discussions also led to the
soft skills designers are expected to acquire in order to get these things done effectively.
This article is a sincere attempt to compile these insights, get feedback, and build further research. These findings
may not be exhaustive, but would serve as a starting point at a broader level.
2. CLIE(T CE(TRIC DESIG( MA(AGEME(T
The client has a specific set of expectations from every project. Very often we see that with some initial plan and
interactions with the end customer, the project gets kicked-off, and the project team - within few days is neck deep
into completing the deliverables. Once the project team starts chasing the timelines, they tend to miss tracking the
client expectations.
Here are a few design management suggestions that will help designers manage their designs better, especially
keeping the client in mind. Consciously focusing on these ingredients during the project will greatly help.
2.1 Know the client as a person
The very first thing you need to do is to build a strong rapport with the clients. Talk to them, reach out to them. The
conversations do not necessarily need to be project centric. Try not to start the first call with a project plan or a

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meeting agenda. Break the ice by triggering conversations that will first bring the two parties closer. Make a sincere
effort to know the personality. Tell them about yourself. Get the energy going so that both of you see each other as
partners in design. This helps to sail through the ups and downs of the project course, and helps reduce the blame
game.
Push yourself an extra mile to understand the client’s industry and domain fairly well. Do not ever flaunt your
limited knowledge about their domain and industry. Instead, read, research, ask questions to experts and of course,
to the client in order to build better insights. Document these insights well - as a part of your design brief document.
2.2 Discuss, document, and get a sign-off
There are several things that go into the design brief document. Once you start building the rapport, talk to the client
about their vision, business goals and project objectives. Know why have selected you and your organization to do
the design. Visualize the specific picture they have in mind. Ask them for design samples that are close to what they
are looking for. Get these insights to build a strategic approach to what you want to offer as part of your design.
While doing this, do not forget to discuss the value of the overall initiative. Discussing the values is an important
exercise that greatly benefits and bonds the client and the designer to the entire process of creating a good design.
Experiencing hiccups in project implementation is definitely not desirable. These generally occur due to
misunderstanding or miscommunication. Documenting the entire communication right from the beginning helps a
lot in avoiding this issue. Communication protocol and sign-off process are key aspects of design management.
Document this process and your approach in the design brief document. It formally, if not legally, ties both the
parties to have a mutual agreement.
The proposal is the very first document - where the sign-offs and the dependencies are clearly mentioned. But the
design team may not necessarily be aware of it. It is important that all designers on a project ask for it and read the
proposal to get clarity about the project. If you are writing a proposal, ensure that at least (if not the commercials),
the list of activities, the timelines promised and the sign-off structure are shared with everyone in the project team.
Discussing this part especially in the initial client meetings and re-documenting them in the design brief document
increases the confidence of the team.
A good thing to remember is to update the design brief document at regular intervals.
Have a designer in the team to take the minutes of meetings. This contributes to a collective involvement of all the
project team members. Send the minutes of meetings to the client and also to all the other people involved. It is
expected that the minutes of meetings need to be in a list format with clear mention of action items and their owners.
Immediately share these minutes with all the team members.
Status reporting is another mechanism that helps manage anxieties. It helps you to know the completed tasks, the
tasks in progress and the tasks in the pipeline. It’s also a proactive and professional approach to keep people posted
of the progress. It also gives an impression that you are not working in isolation and things are moving in the right
direction.
Table 1. Keywords: Client Centric Design Management
Know the person in the client Strategy and approach
Rapport Value additions
Industry and domain Communication protocol
Vision, goals and objectives Sign-off process
Design brief document

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 3. ORGA(IZATIO( CE(TRIC DESIG( MA(AGEME(T
Other than the client – the most vital aspect is the ‘organization’ you work for. It’s important to state the obvious.
Your organization has some very basic expectations from you.
3.1 Identify the value addition
Apart from following the methodology and processes (that are usually set), the key expectations of the organization
from designers is the value additions to a project and exceeding client expectations. Each such value addition means
a new feather in the organization’s hat. This also means the organization is progressing and growing. One of the
important and obvious effects of consciously adding value is that your designers never say they are just doing
projects after projects.
Each time a project comes in, discuss probable value additions within the organization. Brainstorm on questions
such as, why are we doing the design we are doing, and how are we going to do it. This discussion can be in a group
of select designers and/or with the manager. The fall outs of these discussions can go into the design brief document.
This not only helps the client to see the value but also empowers the designer as well as the organization to focus on
its true north.
3.2 Define the project plan and workflow
In general, designers have a very strong urge to do what they are best at – hands on design. But design projects
never start with designing. That’s probably the second or the third phase. What is a good start is the plan with which
design is built. Hence, howsoever a good designer, if they do not plan, the project is destined to fail and so is the
design.

Figure 1. Snapshot of a project plan. Activities are listed in the left pane with the dates on the top. Orange color
denotes internal review. Internal reviews are must to ensure good design.

Some of the very basic ingredients of project planning are the details of the resources working on the project, the
activities, and the schedule. It’s assumed that the project plan is only meant for meeting the deadline. But project
costing is one important aspect that needs to be considered in planning. It not only helps the organization but also
helps the designers to act more like individual consultants on the projects rather than an employee working on an
assigned project. It also helps in assigning the resources and days appropriately.

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Before getting into design, the next task that designers can do is to put the workflow on paper. Design leads, project
managers need to help others in the project to understand how the work will be actually carried. (It helps to include
the client in this communication as well.)

Figure 2. Snapshot of a workflow diagram

A workflow diagram clearly illustrates where the work gets triggered, how it flows and where it ends. Workflow is a
good mechanism not only to keep a track of the work but it also helps in managing the staff. It clearly answers the
Who, What, and When of a project.
A good thing to remember is to update the project plan and the workflow plan at regular intervals.
3.3 Summarize the project
As discussed earlier, delivering design with value and on time is imperative from the organization’s perspective. It is
a good idea to document the project name, background, client details, industry and domain, team members, design
scope, activities, challenges, solutions and concepts after the end of the project. This summary report (that can also
be shared with the client) can be called the project exit report. One of the biggest benefits of creating a project exit
report is that fellow designers can refer to it any time when a similar project gets triggered, use it as a training
material or build case studies to showcase to the potential customers. It also acts as lessons learnt document if those
aspects are consciously covered. The document can be a high value deliverable if you can involve the client into it.
Table 2. Keywords: Organization Centric Design Management
Methodology Project plan
Process Workflow
Proposal Value additions
Project costing Exceeding client expectations
Design brief document Project exit report

4. DELIVERY CE(TRIC DESIG( MA(AGEME(T

4.1 Innovate design alternatives and brainstorm
Once you have the client centric information and have aligned it to suit your organizational goals, you must keep the
design thought going throughout the project. At regular junctures in the design phase, do not cease to innovate. Get
into a mode of thinking and creating alternatives to a single design problem. Then choose the best. The possibility of

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the client rejecting your designs is very high if you show them only one option. Rule out that possibility by
presenting multiple options coming from different thought schools.
One of the primary objectives of design is to give something new – value added – to help customer make a
difference in the market. This cannot be achieved in a jiffy. Engage yourself in reading research and articles. Extract
and synthesize information from various sources that will brighten up your design. Brainstorm within the team. Bask
in innumerable ideas that a single designer may not be able to think of in isolation. Never work in isolation. Be open
to suggestions. It’s a great way of enhancing deliverables and spreading the design knowledge.
4.2 Document the design thought and rationale
As you progress with your designs, ensure that you write down the design thought and the rationale behind them.
They come in handy every time you have to present or get approval for your thinking. Most of the time, the audience
of your designs are not designers. Even if you get designers as your audience, they may not be able to see your view
point unless you tell them.
Documented design thoughts help in communicating the strength of your designs. Also, ensure that your rationale is
backed by some credibility – either research or with other successful examples and analogies. These will help them
see your view point, and you will be able to sell the design faster with firm conviction and lesser iterations. Not
doing so might mean that you are not convinced of the design yourself. The possibility of others telling you what to
design is very high and that typically results in more number of iterations. A well documented design thought and
rationale will help you build a strong direction and authority in design.
4.3 Review the design
Good way of strengthening your designs is to throw open your design to criticism. Plan frequent design critique or
internal review sessions in your project. These sessions often work as eye openers. You get to see what you have
missed while detailing the design hands on. Many times, you may feel that people are simply tearing your design
apart. This is not as bad as it sounds - rather it saves you from delivering a design that may not work or that may not
appeal to the users or the client. An unsuccessful design is destined to get torn apart. It is better you do it internally.
The various viewpoints that you get from such sessions will also help you in strengthening the design thought and
the rationale. In such sessions, the latest trends also get discussed.
Table 3. Keywords: Delivery Centric Design Management
Design Thought Innovation
Latest trends Brainstorming sessions
Design alternatives Design critique
Rationale
5. SOFT SKILLS
To achieve most of the things mentioned in this article would need a good focus on an individual’s soft skills. These
skills perhaps form the most important ingredients of Design Management.
5.1 Define the goals and translate them into a plan
Start with setting the goals and understanding the desired value. Begin with the end in mind. Visualize how the
design should look like when it is complete. Then jot down the steps that you need to take. Transform these steps
into a project plan so that you and other dependents can collaborate more effectively on a daily/weekly basis.
Periodically evaluate these mutually agreed, measurable, and achievable task goals with the design team. Establish
specific action steps to accomplish them. Be extremely specific about expectations and deadlines. Defining goals
makes it easier to monitor the progress. Encourage the designers in the team to recommend various ways of doing
the project activities. Discuss the pros and cons of each suggestion within the team. Include the designers in
meetings that relate to their projects/responsibilities. Entrust them with responsibility for their work.
Another point to consider here is that every project comes with multiple goals: the client’s goal, the organization’s
goal, and the goal of your team. Help your team realize these multi-level goals. Encourage them to define an
individual goal that will boost their confidence. It will also help them in becoming better professionals, and you will
get a better team at the end of every project.

