Evaluating usability-supporting architecture patterns: Reactions from usability professionals

Abstract

Usability professionals and software engineers approach software design differently, which creates a communication gap that hinders effective usability design discussions. An online survey was conducted to evaluate how usability professionals react to Usability-Supporting Architecture Patterns (USAPs) as a potential way to bridge this gap. Members of the Usability Professionals Association (UPA) participated in a pretest-posttest control group design experiment where they answered questions about USAPs and software design. Results suggest that participants perceived USAPs as useful to account for usability in software architectures, recognizing the importance of the USAPs stated usability benefits. Additionally, results showed a difference in perception of the USAPs stated usability benefits between US and European participants. A better understanding of what the usability community thinks about USAPs can lead to their improvement as well as increased adoption by software engineers, which can lead to better integration of usability and HCI principles into software design. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.