Multimedia at Work
Tiziana Catarci, David C. Brown, Esteban Burbano, Joel Minski, Isabel F. Cruz · 2001
t is generally acknowledged that the only way to actually determine the quality of interactive systems is to perform a usability evaluation. This proves especially true for multimedia systems, where using concurrent media generates further usability problems. We aim to develop effective evaluation methods to meet industry demand and address concerns about the lack of cost-effective methods. These issues prevent most companies from performing usability evaluation, resulting in poorly designed and unusable software. Among the various usability evaluation approaches, usability inspection methods are gaining popularity because they cost less than traditional lab-based usability evaluations. These methods involve expert evaluators only, who inspect the application and, based on their knowledge, provide judgments about the usability of the different application elements. (Examples of inspection methods include heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, guideline review, and formal usability inspection. 1 )