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5.2 Ask questions
The aim of design is to get it right in due course. Asking the right questions is an important key in achieving this.
The very way in which designers ask questions can determine and build a shared spirit of investigation to seek the
right direction. Asking questions also has a social outcome. It encourages every team member to raise questions,
query what they are doing, and gain clarity in their thoughts. It is all right to ask again and confirm findings. Asking
questions is one of the simplest and effective ways of clarifying assumptions and convention, getting additional
insights on the defined goals and opportunities, and highlighting unexpected gaps.
5.3 Be assertive
Every project needs to flow. The designers working on it need to give themselves, the customer and the team a sense
that things are moving in the right direction. This can be achieved not only by working on the deliverables but by
being proactive in communicating. This means anticipating and acting ahead of time - basically, it means using
foresight. It's a great method to avoid more work down the road as well as to avert disasters. Many of us look at
proactive people as the instigators of action and creative ideas in society. Some of the main benefits of being
proactive are getting some tasks performed more efficiently, foreseeing problems, solving problems, prioritizing,
staying ahead on the task plan, and evaluating and updating procedures and processes.
5.5 Make decision
The key factor in effectively and efficiently completing a project is the ability to take right and quick decisions. The
choices you make have a long term impact. It’s not guess work. Verify whether you have sufficient information and
data to make a decision. At the same time, do not wait or take too long to gather that information. Sometimes, timely
decisions help more than informed decisions when complete information is unavailable. When in doubt, it is better
to arrive at the worst case scenario and prepare for it if your decisions prove wrong. Time is a key element - more
opportunities are missed for want of a decision rather than for wrong decisions. Incorrect decisions are better than no
decisions, because sometimes failure is the best teacher.
5.6 Give attention to details
God lies in details. We all must have experienced that huge challenges can be prevented if you pay closer attention
to details. The key to quality is doing all the small and little things correctly all the time, every time rather than
keeping them for later. When every detail is completely attended to, and each step in the process is given complete
and careful attention, the end result inevitably is high quality. The client gets a strong indication about how a
company does business and how it attends to big concerns by seeing how it attends to little ones.
5.7 Manage fellow designers
To deliver your designs on time, it is important that you manage your design team effectively. Broaden your role of
a decision maker to a catalyst, a coach, and a facilitator as well. Ask more, talk less. Managing people effectively
means motivating and encouraging them so they feel valued, involved and important. This in term motivates them to
find out solutions to the problems that the design needs to solve. Encouragement is the mother of ownership.
Table 4. Keywords: Soft skills
Asking questions Being assertive
Managing people Attention to details
Decision making Project plan
Translating goals to a plan
6. CO(CLUSIO(S
Design management needs a right blend of understating the client expectations and organizational objectives,
delivering quality on time, and well-nurtured soft skills. This article is a beginning to further unearth the nuances of
design management that would help deliver better user experience design. It’s an opportunity to research how
specific aspects of design management would help designers not only manage customer experience but deliver over
and above client expectations. It’s also an opportunity to see how well one can integrate designers and the design
discipline with business strategy and organizational objectives. Without solely relying on methodology, design
management process seems to be the answer for better, thought-through designs and faster delivery.

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 7. REFERE(CES
P DeCesare, R Wallace (2000), Amazing Pace: Shared Views on the Design Process, Design Management Journal,
The Design Management Institute, 11, 2.
P Bilzon, E Wester, etal, How to be Proactive, <http://www.wikihow.com/BeProactive> Creativity & Intelligence
R G Srinivasan, (2005), Taking Decisions - A 5 Point Checklist, Business Management
<http://ezinearticles.com/?Taking-Decisions--A-5-Point-Checklist&id=89331>
G R Blair, (2006), Pay Attention to Details, Customer-Service < http://ezinearticles.com/?Pay-Attention-to-
Details&id=245279>

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 Connecting Practice around the World by Usability Standards
R.S. Apare1, S.N.Gujar2, M.A.Pund3, V.V.Kimbahune4
12
IT Department, SKNCOE,Sinhgad Road, Vadgaon(Bk),Pune,
3
CSE PG Department, PRMITR,Badnera(C.Rly), Amaravati.
4
Computer Department, SKNCOE,Sinhgad Road, Vadgaon(Bk),Pune,
1 2
ravi_apare@yahoo.co.in, satish_gujar@yahoo.com,3mukeshpund@rediffmail.com,
4
vinodkimbahune@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT
The study flows from a deep understanding of actual people who will use product and their environment and context
of use. The choices of methods, techniques and processes depend on context and country. There is a need of
usability practice. The common approach is also not sufficient; there is a need of formal standards to connect
practice around the world.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
Design and process standards are difficult to create and hard to enforce. Although many groups have tried to create
general design standards or patterns, the diversity of industry and content has made it difficult to create strong
standards to embody usability knowledge and practice. We will look at three popular usability standards and two
governmental programs, and consider how effective they have been in both fostering good usability practice and in
creating an international consensus on practice.

2. THREE USABILITY STA(DARDS

There are now several standards that have been influential in shaping international understanding of usability and
user-centered design, and in formalizing ad-hoc practices, with others in development. Three of them take very
different approaches to standardization. By looking at what they attempted to standardize, and how well they have
been adopted by industry, we can see some of the strengths and weaknesses of standards as an influence on industry
practice. The three standards we will examine are:
•ISO 13407 – Human-centered design process for interactive systems.
•ANSI 354 – Common Industry Format (CIF) for Usability Test Reports
•WAI – The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

3. A USER CE(TERED DESIG( PROCESS

User centered design is the common name for a process for designing the user interface for software and other
products. The Usability Professionals’ Association [1] web site says, user-centered design (UCD) is an approach to
design that grounds the process in information about the people who will use the product. UCD processes focus on
users through the planning, design, and development of a product.
The term user centered design is widely used in industry, although there is no formal definition of the process
beyond some general shared values. It is often described as a way to accomplish usability.[2]
In 1999, an ISO standard, ISO 13407:1999 Human-centered design processes for interactive systems [3] was
approved, which embodies the general industry approach to UCD. It is a short, generic general description of the
process that can be applied to any system or product.
The standard describes four principles of human-centered design [4]:

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 1. Active involvement of customers (or those who speak for them).
2. Appropriate allocation of function (making sure human skill is used properly).
3. Iteration of design solutions (therefore allow time in project planning).
4. Multi-disciplinary design (but beware overly large design teams).
The core of the standard is the description of five activities, four of which interlock and form the basis for an
iterative approach to the requirements- design-test cycle.

Figure 1. The user centered design cycle activities described in ISO 13407 can be seen as a cycle that can only be
completed when the evaluation of a product shows that it meets the requirements.
The activities in ISO 13407 are:
1. Acknowledge the need for user centered design and plan for it.
2. Understand and specify the context of use
3. Specify user requirements.
4. Produce design solutions.
5. Evaluate designs against requirements.
3.1 Acceptance of ISO 13407
A brief examination of presentations on user centered design at industry conferences easily shows the influence of
this standard. Whether it is mentioned by name, or whether the process described simply mirrors the one in the
standard, it is clear that the industry has embraced at least the principles and broad outline of this standard.
The standard has also found acceptance in government documents. The Quality Framework for UK Government
Websites [5], published by the office of the E-Envoy, says that, “Underpinning this is an increasing focus on human
centered design issues, supported by the standards ISO13407 and ISO TR 18529.”
This leads to the obvious question of the value of such an elastic standard. The very vagueness of this standard may
be in its favor. Corporate usability processes can claim to be derived from it, with little fear of contradiction.
Government documents can cite it without introducing the substantial burden of detailed requirements. It also has
value in building a consensus around an approach that incorporates usability into a design and development process.
It allows for experimentation and innovation around the common core understanding, in an emerging discipline, it.
Despite the fact that this standard is simply a high-level description of an approach, the approach itself is novel for
many organizations. By being loosely descriptive, it enables organizations to take steps towards a UCD process
under its umbrella.

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3.2 Common Industry Format (CIF)

A project at the US National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) took a different approach. The Industry
Usability Reporting (IUSR)[6] project was started to explore ways that software purchasers could compare the
usability of competitive products.
As with ISO 13407, one of the industry goals was to encourage better usability practice. The group felt that “one
way to encourage software developers to integrate usability engineering into their development process is for
purchasers to require evidence of product usability.”[7]
With no agreed-on usability metrics or standard conformance tests, the project focused instead on reporting. The
Common Industry Format (CIF)[8], is a template for reporting on the results of a summative usability testing. By
insisting on a standard presentation of test data (and therefore a test that would produce that data), they were able to
create a way to compare two products, even in the largely qualitative world of usability testing.
The CIF template is a standardized table of contents for any report:
• Title page (identifies the product tested, the dates of the test and report and the people who led the test)
• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Product description
• Test objectives
• Test method
• Test participants
• Test context
• Tasks and scenarios
• Test facility
• Participant’s computing environment
• Experimental design
• Procedure
• Usability Metrics

• Efficiency metrics
• Effectiveness metrics
• Satisfaction metrics
• Results
• Data analysis
• Performance results
• Appendices
• Participant questionnaires
• Participant instructions
• Release notes

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After several years of development under NIST, the CIF became an ANSI standard in 2001, and is on an ISO fast
track as an international standard.
3.2.1 Acceptance of the CIF
An admirable job of communicating the content and value of the CIF, through a large number of industry
publications (all listed on the project site), and it seems to have gained general acceptance in the industry.
Unfortunately, however, the template seems to be used only infrequently, in part because so few companies do the
summative usability testing for which it is intended. This standard also may serve a more important purpose in
codifying a common understanding among practitioners than in dictating details of practice. The committee also
learned that the CIF template was being adapted for use to report formative usability testing. This has led to the
formation of a new project, called CIF-Formative, to possible formats for reporting on formative, or diagnostic,
usability testing.
3.3 Web accessibility initiative
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)[9] “develops interoperable technologies to lead the Web to its full
potential,” and “is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding.” It issues
specifications and recommendations through a public consensus process. Most of the W3C guidelines are technical
specifications, such those for HTML, CSS and other languages.
One of the W3C projects is the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The WAI addresses not just technical
requirements, but a social goal, as stated in the quote from Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the
World Wide Web, "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an
essential aspect."[10]
The WAI sets guidelines for authoring Web sites that are accessible to people with disabilities and those using
assistive devices. Their core work is the Web Content Authoring Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG)[11]. The WCAG defines
three levels, called Priorities, of design and coding practice, each with higher levels of difficulty. The WAI also
publishes a collection of advice, tools and other informational material to help web authors create accessible web
sites.

Figure 2. The Quick Tips are available as a wallet card in over a dozen languages.

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The “Quick Tips to Make Accessible Web Sites” are widely distributed, and mentioned in many industry
publications.
• Images and animations: Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
• Image maps: Use the client-side map and text for hotspots.
• Multimedia: Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video.
• Hypertext links: Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid "click
here."
• Page organization: Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style
where possible.
• Graphs & charts: Summarize or use the longdesc attribute.
• Scripts, applets, & plug-ins: Provide alternative content in case active features are
inaccessible or unsupported.
• Frames: Use the noframes element and meaningful titles.
• Tables: Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.
• Check your work: Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG

3.4 Legal regulations using the WCAG

The work of the WAI has been used as the basis for legislation in the US, the UK, European Union as well as other
countries. In the US, the Access Board[13] used the core provisions of the WCAG 1.0 as the basis for federal
regulations known as “Section 508”[14].
3.4.1 Acceptance of the WCAG
Because its work concerns the Web, activities of the W3C usually garner wide attention. That fact alone would give
it more visibility than other voluntary standards, but the addition of the similarity of the WCAG to many national
legal regulations gives it a special status. In addition, there is a micro-industry that has sprung up to provide training,
technical support and tools to help companies and government agencies comply with the regulations.
There is some evidence of only limited compliance, no matter how enthusiastically the WCAG has been embraced.
Almost five years after the Recommendation was accepted, few sites achieve more than Priority Level 1
compliance. Despite, or perhaps because of, this wide attention, the WCAG has also been the center of some
controversy.
The two biggest complaints are:
• The WCAG guidelines are not specific and prescriptive enough. They sometimes call for Web sites to
meet goals, but do not explain what they must to do meet these goals.
• The WCAG guidelines are too onerous, and cause hardships for Web developers.

