Sharing usability problem sets within and between groups

Abstract

Merging similar usability problems is often a time consuming step in the process of usability evaluation. We have developed a tool which can aid with merging duplicate problem descriptions. The tool enables evaluators to define constructs which describe a usability problem and store them in a database. The evaluator can search for existing constructs, problem descriptions and problem sets using the query language XQuery. The XQuery search function also enables the evaluator to compare usability problems. The tool is designed to be flexible and the exchange of data between evaluators is simple exploiting the compatibility of XML (Extensible Markup Language) and a well defined data structure. We have performed an analysis on a problem set to check for the comparison quality of the merging function in the tool. This has allowed us to suggest further ways to compare usability problems. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.