Usability Evaluation

The role of academics has changed over the years from face-to-face teaching towards Open Distance Learning (ODL).  Teaching, assessment and moderation platforms have evolved to support virtual learning environments (VLE) platforms and moderating frameworks that support teaching and learning outcomes (Salmon 2003).  The manual moderation process is still widely used despite being tedious, time-consuming and cost-ineffective; it relies on paperwork and presents problems regarding feedback on the assessment of answer script of students (Van Staden, 2010). Online-moderation is an essential emerging technology in the era of online teaching but the application is still novel (Morgan, 2008), and the factors that determine the user experience in using eModeration have not been theorized in any depth.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the user-experience aspect of eModeration by considering the fundamental realities and challenges faced by users with regard to eModeration information technologies.  The research is guided by the following question: How can the electronic moderation of examination scripts provide a better user experience in terms of functionality, usability, flow, interactivity, accessibility, effectiveness, efficiency, safety, learnability, memorability and user satisfaction for moderators and deans when this is compared to the paper-based moderation process?  In presenting this argument, different perspectives will be explored with a specific focus on the implementation of an eModeration system that is usable and ensures user experience.  Finally, the paper addresses the challenges faced by a Private Higher Education Institution (PHEI) named Midrand Graduate Institute (MGI), in successfully implementing online moderation and how this research can contribute to ensuring satisfactory user experiences from a managerial perspective.
Case studies on eAssessment and how Information Communication Technology (ICT) can support the formative assessment processes have been carried out, e.g. with reference to the submission of assignments online and regarding feedback between the lecturer as the eModerator and students (Bridge and Appleyard, 2008; Morgan, 2008; Vlachopoulos, 2008; Nicol, 2007; Salmon, 2003).  According to Bridge and Appleyard (2008) the online submission of assignments and the ability to provide feedback to the student enhanced the learning experience and assisted the lecturer with record keeping of assignments.  The focus of this particular study, however, is not automated marking but rather eModeration.  Furthermore the relationship between the eModerator and the dean of the faculty and not between the student and lecturer are investigated. 
The context is a Private Higher Education Institution in South Africa, named Midrand Graduate Institute (MGI).  MGI decided to investigate the possibility of moving towards an online-moderation system to replace the manual paper-based moderation system.  Initially the online moderation system was rolled out only in the Information Technology faculty.  MGI used its eLearn virtual learning environments (VLE) platform as a basis for eModeration and the principals of an eModerating framework as suggested by Salmon (2003).  The eModerate system is supposed to provide a user interface through which examination answer books can be submitted and graded electronically.  For the purpose of the researcher’s study the online moderation system was rolled out across five faculties at the institute to all moderators over a period of two examination sessions.
Creswell (2009) identified four different worldviews: post positivism, constructivism, advocacy participatory and pragmatism.  Social constructivism is often combined with interpretivism (Myers, 2009; Creswell, 2009) and is seen as an approach to qualitative research.  Social constructivists assume that individuals seek to understand the world in which they live and work (Creswell, 2009).  The philosophical worldview proposed in this study will be interpretivism.
The research strategy according to Oates (2006) is the overall approach to answering the research question.  Case study is one of the strategies that can be used (Myers, 2009; Olivier, 2009; Creswell, 2008;Oates, 2006). Interpretive case studies generally attempt to understand phenomena through the meanings that people assign to them (Myers, 2009).  Therefore the research strategy will involve a case study.
The data generation method is the means by which empirical (field) data or evidence are produced (Oates, 2006).  Data can be qualitative or quantitative (Myers, 2009; Olivier, 2009; Creswell, 2008 Oates, 2006).  By using more than one data generation method, the researcher will be able to look at the phenomenon of interest in different ways (Oates, 2009).  The reason for combining both quantitative and qualitative data is to bring about a better understanding of a research problem (Lazar et al., 2010)  by converging both quantitative numeric trends and qualitative detailed views of data and to advocate change (Creswell, 2008; Oates, 2006).  The user experience of the electronic moderation process is explored using interviews (qualitative instrument) with three deans from the three faculties at MGI.  For the purpose of this paper, however, only the interviews with deans are used as data sources.  In these situations, closed-ended quantitative data and open-ended qualitative data have been collected.  The results indicated that the proposed change in moderation has a positive impact on the turnaround time of moderators’ feedback and afforded moderators more flexibility according to the “I can moderate anywhere and at any time” principle.  The paper provides some guidelines towards the development of best practices to ensure a positive user experience of eModeration at an organizational level in an ODL environment.  The paper further contributes to the first quadrant of ODL research at UNISA called: research into ODL praxis with a focus on VLE, assessment and changing roles of academics and students.