4. TWO GOVER(ME(TAL PROGRAMS

Governments around the world have taken an interest in the usability as more and more
Government services have moved online. Corporations may, to some extent, choose their users, and can decide to
aim their usability efforts at their most important customers. Governments have a mandate to make their information
and services available to all citizens, and are often overseen by public and private watchdog agencies. This has made
governments particularly sensitive to usability issues (though this does not always speed up implementation).

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Governmental programs are also convenient to study because they are usually in the public domain and available for
all to review.
We will look at two examples, each taking a different approach to ensuring usability in government web sites:

• The US-based “Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines” [15]

• The UK-based e-Envoy’s “Quality Framework: Usability Issues for government websites” [5]

5. RESEARCH-BASED GUIDELI(ES
The “Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines” are an excellent example of a “bottom up” approach.
These guidelines are offered as a set of best practices, and address specific common problems or design elements in
web sites, and thus provide building blocks out of which a usable site could be created.
This program was created by the usabilty.gov group, originally housed at the National Cancer Institute, and now a
joint program of the Department of Health and Human Services and the General Services Agency. Because of its
connection to a scientific research community, this project took an unusual approach to determining the content of
these guidelines, following a peer review process. A panel of experts evaluated a list of over 500 candidate
guidelines for their relative importance. This was used to reduce the set of guidelines, and to clarify the remaining
ones. Then, a second panel of experts classified each as having strong or weak strength of evidence in both academic
research and general design practice. Guidelines that had no support from either research or practice were dropped.
In the end, 187 guidelines were accepted for publication. They are presented with the aggregate score for both
“Strength of Evidence” and “Relative Importance” and are divided in 17 groups that range from the general (Content
Organization) to the specific (Links):
1. Design Process and Evaluation
2. Optimizing the User Experience
3. Accessibility
4. Hardware and Software
5. Page Layout
6. Navigation
7. Scrolling and Paging
8. Headings, Titles, and Labels
9. Links
10. Text Appearance
11. Lists
12. Screen-based Controls
13. Graphics, Images, and Multimedia
14. Writing Web Content
15. Content Organization
16. Search
5.1 Acceptance of the research-based guidelines
It is hard to assess the acceptance of these guidelines. They are offered as advice, but with no other force behind
them. They have, however, generated some acceptance on the strength of the work that went into creating them.

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Although early versions have been available for several years, the full version was only published in 2004. It will be
interesting to watch for evidence that they are being cited in Industry papers or other standards.
5.2 The Quality Framework
The “Quality Framework for UK government website design” takes a more “top down”
approach. Rather than offer specific design advice, it offers guidance on an overall process for creating a high-
quality, usable, accessible web site.
Like the “Research-Based Guidelines,” the “Quality Framework” draws on a wide range of industry expertise to
“clarify what relevant usability and design criteria should be used when planning a government website or judging
how good it is.”[5] In this approach, it is closer to the ISO 13407 standard on which it is partially based. The
“Framework” is organized into six short sections, plus an annex with an extensive list of references and tools:
1. Incorporating users’ needs into the design process
2. Human Centered Design (HCD)
3. Working with web designers
4. Getting content right
5. Getting services right
6. Conclusion: useful, usable, used
These guidelines do not include much specific advice on the design or content of web pages, though it does refer to
the broader reference, the “Illustrated handbook for web management teams.” which includes technical and process
guidance for the overall web site.
5.2.1 Acceptance of the Framework
When the Framework was first released, it was not universally accepted. In a widely publicized article, Louise
Ferguson [16] quoted many in the UK usability community in criticizing it as un-useful, un-usable and destined to
be un-used, “a good idea in principle, but poorly executed.” Their assessment may be correct, as a Google search for
the “Framework” has few hits besides the document itself and the articles criticizing it. If there is a lesson here, it is
that positive uptake among usability thought leaders is critical for a standard to gain acceptance.

6. THE VALUE OF STA(DARDS

The standards and guidelines that have been discussed in this paper are just a few of the many that exist or are being
developed. But what is the value of all this work? Standards are just an empty documents unless they are used in
practice, so it is worth considering the impact they might have in relationship to the work and time they take to
create. Have they helped to improve the usability of information technology products and Web sites? Have they
helped create an international understanding for shared practice?
6.1 Can standards improve usability?
The answer to this has to be a qualified, “perhaps.” Most usability standards activities have as one of their goals to
increase the level of usability of the products or Web sites they affect. The CIF, for example, states that one of their
goals is to “Encourage software supplier and purchaser organizations to work together to understand user needs and
tasks.”[6] These sorts of goals are noble statements, but the standards themselves are usually more limited in scope.
This makes it possible to meet the standard, while not achieving the underlying goal. This is especially true for
documentation or process standards. The CIF does not require a positive outcome to the usability test, simply that it
is documented in a standard way.
Even more direct design or technical standards can allow a situation in which products that meet the letter of the
standards fail to meet the broader goals underlying them. A recent case in point is a UK Disability Rights
Commission report[16], which said that not only were sites not meeting the standards:
“This report demonstrates that most websites are inaccessible to many disabled people and fail to satisfy even the
most basic standards for accessibility recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium.”

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It went on to claim that even compliance did not always provide good accessibility and that the site itself is just part
of a larger social problem in assisting people with disabilities”
“It is also clear that compliance with the technical guidelines and the use of automated tests are only the first steps
towards accessibility: there can be no substitute for involving disabled people themselves in design and testing, and
for ensuring that disabled users have the best advice and information available about how to use assistive
technology, as well as the access features provided by Web browsers and computer operating systems.”
Killam and Autry[17] made a similar point in a talk on design standards. After examining several types of standards
they conclude that, “...design guidelines...are all valuable, but are best for teaching and learning – not for doing.
Designers should know them before starting a design.” Their point is that the standards should reflect best common
practice, which should be well-known by designers. They also point out that, “process standards are more important,
as well as dedicated, skilled people.”
The government regulations have been used as the basis for successful legal challenges. The Australian Olympic
Committee [18], for example, lost a court suit alleging that their site failed to provide access for people with
disabilities.
Although this punishes lack of compliance more than it promotes good usability or accessibility in the specific Web
site, the incentive to improve compliance with both the letter and the spirit is obvious.

6. CO(CLUSIO(
There is need to study and promote shared practice.
In all three of the standards examined here, there is strong international support:
• ISO 13407 is an international standard and used as the basis for user centered design practice around the
world.
• The CIF has been reported in papers in several countries, and is being fast-tracked for ISO status.
• The WCAG has been used as the basis for both international web design and legal regulations in many
countries.
There is especially strong anecdotal evidence that ISO 13407 represents a truly international view of standard
practice, as the same diagram and list of activities has been spotted in conferences and company Web sites around
the world. What is not clear is whether the standard created this consensus, or describes a shared understanding.
Either way, it is valuable.

7. REFERE(CES
[1] Usability Professionals’ Association, ”What is User Centered Design”
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/usability_resources/about_usability/what_is_ucd.html
[2] Wikipedia, “Usability” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability
[3] ISO 13407:1999 Human-centered design processes for interactive systems.
[4] User Focus “ISO 13407” http://www.userfocus.co.uk/resources/iso9241
/iso13407.html
[5] Office of the E-Envoy. “Quality Framework for UK Government Website Design: Usability issues for
government websites”, July, 2003 http://e-government.cabinetoffice.gov.uk /assetRoot/04/00/37/39/04003739.pdf
[6] NIST Industry Usability Reporting Project http://www.nist.gov/iusr/
[7] Butler, Wichansky, Laskowski et al, “The Common Industry Format: A Way for Vendors and Customers to Talk
About Software Usability" in Computer-Human Interaction Conference 2003
[8] ANSI (2001). Common Industry Format for Usability Test Reports (ANSI NCITS 354-2001). New York:
American National Standards Institute, Inc.

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[9] W3C Web site: http://www.w3c.org
[10] Web Accessibility Initiative Web site:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/
[11] W3C WAI - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. May 5, 1999 -
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/
[12] W3C WAI – “Quick Tips to Make Accessible
Web Sites” - http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/QuickTips/
[13] Access Board Web site – http://www.accessboard.gov
[14] 36 CFR Part 1194 - Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards
http://www.accessboard. gov/sec508/508standards.htm
[15] Koyani, S., Bailey, R. and Nall, J. Research- Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines.Computer
Psychology, 2004. Web site: http://usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html
[16] Ferguson, L. “eGov Feature on e-Envoy Framework causes Questions (and Fur?) to Fly” Usability News, 19
August 2003 http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/
article1248.asp
[17] UK Disabilities Rights Commission, “Formal Investigation: The Web: Access and Inclusion for Disabled
People.” 14 April 2004 http://www.drcgb.org/publicationsandreports/report.asp
[18] Killam, W. and Autry, M. “Are Design Standards Any Use for Designing Systems?”
Presented at the 51st Annual STC Conference, May 9-12, 2004

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E-publishing using web 2.0: A study of user activity and their relationship to
web interface features
Moniraj Saikia1, Pradeep Yammiyavar2
1,2
Department of Design IIT Guwahati
1
moniraj@iitg.ernet.in , 2pradeep@iitg.ernet.in

ABSTRACT
This paper presents an overview on e-publishing and web 2.0. It delivers how user activity, participation,
collaboration is changing with the change in web trend in the e-publishing industry. It involves a study from
identification of the users, user groups, profiles, their activities, preferences and prominence, features etc., for
different websites that are specifically chosen in relation to that of e-publishing domain. As the trend changes in
technology the collaboration among the users also changes which helps them enhancing the ideas with their newer
discoveries. So, can we implement those into an e-publishing website? This paper tries to explain the underlying
facts of e-publishing websites. It evaluates the possibilities of implementing the new web features into those
websites.
Keywords: e-publishing, UI (user interface), web2.0, user activity, web interface, features.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
The advancement in the web technology boosts the human network by creating a different era. Evolution of latest
web trends makes the mankind more associative, co-operative and collaborative than ever before. The various sites
that we browse today for our day to day information become more exciting and user friendly where users are given
the freedom, offering them the options through which they can connect to a network, share their information and
perform various activities. This results in the rise of economic value of the web to businesses as users can perform
more activities online.
E-publishing industry is one of the most rising industries in the world today. E-publishing has empowered the
information delivery of books, journals, newsletters, magazines, research papers to be distributed faster, better, and
most importantly in a dynamic and interactive way in electronic format. The latest development of web technology
has enabled people to generate and distribute their own content, share and reuse them. Making UI for an e-
publishing site is indeed a challenging task as it has to be created out considering several factors. Web 2.0 is a
virtual platform where users relinquish many of the controls they are used to. It binds the local and global together in
a single relationship of information making it more interactive with less control. An in depth study of the web 2.0
site has been done in this paper to know about type of users, their activities, trends, special features, user
customization, user content generation, user interaction level.
Bill Trippe and David R. Guenette have stated, “Perhaps more than anything else, the in-house publisher’s challenge
is to keep up with the rapidly changing requirements of his or her customer base. And this is a customer base that
increasingly expects the improved interfaces and functionality of the Web and other media”, (e-Publishing Systems:
Build or Buy? , New millennium publication). The discussion limits to the usability of current tools that the in-house
publishers are providing to the end users. This paper tries to analyze the factors for providing users with interactive
interfaces which improve the stickiness to meet business objectives of publishing industry.

