Vizability: a tool for usability engineering process improvement through the visualization of usability problem data

ABSTRACT

We present Vizability, a usability engineering tool that is motivated by the variability of analysis processes and facilitates the analysis of existing problem data with the goal of process improvement. Usability engineers spend considerable resources performing usability testing and analyzing the resulting data, but their work is often limited to a single development effort or a small set of similar efforts. To extend the analysis process to multiple diverse efforts, it is necessary to categorize and store data in a consistent manner and have techniques for discovering patterns in that data. Our tool is designed to work with problem data that has been organized according to a hierarchical framework of usability concepts, which ensures consistency through completeness and precision. In addition, our tool helps engineers discover weaknesses in their process through exploratory browsing of a visualization of the tree structure and visual filtering based on cost, importance, and keywords.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors

Keywords:
process improvement, usability research, usability testing and evaluation