Functionality and Usability Requirements for a Crowdsourcing Task Interface that Supports Rich Data Collection and Volunteer Participation: A Case Study: The New Zealand Reading Experience Database

<p>Research problem: The New Zealand Reading Experience Database (NZ-RED) is a crowdsourced history of reading project based on the UK-RED launched in 1996. The purpose of this study is to produce high-level functionality and usability requirements for a NZ-RED task interface that supports volunteer participation and rich data collection, and to determine the extent to which the UK-RED task interface meets these requirements. Methodology: The case study takes a mixed-methods approach informed by grounded theory. Data was collected from RED project documentation and research, a usability inspection of the UK-RED task interface using evidence-based heuristics developed by Petrie & Power (2012), an online questionnaire of 112 current and potential RED contributors, an examination of recent crowdsourcing projects, and literature on crowdsourcing and human-computer interaction. Results: This study established seven functionality and usability requirements for a NZ-RED task interface that supports volunteer participation and rich data collection: minimize user effort; support integration of the task with research processes; enable new visitors and contributors to understand what the task involves quickly and easily; support accurate and controlled data entry; be easy to use for people reasonably confident with the Web; support flexible, structured data entry; and support bilingual data entry. The UK-RED task interface partially meets four of the seven requirements. Implications: Evidence-based requirements that inform project development and evaluation contribute to the social sustainability of crowdsourcing projects driven by academic and cultural heritage institutions. Future research could review the requirements produced by this study and consider their impact on the social sustainability of the NZ-RED and, potentially, World-RED partners. An increase in published requirements documentation could help to inform the requirements activity of other crowdsourcing projects, thereby reducing the time and expertise required. Future research could also investigate the value of studies like this one for other crowdsourcing projects.</p>

Functionality and Usability Requirements for a Crowdsourcing Task Interface that Supports Rich Data Collection and Volunteer Participation: A Case Study: The New Zealand Reading Experience Database

<p>Research problem: The New Zealand Reading Experience Database (NZ-RED) is a crowdsourced history of reading project based on the UK-RED launched in 1996. The purpose of this study is to produce high-level functionality and usability requirements for a NZ-RED task interface that supports volunteer participation and rich data collection, and to determine the extent to which the UK-RED task interface meets these requirements. Methodology: The case study takes a mixed-methods approach informed by grounded theory. Data was collected from RED project documentation and research, a usability inspection of the UK-RED task interface using evidence-based heuristics developed by Petrie & Power (2012), an online questionnaire of 112 current and potential RED contributors, an examination of recent crowdsourcing projects, and literature on crowdsourcing and human-computer interaction. Results: This study established seven functionality and usability requirements for a NZ-RED task interface that supports volunteer participation and rich data collection: minimize user effort; support integration of the task with research processes; enable new visitors and contributors to understand what the task involves quickly and easily; support accurate and controlled data entry; be easy to use for people reasonably confident with the Web; support flexible, structured data entry; and support bilingual data entry. The UK-RED task interface partially meets four of the seven requirements. Implications: Evidence-based requirements that inform project development and evaluation contribute to the social sustainability of crowdsourcing projects driven by academic and cultural heritage institutions. Future research could review the requirements produced by this study and consider their impact on the social sustainability of the NZ-RED and, potentially, World-RED partners. An increase in published requirements documentation could help to inform the requirements activity of other crowdsourcing projects, thereby reducing the time and expertise required. Future research could also investigate the value of studies like this one for other crowdsourcing projects.</p>

EVALUATION MODEL FOR LOW VISION USERS IN MOBILE APPLICATION

This paper aims to discuss the usability evaluation model for mobile applications used by low vision users. Low vision users have difficulties using mobile applications due to limited view, bright sunshine, small text, and other reasons. This type of user uses mobile applications designed for users with normal vision, and they have many difficulties in reading, accessing, and understanding. Therefore, this paper provides a mobile application usability evaluation model for this type of user, and the proposed model includes usability measures that fulfill their usability requirements. This study employed a systematic review of previous research on good practices and requirements for low vision users to use mobile applications. Also, the new model was evaluated by the domain experts through a focus group session. This model aims to support the development of a mobile application that low vision users can use, which has not been supported in previous studies since it guides mobile application developers to develop mobile applications that fulfill low vision users' usability requirements. It also helps to identify usability problems in the current mobile applications for this type of user. This study will benefit low vision people in using mobile applications effectively, easily, and comfortably.