2. AREAS STUDIED A(D OBSERVATIO(S MADE

The study was done on different sites from different categories. The areas that are studied is as follows-
-Web 2.0 sites. e.g., categories include school and learning, chat and mobile messaging, travel, health, finance
and investment etc.
-Web 2.0 community sites e.g., orkut, blogspot.com, gather.com etc.

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 -Publishers websites e.g., Thomas nelson, zondervan, broadman and Holman, Blue dolphin etc.

2.1 Web 2.0 sites:

For this study some specific areas were chosen and then analyzed the various issues related to web 2.0. A
comparative study was made of their features with that of web 1.0. The analysis of the websites is expressed with
the help of the diagram shown below.

We can say that the web 2.0 sites are much more user specific as they are aimed at particular user groups. The
common activities that are found from the websites are - chatting and messaging, information sharing, blogging,
conferencing etc. On the other hand common features include sharing of files, discussion forum, news and press
releases, downloading/uploading, customizing options etc. Features and activities are interrelated as features make it
possible for the users to perform their activities. So it is evident from the analysis that web 2.0 is a platform
providing users a better level of interactivity. It is a much better communication than web 1.0 where it begins its
place not only for businesses to broadcast information to people but involving people as a part of the information
also.
2.2 Web 2.0 community sites
The reason behind this study is the growing popularity of the social networking sites. These sites serve the purpose
of online networking among people around the globe. They are primarily about connecting with friends, family and
acquaintances one already has in his real life. This particular study on the community sites were done mainly to
identify certain factors like-why people visit these sites? What are their stickiness factors? What makes these
websites more special than the others? Can we bring or introduce the features of community sites in e-publishing

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websites to make them more interactive? So in a similar fashion like that in the first study on the web 2.0 sites, some
community sites were chosen according to their popularity for studying and analyzing the facts.

The above figure shows user groups and their activities for different websites. The common activities e.g., chatting,
sharing photograph, videos, articles, organizing event, has made the user relations much easier and closer. Thus an
interest among the users is built up which pull them towards these websites. From the analysis the stickiness factors
for these websites are identified as-
• To be in contact with friends.
• To get the reply from friends.
• Sharing of thoughts and ideas with likeminded people.
• Viewing photographs, videos.
• To get updated the recent news and events.
• Updating the content of the account.

2.3 Publisher’s website:

The aim of the study is to know how publishing industry and its market segments work. It identifies different user
groups, their activities and the features and hence determines the missing factors in the publishing Industry, what
can be done to make it better and intuitive. Publisher websites are divided into different market segments, e.g., kids,
religious, STM (science, technology and medicine) etc out of which religious publisher category was chosen for the
analysis. Religious publishers are those which publish books on different religions and religious issues. The website
of an e-publishing company depends on the market segment i.e., they are more specific towards the user. The
features are provided in accordance with the particular user group. It is found from the analysis that there may be
different types of communities as users in such (religious publisher) websites.

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So one thing is clear that we have to look upon the particular community (user), based on which the (religious) web
interface is going to be made. It is noticeable that most of these websites are on Christian communities as they are
from US and European countries. A publisher’s website mainly has two types of user- publisher and the end user.
Publisher is one who publishes their product (book, journal, news letter, magazine etc.) online using the websites. So
they have to come onto the website to get those things published. And the other one is the end user who finally uses
the product. So, to make the UI for such a website, designer should take care of both the users.

3. DISCUSSIO(S- RELATIO(SHIP BETWEE( THE USER ACTIVITY A(D WEB FEATURE

After the study question arises, can we use those web 2.0 features in e-publishing web interfaces to make them more
interesting, interactive and user friendly?
The process of introducing new web 2.0 features into the e- publishing site may have many pros and cons. We can
say that features found in web 2.0 analysis e.g., sharing of files can be used in the e-publishing interface. This may
facilitate the end users (readers) to share the files (e.g., PDFs or any document) they read to their friends which may
in turn increase the no. of readers for that publishing industry. A question of product security may appear in this case
also which is a major concern for an e-publishing industry. Implementation of features like discussion forum, blog
may attract the readers in a publishing site which would lead them knowing different facts e.g., getting the right
product (books, e-newsletter, magazine etc.), new book releases, about the author etc. Other features e.g., News and
press releases, downloading and uploading options, language customization, RSS, tagging, search option are
available in most of the e-publishing sites today.
As far as the religious publisher is concerned features like religious calendars, horoscope and astrology might proof
to be helpful factors in meeting their business objectives. The screenshots of the interface are shown in the figure 1.
which was made as a part of internship with an e-publishing company.

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 Figure 1. The screenshots of the web interface are showing the home page (the users on the left side and the
features on the righ ) and the user profile page.

Introducing the community features into these (religious publisher) sites would probably make them more
interesting for the users as they could share their thoughts about any product with others. Some e-publishing
industries have already brought in these features in their product.
The main focus for the web interface design for e-publishing site would be on the user’s primary activities. e.g.,
Searching, reading online or offline, publishing, book ordering etc. So developing new features, related to these
activities would make the web interface more intuitive and interesting. On the other hand, providing features for the
secondary activities (for publishing websites)e.g., chatting, making friendship etc. might not make any sense to the
industry as it may lead the industry to a different direction where such type of site would no longer remain as an e-
publishing site.
So it is arguable that we can’t simply put some unique features into an e-publishing web interface to make it
interesting for the users. It has to follow some certain user activity and feature relationship.

4. CO(CLUSIO(
Evolution of web 2.0 has a great impact over the e-publishing industry. It has changed the strategy of information
delivery and sharing of publishing industry to compete with other marketing opponents. It is essential to look upon
the changes the web technology is getting every day. The paper has reviewed and analyzed some popular web 2.0
sites and tried to figure out the possibilities of implementation of the web 2.0 features into the e-publishing web
interfaces. It has made an outline for designing the interface for the e-publishing industry.

Acknowledgements: Thanks are due to Mr. Nizar Jamal (COO and CTO), Ulhas Anand, (product manager ), Sapna
Jayaram ( Usability Dept.),Impelsys,India for providing an opportunity to work in their company as part of summer
training project in May 2008 and igniting our interest in immersive environment research.

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 5. REFERE(CES

Harmelen, Mark., Independent Consultant and School of Computer Science, University of Manchester.,
“Web 2.0 technologies for content sharing”.
http://franklin-consulting.co.uk/LinkedDocuments/Introduction%20to%20Web%202.doc
O'Reilly, Tim., “What is web2.0”.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html
Study abroad.com,“Web 2.0 – What is it, and why is it changing the world?”,
http://www.educationdynamics.com/downloads/white-papers/White-Paper-Web-2-0.doc
Last viewed on 13.08.08
Trippe, Bill. and Guenette, David R., “e-Publishing Systems: Build or Buy”, New millennium publication.
http://www.ids-publishing.com/Common/Paper/Paper_82/e-publishing.pdf
Lewis, Mark., chief development officer, EMC .,“Information delivery in a Web 2.0 world”
http://resources.zdnet.co.uk/articles/comment/0,1000002985,39288093,00.htm?r=8
Anderson , Paul., “What is Web 2.0?- Ideas, technologies and implications for education”.
www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701bword.doc

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 Use of the Human Computer Interface Cycle in multidisciplinary
environments: Case studies in bioinformatics and software engineering
education.
Mrs. Sheetal RajneeshVij1 , Mrs. Deepa Srikanth Adiga2
1
Assistant Professor , Department of Computer Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of Technology,
Paud Road, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA.
2
Assistant Professor , Department of Information Technology, Maharashtra Institute of Technology,
Paud Road, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA.
1
sheetalrvij@hotmail.com , 2deepaadiga@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Multidisciplinary collaboration is essential for effective human computer interaction. Historically computer science,
living science and software engineering under computer management specifically have operated as discrete
disciplines. However with the increased use of information communication technologies in everyday life issues of
appropriate design, functionality and accessibility assume increased importance. In this paper a model for effective
multidisciplinary human-computer interaction (HCI) is presented. This is an interactive cycle that informs science
through the integration of observations, reflections, theories and practices across a diverse range of disciplines.
Informed multidisciplinary responses increase the likelihood of appropriate design solutions. Case studies in
bioinformatics and software engineering education are used to illustrate the application of the HCI cycle for ongoing
multidisciplinary collaboration in HCI design as these are the respective research areas of authors of this paper.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
HCI has become an integral part of normal everyday life in the 21st Century. However there is an increased reliance
on multimedia technologies that means the applications and usability of HCI are often complex and highly variable.
Effective HCI invoke collaboration across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Moreover, these harmonious
partnerships require simultaneous engagement with the physical and social sciences. The model for effective HCI
presented in this paper transcends interdisciplinary differences and promotes effective multidisciplinary HCI
systems design. An increasing number of practitioners acknowledge that the solutions to complex social problems
require multidisciplinary collaboration (Boyer, 1990). Consequently, this requires a sophisticated problem analysis
by the system’s development team across a normally disparate range of disciplines. Developing multidisciplinary
teams across areas that have worked previously in isolation is challenging. We present a model for effective HCI
called the “HCI cycle”, where multidisciplinary teams work together to design effective systems.
Here we present two case studies applying the HCI cycle. The case studies are on multidisciplinary education
course design. The HCI cycle provides “empowerment architecture” for user participation via active project team
membership as well as representation in a design-persona.
2. THE HCI CYCLE
The main stages of this cycle include: observations, reflections – both personal and use of a “design- persona”, the
integration of multidisciplinary knowledge and informing science through design and re-design. To make the
necessary connections between our observations, reflections, theory and practice we need to give them operational
meaning. Marion Bogo and Elaine Vayder have adapted the work of Kolb, on experiential learning and applied it to
social work education to develop what they call the “integration of theory and practice loop” (1987, p.2), (ITP loop).
This loop can be applied to a wide variety of both direct and indirect practice situations. In the words of Bogo and
Vayda, “It can be microscopic or macroscopic depending on what facts are retrieved. The choice of a lens and the
degree of magnification depends on the practice situation and the specific intent.” (1987, p.2). When applying the
ITP loop firstly, the factual elements of a practice situation are “retrieved”. Secondly, “reflection” focuses on the
effectiveness of the retrieved information combined with identifying personal assumptions, attitudes and values that
may impinge upon the practice situation. For instance, class, cultural and gender assumptions and biases must be

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identified in order to understand and control their power and influence. Thirdly, “linkages” are made with
professional knowledge that can account for or explain the previous findings. This in turn leads to an, “informed
professional response”. This model is further developed in this paper with the development of the HCI cycle, see
Figure 1. As can be seen the looping process is maintained as an important element of this design however this is
considered as an upward spiral to reflect the progress achieved through design, re-design and continual improvement
processes based on observations, reflections and theories that inform integrated responses. However the cycle may
go up or down rapidly or slowly depending upon the responsiveness of the project team. In the HCI cycle reflections
include the personal with this expanded to include “the design-persona” discussed further below. Another
development of this model, in its application to HCI, is the inclusion of “multidisciplinary” knowledge rather than
application to one particular discipline.

