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Welcome back to my blog. Today I am going to talk about usability evaluation. I have chosen one academic paper to discuss usability evaluation of social networking site (Facebook) for elder adults. This study presents the evaluation process with 10 pages which is not too long to read and not too short to grasp the concepts. If you are new to usability evaluation, I recommend this paper to acquire knowledge of evaluation process. Firstly, the paper clearly stated the purpose of the study and objectives of the newly designed prototype. Secondly the methodology is included in the paper which helps the reader to get clear understanding of the procedures of the study. Random assignment was arranged to start the version 1 and 2 among two groups based on their level of computer experience: none-to-basic experience group (group 1), intermediate to advanced experience group (group 2). The random assignment is relevant to this study because this is social media site evaluation. Therefore, both groups will have equal chance of experimental and baseline treatment.  Thirdly prototype design overview is a simple example of prototype everyone can understand easily. Another section about comparison of task performance and completion time between the previous phase study and newly designed prototype helps to evaluate the success rates of the prototypes and areas which are significantly improved. I think the paper need to elaborate more about post-test questionnaires because only the overall result of the post-test questionnaires is stated. Despite this weakness in that section, this study can provide enough information of usability evaluation for the reader. In addition, I have listed the following items for your reading.

Purpose of this study

Social media sites offer benefits. Only a small number of elder adults are currently taking advantages of the benefits offered by the social networking sites. Most of elder adults do no engage social networking sites due to usability issues and a lack of understanding. As elder people age, there is an increased likelihood of health impairments and logistical issues which are possible barriers for the elderly connecting to the outside world. With the capability of social media, there is potential to break such barriers and to live a more independent life.

Objectives of the prototype

A redesign prototype was undertaken to improve usability and accessibility of social networking sites for the elderly. This was fulfilled by incorporating known guidelines, implementing additional and consideration of feedback gathered from baseline study including background color, text color and font size.

Methodology

Twenty-two elder adults aged 65 years and older participants involved in two usability study sessions, one with the original design, another with the redesigned prototype. Elder adults were assigned into one of two groups based on their level of computer experience: none-to-basic experience group (group 1), intermediate to advanced experience group (group 2). The elder adults performed of social media-related subtasks categorized into six main tasks on the popular social networking site, Facebook. The participants were randomly assigned to start version 1 or 2.

Result of the evaluation

The study shows the comparison between two versions of the task performance and task completion time. Both groups have improvement in the performance on completing the tasks compared to baseline study. After completion of the tasks, each participant was asked a number of post-test questionnaires regarding their experience using the redesigned prototype. The results are positive for both groups.

References

Arfaa, J., Wang, Y.: Usability Evaluation of a Social Networking Site Prototype for the Elderly