Guidelines for usability field tests in the dynamic contexts of public transport

Abstract

Public transport is one of many fields of application where a system is not used in only one context of use, but in different and varying contexts. Evaluating these systems in lab-based tests can only cover a small part of the real context. This paper describes a usability field test of a mobile passenger information application in public transport, the challenges of testing in a highly dynamic context, and also solutions to overcome these challenges. As a result, a classification of the variety of dynamic factors in public transport and guidelines for typical test contexts in public transport are derived from the gained experiences and empirical findings. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.