Figure 1: Human-Computer Interaction Cycle (adapted from Bogo and Vayda (1987) Integration of Theory and
Practice - ITP Loop)

This is particularly important when considering the interacting relationships of HCI in computer systems designed to
address complex problems or issues. Systems which implement sound HCI practice combine a human-dimension
that is represented by the social organization and work, to engage the human-machine aspect of the technical
requirements, see Figure 2.

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Figure 2: Human-computer interaction (adapted from Preece, 1994, p.16)

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Observations
A well founded HCI architecture therefore aims to address questions or issues of significance relating to the human-
dimension, with the ultimate aim of social and technical advancement. Typically problem-solving approaches are
used to define a particular problem and then to set about devising ways and means of addressing them. However for
complex social problems, sophisticated problem analysis is required for the design of effective solutions.
Observations take on a variety of forms. Typically they will be direct or indirect. Direct observations include first
hand experiences whereas indirect observations include observations provided by third party sources. What a person
observes will be influenced by her or his background and particular areas of interest. So in this sense observations
are selective and often subjective unless derived from a controlled experimental design. Even controlled
observations of people will still be variable. This will also be influenced by the lens of the discipline in which the
observer is a member of. Thus selective information will be retrieved from observations. This information requires
reflection from a personal perspective and from that of a “persona”.

Reflections: Personal and Persona

Personal reflections are valued differently according to professional background. In the human services domain,
personal reflection is seen as an integral part of practice. However in more scientific disciplines they can be less
valued and associated with qualitative rather than more scientific and rigorous quantitative paradigms. Personal
reflection validates use of self and acknowledges the impact that observations and information retrieved have on the
observer, and how this in turn influences responses. Personal reflection requires acknowledging how you think and
feel about a given situation. Thinking will be influenced by a range of factors including past personal and
professional experiences, disciplinary background, political and social views and demographic factors such as age,
class, cultural background, gender and ability. A main factor that will influence reflections is the level of
commitment and motivation of the person regarding the information observed. Whilst one worker may view a
situation as intolerable and one that must be addressed immediately another may not see it as particularly significant.
Personal reflections guard against the practice of “professional distancing” that occurs in the human services
(Martin, 2003). It fosters a humane approach and a commitment to values of social justice by promoting empathy
between workers and service users. Reflection moves beyond, “What do I think and feel in response to this
situation?” to “What would it be like if it was me or a loved one in this situation?” to “How would I like to be
treated?”and “What type of assistance would be of most benefit to me? And “Who is best to provide this
assistance?” The use of the “design-persona” adds a further dimension to reflection in HCI.
The persona assists in understanding user information needs informing design and accessibility and ultimately
suitability (Sinha, 2003, p.1). The persona is a hypothetical construct that embodies the main features of the
population that the project is endeavouring to address. This provides a reference point for all aspects of project
design and provides a safeguard against design elements that are inappropriate or not suited to the intended user
population. Grundin and Pruitt (2002) argue that representation of the user group is crucial and that this is the main
advantage of using a design-persona. This is also the experience of the authors of this paper. A design-persona
provides a lens that includes the socio-political context and addresses issues around quality of life and difference. By
focusing attention on a particular user group, personas assist in identifying different kinds of users as well as those
who are not being designed for (Pruitt & Grundin, 2003, p.11). Designing a right persona or set of personas can be
challenging. A common mistake to avoid include; choosing ‘flashy’ technology over accessibility. Hourihan warns
against the project team designing for themselves and losing sight of the intended user group. She comments, ‘We
thought we were the primary persona. Like a recovering substance abuser, it’s a constant challenge for me to refrain
– I can always imagine that I’m the user’ (2002, p.3).
The persona is developed through a number of quantitative and qualitative processes including interviews,
observations, ethnographies, focus groups, brainstorming, market research and usability studies (Sinha, 2003, p.1).
Members of the project team ultimately direct any changes and modifications required to the persona throughout the
project to ensure relevance and responsiveness to enact required changes (Sinha, 2003, p.2). An essential feature of
the HCI Spiral is the inclusion of user groups in all aspects of project design including the development of the
persona. The persona must not be seen as a replacement for active user involvement. The persona comes to life as a
“real person” who the project is being designed for. The persona is given a name and it is in the naming process that
the persona is brought to life. Planning and decision-making is done thinking about what this person’s experience

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will be like. Giving the persona a name is a further element in the process that creates empathy. Rather than, “How
would people use this?” questions are personalized to for instance “How would Nikhil use this?” Nikhil or whatever
name is chosen is the representative of the intended user group and embodies all of the personal features of the
intended user group (Martin, McKay, & Hawkins, 2005; McKay, 2005). These features might include age, gender,
educational background, class, health, ability/disability, race, ethnicity and culture, sexuality and spirituality (Giroux
& Shannon, 1997). Cooper comments, ‘All things being equal I will use people of different races, genders,
nationalities and colors’ (2004, p.3). A common vision and commitment to the persona is essential for successful
design and implementation. This will be influenced by communication processes and how the persona is included in
the project team at all stages of design. Effective communication is important particularly with those who may be
absent from meetings where the persona is discussed. Creative strategies are required to keep the persona relevant
and the focus of activity. Detailed written documentation that succinctly describes the main features of each persona
is essential. Decisions are now being made about a person with a name and identity-albeit hypothetical. The level of
detail suggested by Freydenson (2002) for a persona includes; ‘at least a first and last name, age, goals, background
story, a telling quote, e-mail address, job title and a photograph’, (p.1). He recommends the development of multiple
personas with each given a status according to primary, secondary, supplemental and negative status. These
personas extend beyond the user to include others such as line workers and management. This assists in prioritizing
by identifying and keeping the focus on the primary persona, while also keeping in mind the needs of secondary
personas. Ultimately the primary persona must be satisfied with the system you deliver (Hourihan, 2002, p.1). The
same questions mentioned above for personal reflection are also applied to the persona. The persona will change and
develop with the project and at times more than one persona may be required, particularly in instances of extreme
diversity amongst potential user groups. Mapping requires identifying the needs, interests and concerns of the
“persona” around main issues in her or his life. Favoured options are those that meet most or many, of the persona’s
needs of and take account of many or most of their concerns (Martin, McKay & Hawkins, 2005). “Task analysis” is
useful in identifying the processes and tasks associated with project design to achieve the desired outcomes for the
persona (Pruitt & Grundin, 2003, p.12). In effect the personal now becomes a member of the project team. It is
useful to have something to signify this. This may simply be an empty chair at meetings that represents the presence
of the persona in discussions and decision-making.

Integration of Multidisciplinary Knowledge

As mentioned earlier the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge is an essential feature of the HCI cycle. This is
a complex process as people generally have “expert knowledge” in their own particular disciplines that is not always
easily understood or transferable across disciplines. Multidisciplinary collaboration requires skilful communication
between partners that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Potential users of the project design are important
members of the multidisciplinary team as is “the persona”. It is important that supports are provided and language is
used that makes participation meaningful and worthwhile. Effective communication and participation requires clear
communication in shared language. Skilful communication requires quality relationships with people that take
account of personal and professional values and beliefs and identify areas of possible conflict. Often timelines are
developed that have disciplines providing expertise at different times depending on the expertise required at a
particular stage of the project. Whilst on the one hand this seems like a sensible way to proceed, it results in
disciplines meeting at the crossroads to hand over and exchange information. This is not multidisciplinary
collaboration in a true sense as disciplines are still predominantly working in isolation albeit on different component
parts of the same project. Effective multidisciplinary communication moves beyond this approach to a model of
active collaboration by members of different disciplines throughout the project. This provides continuity across all
disciplines and provides opportunities for joint learning and teamwork. A free-flow exchange of information occurs
across disciplines thereby enhancing communication and increasing the likelihood of creative solutions that integrate
knowledge from a variety of disciplines. This is particularly important for complex problem-solving as answers
generally do not sit within discreet disciplines. Views can vary significantly within disciplines according to the
different theoretical orientations adopted by individual members. Thus shared meanings and understandings on one
project involving the same multidisciplinary make-up are not necessarily transferable to other teams or projects. The
avoidance of stereotypes is important – particularly negative stereotypes if conflict does arise (Conflict Resolution
Network 2000). At such times the persona is useful to keep the project team focused and on-track.

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Informing Science: Design and Re-design
Science is informed by creative solutions that are informed by the combination of personal and persona reflections
and multidisciplinary knowledge and perspectives. Quality improvement is an inbuilt design feature of the HCI
cycle as it is continuous. Design outcomes are monitored and evaluated according to new observations following
application. The cycle of improvement continues with every new observation, reflection and integration of
multidisciplinary knowledge. The HCI cycle is similar to a barometer that will go up and down according to its
suitability and relevance at any given time. If the spiral goes down this is an indicator that perhaps the needs and
concerns of the persona are not being addressed by the project design and that re-design features are required.
Observations of the application of the project will provide increased information about the “actual user group” that
may not always be the same as the “intended user group”. Reflection on these observations may result in changes to
the persona more in accordance with the actual user group. In the following discussion the HCI cycle is applied to
two case studies. The headings used above to describe the cycle are used in the case studies to illustrate each distinct
stage in the process.
Teaching and learning in the new millennium requires engagement with new technologies and careful consideration
of aspects that will add value to the student experience and those that will detract from it. Applying the HCI cycle to
education in bioinformatics and software engineering, these case studies are represented by the authors respective to
their individual research areas.

3. CASE STUDIES
Case Study 1 :
HCI cycle in Bioinformatics education: Crossing the interdisciplinary barrier.
Observations
Bioinformatics is a new and rapidly evolving discipline that has emerged from the fields of experimental molecular
biology and biochemistry, and from the artificial intelligence, database, pattern recognition and algorithms
disciplines in computer science. Largely because of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of bioinformatics
research, academia has been slow to respond to strong industry and government demands for trained scientists to
develop and apply novel bioinformatics techniques to the rapidly-growing, freely-available repositories of genetic
and proteomic data. While some institutions are responding to this demand by establishing graduate programs in
bioinformatics, the entrance barriers for these programs are high, largely due to the significant amount of
prerequisite knowledge in the disparate fields of biochemistry and computer science required for sophisticated new
approaches to the analysis and interpretation of bioinformatics data. Increasingly students wish to complete this in a
minimum amount of time with maximum learning and skills related to living sciences as well as allied computing
areas. They want to clearly see how these outcomes are going to maximize employment and career opportunities in
bioinformatics.
Reflections: Personal and Persona
It is tempting to embrace new technologies and put courses on-line. This provides students with the flexibility they
desire as well as providing them with a wealth of information. However student’s feedback tells us this is not what
students are wanting and that education extends beyond reading copious amounts of materials on line, chatting to
lecturers and other students electronically, and meeting assessment requirements. Many students prefer for face-to-
face learning. It is only a small minority who prefer this on-line learning. Students value quality learning
experiences that meet their educational needs in India as well as abroad. This often includes flexible delivery
(Hooks, 1994). The “persona” is a hypothetical student who is on a journey through the bioinformatics degree
course. The challenge with routine tasks and procedures is how to create a personal and “user friendly” environment.
The persona assists by bringing the student to life as a reference point. The persona is given an identity as someone
who plans to study in your degree program. A brainstorming process with members of the program team (mentioned
in integration phase) responsible for the design and delivery of the degree course in bioinformatics is useful in
identifying the main features of the persona. Planning and decision-making around educational experiences and
administrative processes are done thinking about what this person’s experience will be like.

