Usability, user experience and accessibility: towards an integrative model

Abstract

Within the field of ergonomics, the concepts of usability, user experience and accessibility have played an increasingly important role. The present paper examined the meaning of these concepts and their relationship to each other, which included an analysis of the definitions, methods, and typical outcome measures employed. Despite some concerns in the literature about the utility of usability, user experience and accessibility as umbrella terms, we provide arguments for their continued use. The article proposes how the three concepts and their different perspectives can be integrated. We propose the term ‘interaction experience’ (IX) as a higher-level concept. Due to the multi-facetted nature of umbrella concepts, we suggest using spider charts as a means to report the results of evaluating artefacts with regard to usability, user experience and accessibility. Practitioner Summary: A better integration of the concepts of usability, user experience and accessibility is expected to provide some benefits to practitioners. We propose employing spider charts for reporting the outcome of artefact evaluations regarding the three concepts. This may help practitioners interpret the characteristics of a device at a glance. Abbreviations: IX: interaction experience; UX: user experience; ISO: International Standard Organisation.