Challenges in Usability Evaluation of Expert Domain Products
Johanna M. Viitanen, Sami Karjalainen, Heli Kautonen, Anna Laukkanen · 2005
Evaluating the usability of products that are meant for professionals of a specific domain is a demanding task. Evaluators coming from another field of expertise need to confront unfamiliar use cases and user needs. This article describes the challenges by introducing two usability evaluation cases. The first product under evaluation was an optimization software for mass haulage projects used in highway and railroad construction, and the second a touch-screen prototype of an anesthesia monitor for healthcare professionals. Evaluation processes were conducted using best-practice methods, viz. heuristic evaluation and user testing. The results indicate that the biggest challenges are related to defining usability criteria, choosing appropriate methods and conducting user tests. Usability evaluation will provide better results, if evaluators can study the purpose of the product in actual use situations already at the beginning of the evaluation process. 1