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Integration of Multidisciplinary Knowledge
A team of scientists in biology, experts in molecular biology as well as experienced faculty in biochemistry ,
computer algorithms, data mining , data warehousing and instructors in programming environments like Pearl,
Python scripts as well as in handling various bioinformatics related tools like Rasmol , Pymol etc is integrated. In
addition to this, a strong infrastructure for accessing different proteomic, genomic, molecular sites where for
accessing this data we need at least some mainframe units with high speed computing and huge data storage facility
with well equipped computing labs for high end multimedia and some labs for biological and chemical
experimentation for e.g. DNA microarrays, cloning, mutations, genomic and molecular studies etc. Comparison to
traditional living sciences and computing educational models, flexible education is broadly characterized by:
• Greater reliance on high quality alternate learning resources and experimental research besides face to face
teaching
• Greater opportunities to communicate – outside traditional teaching times
• An increasing use of IT
• The deployment of multi-skilled teams.
Flexible education encompasses the range of multi-media materials used for the design and delivery of subjects and
courses in living sciences as well as computing and the pedagogy by which these are meant to advance learning.
There are many strategies, including the use of problem solving, experiential learning, practicum, video lectures and
so on which can also be used to allow flexibility for students. Mapping is a useful process for identifying personal
and social factors that impact upon a student’s ability to participate fully in such tertiary education by identifying the
needs, interests and concerns of the “persona” around main issues in her or his life. “Task analysis” is useful in
identifying the processes and tasks associated with university education and peculiar to your university and degree
(Payne, 1997). This involves all stages- pre-entry, entry, engagement and exit. Pre-entry includes consideration of
marketing and promotion, study pre-requisites, and processes for applying, student selection and enrolment. Entry
includes orientation, preparation for success at tertiary study and a sense of focus and belonging. Engagement
extends to maintaining and developing this focus and in a student centric environment that is responsive to student
learning needs. Exit requires adequate preparation for transition from university to the workplace including
professional socialization as well as considering ongoing links and relationships with the university. Alongside the
identification of processes and associated tasks at a university level mapping is required to identify the personal and
social features of the persona.
Informing Science: Design and Re-design
The student-centric approach in learning processes requires different teaching methodologies alongside a different
relationship between teachers and students. It is a student driven curriculum that integrates theory and practice. It
provides students with the knowledge and skills required by employers without compromising the research abilities
of them. It is thorough, comprehensive and flexible and uses the latest in terms of teaching and learning strategies
and techniques and is responsive to student needs. What students want from a university course is presented in the
“Student empowerment model”- Student centric focus , Excellence , Flexibility ,Relevance , Value for money ,
Currency in the marketplace, Learning community , Sense of belonging , Range of methods used suited to the course
being taught , Bring the community into the university and the university into the community , Recognition of level
of competency on entry into the course , Teaching and learning pitched at a level appropriate to individual student
learning needs. Assessment needs to be clear and concise–aligned with educational and industry competencies, tasks
and outcomes Student interaction (Martin 2002). Responsiveness to individual student needs and employment are
central features of the empowerment model. The “design-persona” is a useful tool for the design and delivery
education in bioinformatics that is student centric and is responsive to the individual and collective needs of students
in ways that are resource efficient. The importance of the “persona” for developing a student- centric focus that
creatively utilizes a range of teaching and learning techniques cannot be under-estimated. The persona provides a
personal focus for the planning and delivery of all teaching and learning experiences and guards against institutional
practices that lose sight of student needs.

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Case Study 2 :
Use of HCI cycle in Reforming Software Engineering Education.
Observations
Sooner, IT reforms and advances would disappear the boundaries between hardware and software. Today’s
distributed and mobile computing goal of anytime, anywhere connectivity will be extended to the goal of all the
time, everywhere connectivity. This encompasses many areas of computer science and engineering, such as
intelligent systems, agent technologies, mobile computing, wireless networks, distributed systems, middleware,
wearable and context-aware computing, and device technology. The case discusses the necessity of reform in
software engineering education to facilitate these moving advances from the laboratories into the real world using
HCI cycle.
Reflections: Personal & Persona
In order to apply reforms in Software engineering education, pervasive computing vision is applied which is a
multidisciplinary approach that addresses the issue of proliferation of computational resources in the physical world.
Personal reflections of a student involve achievement of new competences that are beyond those required in
distributed and mobile computing. This requires the students be provided with wealth of concerned information
with the flexibility they desire. Students also value quality learning experiences that meet their educational needs by
face-to-face learning. The “persona” is a hypothetical student who is on a journey to acquire required skill set. This
calls for a reform of software engineering education, which is currently focused on distributed and mobile
computing.
Integration of Multidisciplinary Knowledge
The software engineering education reform must address both technical and non-technical challenges. Following are
the topics recommended for integration in the software engineering curriculum as a part of this education reform
effort.
• Introduction to Pervasive Computing
• Technical Challenges
• Multidisciplinary Approach
• Integrating Research into Education
• Case Studies
• Experimental Projects
Each topic presented above would felicitate better knowledge and would enhance the students’ competency level.
For our case study of developing mobile computing of goal all the time, everywhere connectivity, he can be
introduced to multidisciplinary technologies like: Device technologies, Network technologies, Software
technologies, User technologies, Perceptual technologies. Each technology would serve in the development of over
the edge mobile computing device. Case studies and Experimental projects in new technical fields are required to be
kick started. Experimental project help students learn to appreciate applied research and the work that is behind
research papers that present the development and deployment of software prototypes. They also provide
opportunities for innovative engineering solutions. Hence, experimental projects help students become prepared for
their challenging software engineering career, particularly in the R&D sector.
Informing Science: Design and Re-design
In order to increase the effectiveness of students’ learning experiences, and to stimulate innovative educational
activities in the software engineering discipline, it is critical to integrate a large and growing body of research on
areas on software engineering courses and curricula and also multidisciplinary technologies. The course and the
pattern of education are redesigned by reviewing the effectiveness of the process adapted.

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 4. CO(CLUSIO(
The HCI cycle is particularly useful for multidisciplinary collaboration. Careful observation and reflection and the
sharing of information across disciplines informs science as to the wide range of possible responses. The use of the
persona assists in the process by keeping the focus on an individual who is representative of the target user group.
This personal aspect assists in keeping a human focus as well as providing a reference point for all aspects of design
and implementation. Design responses include a diverse range of knowledge, theories and perspectives that are
thoughtful and reflective on a personal and professional level. The case study of applying the HCI cycle to tertiary
education, educators are encouraged to think creatively about how greater flexibility can be achieved by using e-
technology as an aid to quality teaching and learning and not as a replacement. Educators need to think about how
they can best meet the changing needs of students, industry and society in the design and delivery of courses. A
student centric approach including the use of the “persona” provides a reference point for the relevance of content as
well as for designing the means and methods of delivery. As illustrated in this case study the HCI cycle has
application across a wide range of social issues. It can be applied across a wide range of diverse disciplines and
problems. Through observation, critical reflection and the integration of theory and knowledge across disciplines,
the HCI cycle provides a process to facilitate creative and innovative responses to complex and varied social
problems.

5. REFERE(CES

Bogo, M. & Vayda, E. (1987). The practice of field instruction in social work. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Boyer, E. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching.
Conflict Resolution Network. (2000). Conflict resolution instruction manual. Chatswood, NSW: CRN.
Cooper, A. (2004). The inmates are running the asylum: Why high tech products drive us crazy and how to
restore the sanity (2nd ed.). Pearson Higher Education.
Flinders University. (n.d.). Teaching for learning. Retrieved from www.flinders.edu.au
Freydenson, E. (2002). Bringing your personas to life in real life. Retrieved 9/9/05 from:
http://boxesandarrows.com/archives/002343.php
Giroux, H. & Shannon, P. (Eds.) (1997). Education and cultural studies: Toward a performative practice.
New York: Routledge.
Grudin, J. & Pruitt, J. (2002). Personas, participatory design and product development. USA: PDC.
Gilda Pour, World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education 2003 UICEE),Vol.2, o.3,
Pervasive computing reforming software engineering education
Giroux, H. & Shannon, P. (Eds.). (1997). Education and cultural studies: Toward a performative practice.
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Hawkins, L. & Sefton, R. (1989). Flexible learning options for social welfare education. In D. James & T.
Vinson (Eds.), Advances in social welfare education, pp. 39-47.
Hourihan, M. (2002). Taking the ‘you’ out of user: My experiencing using personas” Retrieved 9/9/05
from: http://boxesandarrows.com/archives/002330php
Hooks. (1994). Teaching to transgress education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.

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Macquarie University. (n.d.).Flexible learning. What is it? Retrieved from
www.cfl.mq.edu.au/cfl/flexible/cflflex1.html
Martin, J. (2002). What students want from a university course: Empowerment model. Presentation for
RMIT Teaching and Learning Awards, Melbourne.
Martin, J. (2003). Historical development of critical social work practice. In J. Allan, B. Pease, & L. Briskman
(Eds.), Critical social work. NSW: Allen and Unwin.
Martin, J. Hess, L, Hawkins, L. & Pitt, M. (2002). Flexible delivery mini-conference mode teaching and
learning in tertiary education: Experiences in teaching and learning in mental health, field education
and a cross-cultural study tour. International Journal of E-Learning, 9. Common Ground, Melbourne,
Australia.
Martin, J. McKay, E. & Hawkins, L. (2005). The e-ssential persona. Paper presented at RMIT University
Teaching and Learning forum Electric dreams: Teaching and learning in the Key of e, 28 September,
Melbourne.
McKay, E. (2005). Evaluating user ability to customise your e-Learning programme. Invited post conference
presented at the ARK Group's conference Harnessing the Potential of e-Learning: Implementing
and Developing a User-Friendly and Cost-Effective e-Learning Programme, held at the Grace Hotel,
in Sydney 25-27 October.
Moore, A. G. (1991). Crossing the chasm. New York: Harper Collins.
Nicholson, C. (1995). Teaching on uncommon ground: The ideal of community. In P. McLaren (Ed.),
Postmodernism,
postcolonialism and pedagogy. Melbourne: James Nicholas.
Preece, J. (1994). Human-computer interaction. Harlow - UK, Addison-Wesley.
Pruitt, J. & Grundin, J. (2003). Personas: Practice and theory. New York: ACM Press.
Payne, M. (1997), Modern social work theory (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Press.
Ramsden, P. (1992). Learning to teach in higher education. New York: Routledge.
RMIT University, (2005). Planning for flexible delivery, design and social context. Retrieved 7/9/05 from:
www.rmit.edu.au/online/educationonline/staff/developing/supportmaterials
Sinha, R. (2003). Persona development for information-rich domains. CHI, April 5-10 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida,USA.
Travis Doom, Member, IEEE, Michael Raymer, Dan Krane, and Oscar Garcia, Life Fellow, IEEE
(2002),Crossing the interdisciplinary barrier :A baccalaureate computer science option in bioinformatics
W3C. (2005). Leading the web to its full potential. Retrieved August 19, 2005 from: http://www.w3.org/

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 A Study on Usability in e-Learning
Shantanu Kulkarni, Usability Analyst, Satyam Computer Services Ltd
Shantanu_Kulkarni@satyam.com; Shantanu_mdes@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
While the usability and educational effectiveness of an e-learning application are not one and the same, the two
arguably have very much in common. Even though many organizations have made great strides in their ability to
develop and deliver e-learning programs to their employees, customers, and suppliers, the usability of these e-
learning applications is often lacking or entirely overlooked. Given the large investments organizations are making
in online training, and the unique needs of learners, it would be sensible to address the usability of e-learning
applications. Doing so will help ensure that users can actually access the necessary material, have optimal levels of
satisfaction with the learning experience, and enable the organization to maximize its e-learning investment.