Criação de um Protótipo para Auxiliar no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Aplicativos Mobile para o Público Idoso

With the growing number of elderly people in our society and the search of this population for technologies, more specifically the use of smartphones, and considering the physical and mental difficulties that aging causes to these people, there is a need to apply concepts of usability in mobile apps. However, there are technical and cultural barriers for the application of usability to be effective in meeting the needs of the elderly. Developing systems with agility as the market demands is antagonistic to the time required for application and usability evaluation in the software. Besides, the lack of usability requirements due to knowledge absence and time are some difficulties that the development team encounters in their daily lives. Given this context, the objective of this work was to create a prototype to help the development team to integrate usability, with a focus on elderly audiences, during the construction of a mobile application. To achieve this goal, the list of requirements, metrics and usability assessment methods focusing on mobile and elderly applications were selected from related works. Then the relationship between requirements, metrics, and assessment methods was identified and tested and the prototype was developed. Finally, with the analysis of the test it was possible to verify that the prototype reaches its objectives, as 88.9% of the participants would use the prototype in their projects and all stated that the prototype can contribute to the development of mobile applications.

How to Make Augmented Reality a Tool for Railway Maintenance Operations: Operator 4.0 Perspective

In the last few decades, several initiatives and approaches are set up to support maintenance procedures for the railway industry in adopting the principles of Industry 4.0. Contextualized maintenance technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) overlay can integrate virtual information on physical objects to improve decision-making and action-taking processes. Operators work in a dynamic working environment requiring both high adaptive capabilities and expert knowledge. There is a need to support the operators with tailor-based information that is customized and contextualized to their expertise and experience. It calls for AR tools and approaches that combine complex methodologies with high usability requirements. The development of these AR tools could benefit from a structured approach. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to propose an adaptive architectural framework aimed at shaping and structuring the process that provides operators with tailored support when using an AR tool. Case study research is applied within a revelatory railway industry setting. It was found that the framework ensures that self-explanatory AR systems can capture the knowledge of the operator, support the operator during maintenance activities, conduct failure analysis, provide problem-solving strategies, and improve learning capabilities. This study contributes to the necessity of having a human-centered approach for the successful adaption of AR technology tools for the railway industry.

Usability digitaler Lesemedien

Focusing on the reader’s benefit: Digital reading media offer a wide range of functions compared to print media: search functions, bookmarking, annotations, social reading, etc. However, they often fail to meet basic usability requirements, hindering reception and driving readers back to print media. This dissertation designs a reference model and derives a set of suitable methods from it with which to measure and improve the usability of digital reading media, including heuristic evaluation, user observation and eye-tracking, which it empirically tests on professional journal apps in a multiple case study. Sibylle Kunz is a professor of media computer science at IUBH International University, conducting research on digital reading media and their usability.

Task load in user interfaces on didactic mobile applications for users with ADHD

Objectives: Measure the task load using the user interface on didactic mobile applications by children with ADHD using the NASA-TLX instrument. Explore the feasibility of using the NASA-TLX instrument to measure task load in users with different abilities. Methodology: Qualitative sample exploratory study with direct application of a NASA-TLX instrument adapted to users with ADHD who use a didactic mobile app who belong to an age group from 5 to 15 years old population in the CAM # 8 in Moctezuma, Sonora. The instrument is applied indirectly, assisted by the educator in order to interpret the subjects' responses. Contribution: It describes the adaptation requirements of the instrument to the study subjects, explores task load indices during the use of user interfaces in subjects with different abilities, indicates the heterogeneity of the population and presents usability requirements and interaction characteristics for users with ADHD that allows to realize a design centered in the user.

Exploring solutions to the privacy paradox in the context of e-assessment: informed consent revisited

Personal data use is increasingly permeating our everyday life. Informed consent for personal data use is a central instrument for ensuring the protection of personal data. However, current informed consent practices often fail to actually inform data subjects about the use of personal data. This article presents the results of a requirements analysis for informed consent from both a legal and usability perspective, considering the application context of educational assessment. The requirements analysis is based on European Union (EU) law and a review of current practices. As the main outcome, the article presents a blueprint which will be the basis for the development of an informed consent template that supports data controllers in establishing an effective and efficient informed consent form. Because the blueprint, and subsequently, the template, distinguishes between legal and usability requirements, it also provides the basis for the mapping of legal requirements in other (non-European) contexts.