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Unit 2: Text

notes
perhaps using the metaphor of galaxies and solar systems. The web may well become more
intelligent, more able to generate personalized links that really match our interests. The web may
also become more social—we may routinely click links that open up live audio or video sessions
with another person.

As a communications medium changes, theory must keep pace. Otherwise, it becomes increasingly
difficult to understand the medium and design successfully for it.

Multimedia Kiosk

ompany worked on a project to develop a kiosk-based integrated multimedia service
for the general public. The purpose of the kiosk was to provide users with information
Cabout unemployment benefits, and job and training opportunities. It was specifically
aimed at the unemployed, and made no assumptions about the users’ having knowledge
of computers or technology in general. The company had no experience of usability and
a limited budget, but felt that usability issues were important and hired the services of a
usability consultancy.
Usability testing and evaluation was carried out during the development of the kiosk, with
the intention of identifying any significant design problems and providing timely and concise
input into the development process. The methods used were:
• User survey and profiling

• Walkthrough evaluation
• Usability testing
• User field trials.

The user survey and profiling provided important preliminary information about the users
that was useful at the design stage. For example, it confirmed that the target audience would be
capable of interacting with a computer system that had basic text information, and it provided
information about features that the target audience would see as important if they were going
to use the system instead of queuing to talk to an information officer.
The walkthrough evaluation consisted of an expert evaluation and a user walkthrough with a
usability expert. Several difficulties were identified and, as a result, the design team realized
the danger of assuming the users’ level of domain knowledge, and recognized the need for
screen layout consistency, the simplification of user tasks, and giving the users a model of the
system structure (e.g., a menu structure overview).
The first usability test was carried out in the consultant’s usability testing lab and the
participants competed a predefined set of task scenarios that reflected the intended usage of
the system. The results of the test provided a focus for future design efforts, by identifying the
characteristics of the system that the users felt were most important; and provided a baseline
against which the quality of the kiosk could be assessed. The design team was able to improve
the quality of the application from the detailed design recommendations that were made and
broke down the complex procedural tasks into simple units of work with immediate access
to support information.
The system was redesigned on the basis of the results of the first usability test. The tasks
in the second usability test were identical to those of the first test. The second usability test
Contd...

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