1. I(TRODUCTIO(
A large number of organizations have adopted e-learning programs, far fewer have addressed the usability of their
learning applications. More attention should be devoted to assuring the usability of e-learning applications if
organizations are to fully benefit from their investments.
Today large percentage of organizations have actively developed and implemented online learning programs. The
reasons are clear: e-learning programs can be highly versatile and they have the capability to provide on-demand
training that transcends geographic and time boundaries. Program offerings are frequently diverse and address the
needs of employees, customers, and suppliers. The versatility, convenience, and scope of offerings would seemingly
suggest that all is well for these adopters of e-learning applications. However, training practitioners within many
organizations are discovering that individuals are, for the most part, not embracing the new medium of instruction to
the extent that it was initially hoped. In fact, online learning programs typically exhibit higher dropout rates when
compared with traditional instructor-led courses.
To be sure, there are a large number of reasons for the lack of adoption: quality of courses, relevancy of content,
comfort level with the technology, availability of technical support, ability to interact with peer learners, and so
forth. Another major contributor—often left off this list—is poor usability, which is characteristic of many e-
learning applications. It appears that far more energy is focused on the technology involved in developing
instructional content rather than ensuring that users will be able to use the technology effectively.

2. LER(ER CE(TERED DESIG(

In brief, know your learners and address the fact that they represent diverse backgrounds with different
characteristics. Effective e-learning application development will seek to answer the following questions:
•How do learners prefer to learn?
•How are they currently learning the information?
•Under what pressures (for example, demands of their job and schedule) do the learners function in their day-to-
day life?
•What is their motivation or incentive to engage in online learning?
•What constraints, such as Internet connection speeds or computer platforms, do they face?
•What special accommodations do learners need?
•How comfortable are they using online applications?
•What experience do they have with e-learning?

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This information may be acquired through focus groups, field studies, surveys, and Interviews, and is used during
the iterative design process.

3. ITERATIVE DESIG(
The foundation of the iterative design process is a competitive analysis to see how other organizations deliver e-
learning successfully. What products are they using? How is it being developed and implemented? How do their
learners feel about the e-learning application? By combining the knowledge gained from the competitive analysis
with what you already know about your learners, you can develop a highly effective and efficient e-learning
application.
Even so, regardless of how comprehensive your efforts have been to gain insight into the end users and apply what
was learned from the competitive analysis, it’s unlikely that the first product development cycle will attain final
release standards. The key is to perform rapid, systematic, and successive evaluations of the application throughout
the development cycle rather than as a one-time effort immediately preceding its release. That is, usability
evaluations should occur over several instances within the development process. Doing so will enable you to resolve
usability issues before they become costly problems to address.
Ongoing testing. Understand that usability is a process. Accordingly, you need to conduct usability evaluations
(ideally, with actual users) periodically on an ongoing basis to ensure that the e-learning application maintains high
levels of usability. The point is that the needs, environments, constraints, and so forth, of learners may change, and
awareness of these occurrences enables the organization to make necessary adjustments. Further, ongoing testing is
the only true way for developers to feel confident about the ease of use of the e-learning application following its
release. Some may even contend that engaging in ongoing testing also demonstrates to learners that their needs are
important and, therefore, encourages their use of the e-learning application.

4. USABILITY TESTI(G OF LEAR(I(G MODULES

Usability testing of eLearning programs is a little different from the usability testing of software
products/applications. In software products/applications, we test the usability of the product with respect to the tasks
performed by the user, in eLearning; the testing is a little more complex.
In eLearning, testing only the functionality of the eLearning program is not enough. We need to test the
effectiveness of the program to see whether the program is learnable or not – whether the program meets its learning
objectives or not. Each program does go through functionality testing. But this is not usability testing and is done
independent of learners. This is a QA round to check for bugs and functionality issues.
In eLearning, we typically should have a formal learner testing round with the Alpha version of the course. Ideally
we should follow a three phase approach detailed as follows.
1) Background Study: Profile the learners to be tested. The learners to be tested are the learners for whom
the program is designed. This is the profile that was used to create the “Persona”. The number of learners used
for testing should be sufficient to indicate clear trends. A minimum of 7 is recommended.
2) Usability Test: We should put the learner in an environment that is closest to a real life learning
environment. There is a moderator who conducts the session and there can be either observers or the session can
be recorded.
a. After introductions, the moderator sits a little behind the learner and observes him/her go through the
course.
b. The moderator makes a declaration to the learner stating the duration of the session, and emphasizing
clearly that the program is being tested and NOT the learner. The learner is helping the moderator find
problems in the program that will help make the program more effective. If at any point, the learner wants to
quit the session, he/she is free to do so.
c. Request the learner to think aloud while going through the program. For example, if the learner is looking
for a button or some information, the learner can state this aloud.

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 d. The moderator must observe each and every action of the learner and note these down. At this stage, the
moderator must focus on observing the learner without interrupting him/her until the learner closes a logical
chunk of activity. Then the moderator can chip in gently to question a particular action of the learner during
that activity. Ideally, do not ask for opinions from learners. Ask them questions related to the actions that
they performed or did not perform.
e. Post observation, the moderator sits with the learner with a questionnaire. The questionnaire can pre-
decided questions about the learning program, navigation, graphics/text elements in the program, and also
have questions about the learners’ behavior during the testing. These questionnaires do not have standard
questions, you need to create them specifically for the program that you are testing.
f. Finally, the moderator thanks the learner and rewards him/her for participating in the testing activity.
3) Data Analysis: The observations from these sessions are noted down by the moderators and compiled later by the
instructional designers (instructional designers can also be the moderators). Finally, this data is analyzed. The
findings are categorized based on issues such as design issues, navigation issues, graphics issues, affordance issues
etc. The team can also rank these issues as per priority and go ahead to fix them.
This concludes the learner testing round. However, the goal of this round is to test whether the learning experience
meets the learners’ needs and requirements. However, this testing is not conclusive in terms of testing the
effectiveness of the program. The effectiveness of the program can be tested only after the learners go through the
course in real life and apply it at their workplace. We tried testing with the help of a questionnaire survey done on
tested users two or three days after the actual test. This shows what is the level if grasp for the users. Depending on
the goal of the program, we decide the time of evaluation and the metrics for evaluation.

5. LEAR(ABILITY TESTI(G
What is learnability?
• Is the learner motivated to finish the course? Is the course engaging?
• Do the instructional strategies interest the learner? Simply put, does the learner ‘get’ the theme?
• Is the instructional flow clear to the learner? Is the learner comfortable with the content?
• Is the course free of obstacles (too much audio, too much text, bugs, navigational errors and so on) that may
hinder learning?
Learnability testing is inspired by usability testing. In simple words, usability testing is a controlled experiment that
tests how well people use a particular product. The user performs a series of tasks while the observer watches him
and takes notes. Usability testing is conducted at several stages and feedback implemented to refine the design.
Where usability testing checks whether a product is ‘usable’, learnability testing checks whether an e learning
application is ‘learnable’. The main objective of learnability testing is to remove all obstacles that hinder the
learning experience.
During testing the observation for different elements are done based on following criteria.

Table 1. Criteria of Evaluation

Elements to observe Observation criteria

Graphic
1. Navigation a. Is the learner able to find his/her way through the course
b. Are the Next and Back buttons positioned at the right place
c. Is the navigation intuitive?
2. Interface a. Are the elements and icons used on the interface intuitive?

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 b. Does the learner use all the elements provided?
c. Is the learner searching for a particular feature such as Pause or Mute?
d. Does the learner find the interface confusing or easy to use?
e. How often does the learner use the features such as Mute, Pause, References and other such
features on the interface?
3. Affordance a. Does the learner click all the clickable icons such as pop up boxes, tabs and so on?
b. Does the learner click any element that is not supposed to be clicked?
c. Is the learner dependent on written instruction?
d. Did the learner do all the activities as intended?
Instructional Design
1. Content a. Is the learner showing interest in taking the course?
b. Is the learner motivated to read information off the screen? Or is the learner clicking the next
button without reading it?
c. Is the learner able to comprehend content provided on the screen?
d. Is the learner spending more time on a particular screen?
e. How does the learner react when he/she answers a question incorrectly?
f. Is the learner comfortable with the feedback received?
g. Is the learner comfortable with the language used in the course?
e. Does the learner apply the concepts learned in the course or answers by trial and error?
2. Audio a. Is the audio sufficient on each screen?
b. Is the learner distracted by audio?
c. Does the learner avoid reading text because of audio?
d. What is the learner’s reaction to the pace of the audio?
e. Is the transcript useful? Does the learner point out any discrepancies in language?