COVID-19's impact on cross-border e-commerce has been tremendous. What had once been a gentle slope of growth has now taken on a sharp and steep incline, requiring the search for novel approaches to increase the conversion rate. In this context, web usability has gained prime significance and is considered to be the most important aspect that affects the quality and success of any interactive application. Today exists a substantial body of knowledge devoted to the usability of computer-based applications. The purpose of this study is to determine the current state of the art nature of the topic by revealing the research achievements in the scientific literature and to identify possible future directions. The paper claims that there is a pressing need for new techniques for an accurate usability evaluation, tailored explicitly for e-commerce applications.

The usability is recognized as an important quality factor of any modern website. In this paper, techniques for usability evaluation of a website are proposed and their use is described. The results of application of these techniques are discussed in the frame of the design and evaluation of a web portal, serving an Academic Department. The applicability of the developed techniques in a wide area of web-based applications and their importance in the context of today’s web applications development is also discussed in this paper.

This paper discusses and presents a new prototype design for a smartwatch user interface. The user interface was designed aiming to adhere to some of the main universal design principles and be a more usable design. The prototype user interface was then compared with a Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch user interface. The comparison was done via an experiment and a series of realistic tasks. The aspects being investigated were task times, errors and subjective user satisfaction. The data collected were statistically analysed. The overall results showed that the prototype user interface fostered faster task times, fewer errors and more user satisfaction.

Aficionado is a software service that aids its users to search for research experts. It helps in identifying a research expert’s- area of expertise and core competencies. The objective of the site is to provide the users with a list of experts on a specific topic and information about their expertise in this topic to solve their business or research problem. However, the site does not aim to provide interaction and collaboration facilities between the users and experts. It is also expected to be used by research institutions to showcase and advertise their research experts for attracting collaborators and industry partners.
The initial step in the evaluation was to carry out a literature review in order to understand the motivation and information usage of expert seekers and researchers. User requirement analysis was then conducted by analysis of the literature in these areas. This was documented in the form of personas which documents typical user characteristics and requirements. Task analysis was performed in order to improve our understanding of the typical site use by the users. A navigation
Usability Evaluation of Aficionado 7
stress test and a dry test were conducted using the project team as proxy users. Live usability tests were conducted with 15 participants. This was the main methodology followed for evaluating usability of Aficionado.

Background: Advances in technology made possible the development of powerful platforms called Learning Management Systems (LMSs), designed to help the teaching and learning process. Studies show that usability and User Experience (UX) of such platforms may influence in this process. Although several studies had been conducted in this area, most of them are at initial stages and need improvements or deeper empirical studies. Aim: This work aims to analyze scientific publications in order to characterize the usability and UX evaluation techniques in the context of LMSs. Method: We performed a systematic mapping study regarding the usability and UX evaluation techniques in the context of LMSs. Results: A total of 62 publications were accepted in this mapping, which helped identifying the techniques used to evaluate the usability and UX of LMSs and their characteristics such as its origin, type, performing method, learning factors, restriction and availability. Conclusion: Several studies were conducted regarding the evaluation of LMSs. However, there are still some gaps such as the lack of techniques with some features, e.g., feedback with suggestions to correct the identified problems. Besides, there is no sufficient evidence of which of them is best suited for this context.