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This paper presents the results
of a study that compared two think-aloud usability testing methods: the
concurrent think-aloud and the retrospective think-aloud methods. Data from
task performance, testing experience, and usability problems were collected
from 30 participants equally distributed between the two think-aloud
conditions. The results suggest that while the thinking aloud method had no
impact on task performance and testing experience, participants using the
concurrent think-aloud method reported a larger number of problems with the
test interface than participants using the retrospective think-aloud method.
These findings suggest a reason for preferring the concurrent think-aloud
method to the retrospective one.
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موجز عن البحث:
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Both the rapid advances in
wireless technologies and the high proliferation rate of mobile communication
services and artefacts have had a profound impact on industry, and are
beginning to offer interesting and advantageous new services. In particular,
the mobile transaction (m- transaction) system has emerged, enabling users to
pay for physical and digital goods and services using their mobile devices
whenever they want, regardless of their location. Although it is anticipated
that m-transactions will enjoy a bright future, there is apparently still
reluctance among users to accept mobile transactions, particularly in Saudi
Arabia. Furthermore, it is believed that usability is critical to the success
and acceptance of mobile technology innovations in general, and
m-transactions in particular. While most of the research into IT innovation
acceptance is based on TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) and its many
variants, the literature review reveals that there is little research on
mobile application usability as an important antecedent factor for the
success and acceptance of mobile technologies. This is particularly true in
developing countries, especially the Middle East, therefore this project aims
to fill this gap in the research. This paper is an extension of four previous
studies by the authors, which indicated that usability is the most
influential factor in Saudi users’ intentions of utilising mobile
transactions. It aims to investigate and empirically test the usability level
of mobile transactions from the perspective of Saudi users; this will be
achieved by conducting usability experiments with real mobile applications
within the target group. In other words, this study is a part of a larger
research project and it serves as a validation/verification tool to answer
the question “Why does the ease of use of mobile transactions have the
highest impact on the intention to use mobile transactions in Saudi Arabia?”
Moreover, it will produce a set of empirically-based recommendations for the
developers and providers of mobile applications who are interested in the
Saudi market. The results of the this study showed that the usability of the
tested application, which is considered one of the most popular commercial
mobile application in Saudi Arabia, (i.e. ‘Souq.com’), is unsatisfactory,
with an average SUS Score of 50. Not surprisingly, this low usability
negatively affected the willingness of the participants to use the
application again.
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ملخص المشاركة:
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The rapid
evolution of Information Technologies (IT), especially with the coming of the
Internet, has existed online library catalogues which have a vital part to
play in Educational life. The online library is a type of information
retrieval system. It is a library in which collections are stored in digital
formats. These formats may be stored locally or entered remotely via computer
networks. To assess the success of online library catalogues; usability
criteria should be considered to ensure that users can find their way quickly
and easily to e-resources. This paper aims to use thinking aloud protocol to
evaluate two distinct interfaces of library catalogues to examine how their
usability problems significantly impede user performance. The results show
that the usability is the main factor affecting users’ performance, and it is
the best attribute to measure the extent to which the online library
catalogues meets the requirements of their users.
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ملخص المشاركة:
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Usability has become
an imperative aspect of survival on the web, thus, it has always been
considered as a crucial aspect of web design. This paper presents the results
of a study that compared two think-aloud usability testing methods: the
concurrent think-aloud and the retrospective think-aloud methods. Data from
task performance, testing experience, and usability problems were collected
from 40 participants equally distributed between the two think-aloud conditions.
The results found that while the thinking aloud method had no impact on task
performance and participants testing experience, participants using the
concurrent think-aloud method detected a larger number of minor problems with
the test interface than participants using the retrospective think-aloud
method. These findings suggest a reason for preferring the concurrent
think-aloud method to the retrospective one.
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