WidSets: A usability study of widget sharing

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a study conducted to better understand and improve the usability of the reputation elements on an online widget sharing site called WidSets. With a series of interviews and an online questionnaire with users of WidSets, we seek to understand the motivations and instigators of the actual usage, the level of understanding, and acceptance of current reputation elements. We analyse the impact of these factors on WidSets users' willingness to download and use the publicly available widgets. The outcomes show the visual elements of the user interface to predominate as the source for information for the decision to trust and download. However, the accuracy of the interpretation of these elements remains ambiguous. There also seems to be little awareness of the underlying security issues related to possible malicious widgets and developers. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.