Table 2: Above observations could be supported by quantitative output and subsequent analysis of the following
questionnaire survey
Criteria 1 2 3 4 5 (A
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree
Content
Vocabulary and terminology used are appropriate
for the learners.
Abstract concepts (principles, formulas, rules, etc.)
are illustrated with concrete, specific examples.
Learning & Support
The courses offer tools (taking notes, job-aids,
recourses, glossary etc.) that support learning

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The courses include activities that are both
individual-based and group-based.
Visual Design
Fonts (style, color, saturation) are easy to read in
both on-screen and in printed versions.
(avigation
Learners always know where they are in the
course.
The courses allow the learner to leave whenever
desired, but easily return to the closest logical
point in the course.
Accessibility
The course is free from technical problems
(hyperlink errors, programming errors etc.)
Interactivity
The courses use games, simulations, role playing
activities, and case studies to gain the attention,
and maintain motivation of learners.
Self-Assessment & Learnability
Learners can start the course (locate it, install
plug-ins, register, access starting page) using only
online assistance.
Motivation to learn
The course incorporates novel characteristics.
The course stimulates further inquiry
The course is enjoyable and
interesting
The course provides learner with frequent and
varied learning activities that increase learning
success

6. USER TESTI(G EXAMPLE

Methodology
User Testing (UT) is the most critical component of User-Centered Design Methodology. It is the process of having
potential users experience the site or application or product and share their views on the usability aspect. It involves
real users in performance-based tasks and is different from other evaluation techniques.
The ultimate purpose of UT is to get feedback, which enables design improvements or corrections. UT can be as per
tasks or scenarios.
Participants are selected as per:
Applicability to site or module being tested

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Level of expertise in the domain

For the (CI Learning module

In this case, the usability consultants conducted a remote user testing of the participants. Two usability consultants
were involved in this process. The “remote” aspect of this user testing technique makes it easier to reach respondents
in diverse geographic areas. Besides giving the ability to reach users from different geographic areas, the testing
process provides cost benefits. However the downside of the remote user testing process is the lack of visual
observations of the user.
For the testing process, we had requested for user profiles that are new and moderately exposed to the NCI process
because it will help us gauge the impact of the course content and the learnability factor. After recruiting the right
participants for this user testing process, sessions were scheduled with the users. The session was conducted using
the online meeting tools such as WebEx and V-share. While one of the consultants monitored the user movements
passively, the other consultant would actively question the user post the course walk –through.

User Demographics
Based on the methodology cited above, participants were recruited and the profiles were as follows:

Table 3. User demographics

User Name Designation Experience Exposure Remarks
in CAT to NCI
1 Kenneth D. General Manager 35 years New
Shore
2 Tom Learning 34 years New Tom will not be working on the NCI
Consultant process so he is completely new to this
process.
3 Dennis Engineering 30 years Moderate He has provided inputs for the process
Jackson Supervisor formulation for procurement of capital
equipments initially but he is quite new
to the NCI process.
4 John C.Lee General Manager, 30 years Moderate Acclimatized with capital procurement
R&D but not on NCI

Parameters for User testing

Post the course walk through session, the users were asked to give their feedback on certain parameters. Users were
requested to rate between ‘1’ to ‘5’ for key usability parameters.

The rating scale followed:

1 – Terrible, if a parameter never worked
2 – Poor, Parameter barely meets the expectation
3 – Average, Parameter just meets the expectation
4 – Good, Meets the expectation well
5 - Exceeds expectations all the time

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Table 2. Parameters for evaluation
S.No Parameter Description
1 Navigation Straightforwardness of the navigation, intuitiveness, movement from one screen to another
using various controls, ability to branch out to help in-between the learning module
2 Look and feel Consistency of options, the overall look and feel of the graphics, text color, background
used, pictures used.
3 Ease of Use Control options available in the learning module, User was asked about ho easy is it use
the controls and the module as a whole.
4 Audio The module is currently supported with audio output. User was asked about the clarity of
Quality speech, the quality of audio.
5 Interactivity Since the module is procured online, it is not supported with an instructor. So this
of the Module parameter helps us understand how far the user was able to interact with the module
during the walk through process.
6 Learnability This is an important parameter which qualifies the impact of the overall content on the
user. The user is required to take a test as a part of the course. Based on the scoring we
were able to judge the learnability aspect.
7 Content Refers to the quality of information provided about the NCI process. If the content
Quality structured clearly to meet the objectives, whether illustrations used in the course were
understandable and relevant, whether the content would be useful eventually in their role.
8 Help Refers to the efficacy of the help functionality
9 Readability Refers to the ease of reading, font clarity –size and colors used
10 Motivation This parameter is also crucial for the success of the learning module. User were
questioned on this parameter based on the duration of the module if it was acceptable and
also whether they would complete the course at one shot or would they split the sessions if
they find it dreary and un-interactive.
Top Level Findings
User Rating
The graph illustrated below represents the rating provided by users for the different parameters as described in Table
2. The graph also provides a comparative outlook between the rating provided by users who are new to NCI and
who are moderately exposed to NCI process.
Figure 1. User rating of the learning module

New to NCI Moderate exposure

5

4 4 4
4
3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5

3 3 3 3 3
3
2.5 2.5 2.5

2 2 2 2
2

1
1

0
Navigation Look and Audio quality Ease of use Interactivity Learnability Content Online Help Readability Motivation
feel of the Quality
Module

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Inferences
• (avigation - Users were able to figure out how to move from one slide to another slide and also how to
jump between different sections based on the table of contents link of the course. However, some of the
users felt the audio part of the text was too fast and they could not control in any way.
• Look and feel – Users rated the learning module scored high on this parameter. They were comfortable
with the graphics, background colors, the animations used etc.
• Audio Quality – Both new and the moderate user profiles cited that they found quality of audio was not
too great. Some of the users opined that words were not spelt clearly and also the quality of output was
poor.
• Ease of use – Users found the forward and backward controls useful. But in some of the slides which had
huge information, users found the audio moving fast and controls were not provided which would help
them to pause the movement.
• Interactivity of Module – Since these modules are taking without an instructor around, the modules
should keep the user engaged in the learning process through summarizations, review process. In this
aspect users felt that the testing process was introduced in the right context and they were quite interesting
to crack. However the final test modules did not provide the user a detailed feedback on their performance
besides their overall score.
• Learn ability – The success of the module heavily depends upon this parameter. The objective of this
course was to educate users about the importance of NCI process and how it is done in Caterpillar. Users
were tested at the end of the module and based on their scoring in the test this parameter was adjudged. In
this aspect, the new users compared to the moderate users struggled to score well during their review
process. Since significant population who will be taking this course would new to the NCI process, the
course needs to be re-looked with emphasis on this parameter.
• Content Quality – While the users who are moderately exposed to NCI process have rated ‘4’, the new
users have provided a low rating for this parameter. Since most of the moderate users have a fair idea of
how NCI works, the course content was well received. But in the case of a new user who have never on
NCI found the content heavy and not directly consumable. They would need additional help to understand
further about the NCI process.
• Online Help- Most of the users did not find a need for the help functionality because they were able to
use the controls seamlessly. But the rating has been given low by the user because they did not even realize
that there was help functionality in the module.
• Readability- The font type, clarity and size were acceptable to the users of both the types. But the only
constraint they had was when the audio text/transcript was moving too fast which hampered their reading
process.
• Motivation – Most of the users concurred that they would take the course at one shot and the duration of
the module was acceptable to them. However some of the new users felt that there were lot of jargo
Summary of Key Observations
This section provides a summary of the key observations that were recorded during the user testing process.
•Users did not spend time reading through help slide. They were able to figure out the controls in the course of
the walk through. But if they faced any difficulty during their walk through process, they did not know how to
go back to the help functionality. Some of the users did not even know there was help functionality available.
•Users found the forward and backward controls easy to operate. Users did not use the Table of content drop
down even if they had move between sections.
•The audio transcript option available was missed by most of the users during the walk through especially in the
first few slides.
•The audio transcript had to be toggled ‘on’ for every slide which annoys the users.

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 •The digital voice was annoying the users in some cases and they felt it was moving too quickly.
•There was no volume control to manage the digital voice. Some of the users felt that the pronunciation was not
accurate.
•The audio option was not uniform. In some slides, users would wait for sometime for the audio to start off but
only to realize that they have to read the content themselves.
•Users felt that the information especially the illustrations moved too quickly before they could consume the
information.
•Users felt the manufacturing example fit the scenario really well and it was interesting to read.
•Some of the slides were text heavy and there was no interactive element to break the monotony.
•Some of the terminologies and abbreviations require that user should have been exposed to the NCI process
prior to taking this module. New users specially felt the content was too heavy to be consumed in one slot.
•Users did not scroll through the entire process map. While the digital voice explains the various steps, different
boxes gets highlighted. But users do not pay attention to these elements Also the focus shifts too fast even
before the user could read through the process names.
•Users could not differentiate between the lesson summary and the course summary at the end of the course.
They thought it was a redundant slide and omitted the course summary slide.
•The final review process did not provide the user with a detailed feedback. Especially there was no mention of
where the users missed out and what the right answers were.

7. CO(CLUSIO(S
Usability is definitely critical in e Learning applications. But adopting usability practices in the development cycle
of Learning modules is very challenging as usability has a different facet when it comes in learning. Learnability is a
major parameter of evaluation under usability & usability testing of these applications should include evaluation of
this parameter.
A lot of study should be done in the topic so as to institutionalize usability in learning applications.
8. REFERE(CES
1. Melis, E., Buedenbender, J., Andres, E., Frischauf, A., Goguadse, G., Libbrecht, P., Pollet, M. & Ullrich, C.
(2001). ActiveMath:
A Generic and Adaptive Web-Based Learning Environment, Artificial Intelligence and Education, 12 (4), 385-407.
Nielsen, J. (1994). Usability Engineering. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.

1. Lessons for (Pedagogic) Usability of eLearning Systems

The ActiveMath Group:Erica Melis et al.
University of Saarland and DFKI
Saarbruecken, Germany
melis@dfki.de

Markus Weber
ergosign GmbH
Saarbruecken, Germany
weber@ergosign.de

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 Author index

A M

A. K. Malviya 71 M.A.Pund 218

Abhijit Thosar 25, 183 Madhumita Gupta 40

Ananthakrishnan 11 Manisha Belvalkar 54, 178

Aniruddha Joshi 22 Moniraj Saikia, 227

Anupam Saraf 26 Mudit Mittal 172

C 7

Chaitrali Dhole 26 eha Modhil 2

D eha Saraswat 164

Debayan Dhar 146 ikhil Karwall 65

Deepa Srikanth Adiga 233 ilay Yajnik 20

Dinesh Katre 24 ireesha Yallanki, 191

Diya Gangopadhyay 127 itin ayak 100

G P

Gautam Karnik 183 Prachi Sakhardande 191

H Pradeep Yammiyavar 23, 31,77, 127, 146, 155, 227

Harshit Desai 178 Prasadd Bartakke 211

Hemanth Anumandla 40 Preeti Vartak 54

Hitesh Agrawal 27 Puskraj Mirajkar 203

J R

Jhumkee Iyengar 26, 65 R.S. Apare 218

K Ramachandra Kishore.V 155

Kedar Kadam 26, 46 Ranjit Gadgil 26

Kiran Sabnis 91 S

Kirti Mahajan 100 S. .Gujar 218

Kshitiz Singh 31 S. itish 77

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Sachin Yambal 23

Sameer Chabukswar 26

Sameer Chavan 24

Sanjay Kumar Dubey 71

Sanjay Tripathi 91, 107, 164

Saurabh Agarawal 107

Shantanu Kulkarni 242

Sheetal Rajneesh Vij 233

Shivkumar Parthasarathy 22

Sinoj Mullangath 115

Sonali Bendre, 115

Subhrajit Das 86

Suchit Dubey, 86

Sunil Ganesh 183

Susheel Kewaley 138

Sushmita Munshi 198

V.V.Kimbahune 218

Vamsi Chaitanya.P 155

Whitney Quesenbery 3

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