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Developing of a qualitative classification method for usability errors after Rasmussen.

Haar, A. (2013) Developing of a qualitative classification method for usability errors after Rasmussen.

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Abstract:The study reported in this paper investigates the problems related to the classification of usability problems into the three categories, skill- rule- and knowledge-based errors, introduced through Rasmussen (1983). Classifications of usability problems were conducted in prior studies but most of them lack a specific description how this classification was executed. We suggest that a reliable method is required to classify usability problems. For this purpose we developed a decision schema, which we evaluated through analysis of inter-rater agreement of three raters classifying usability problems, gathered in an experimental usability testing study. This analysis brought no sufficient evidence for the reliability of this schema. As no systematic flaws in the developed schema could be identified, we suggested that the raters did not possess sufficient information to conduct a reliable classification. We conducted a qualitative analysis of all incidents provided through the usability evaluation to investigate which information is needed by raters to classify usability problems and how the method of data gathering can be adapted to provide this information. The findings of this analysis support the assumption that the raters did not posses enough information and further showed that the intention of the user is one of the most important pieces of information that needs to be gathered through the evaluation method and reported to the raters to ensure a reliable categorization of usability problems. Further does the results of this study stress the need of a reliable method to classify usability problems.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/63214
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