Usability EvaluationIntroduction
Usability analysis (UA) involves significant methodologies for assessing the practicality aspect of an information system’s user interface (UI) and determining the existential problems. It is a key element of the comprehensive UI design methodologies, which impeccably entails endless series of designing, prototyping, and assessment. The current essay outlines usability evaluation of an open library system using online questionnaire methodology to improve the performance of the overall system.
The Survey Report
A survey was administered to six international students of various accredited universities. The aim of the study was to determine the usability of the open library system to students concerning the effectiveness of its UI design. Notably, the review was conducted via an online questionnaire that was sent to friends and participants to complete. The survey had roughly ten questions focusing on the system handling. The first four questions concentrated on the interaction of the user and the open library system. For instance, the first question required the user to give the appropriate response as to whether he is contented with how easy it is to interact with the system. However, the remaining six questions focused on the functions of the open library system to the users. A significant example was whether the user has recognized that most of the systems functions are well integrated.
The response distribution from the online questionnaire report reveals that roughly 60% agreed that in general they were contented with how easy it was to interact with the open library system. Furthermore, 40% strongly agreed that comprehensively they were convinced with how easy it was to interact with the system. Contrastingly, no one disagreed with the statement as indicated by zero percent response. In the second section, 60% of the responders did not find the system unnecessarily complicated while 20% of the responders found the application unnecessary difficult to operate. However, 20% of the interviewees strongly disagreed with the statement that they did not find the system unnecessarily difficult to operate. In the third section, 60% of the responders agreed that they consider requiring assistance to use the system while 40% disagreed with the statement. Besides, 20% of the responders strongly opposed to having witnessed too many inconsistencies in utilizing the open library system while 40% did not agree with the survey question. Subsequently, there was a tie of results concerning to whether the responders recognized if several functions of the system were well integrated. There was a tie of 20% of those who strongly agreed and disagreed with the survey query. Additionally, 40% of the responders admitted that they believe that the users will learn to use the system quickly while there was a tie of 20% of those who strongly disagreed and agreed with the survey question. In contrast, 40% of the people strongly objected that they found the system robust to operate while 60% of the responders disagreed with that statement.
The report indicates that roughly 60% of the interviewers felt rather confident using the open library system. It implies the majority of the users considered that the UI met their functional and non-functional requirements. Contrastingly, 40% strongly differed with the survey query; rather they did not feel confident interacting with the system. Sixty percent of the responders agreed about whether they would like to interact with the system often while 40% of interviewers firmly complied.
If any relevant conclusion may be generated from the mentioned survey data, perhaps is that most users appreciate both functional and non-functional requirements presented by the open library system. They will probably use the system often to meet their overall specifications.
Positive and Negative Aspects of Conducting an Online Questionnaire
Facilitating low substantial costs is the key positive aspect of creating an online survey. In fact, sites such as Question Pro are free of charge to conduct any online survey and a person can email them to numerous respondents with no associated costs. Additionally, online surveys support automation and real-time data access. Therefore, the interviewees enter their data which is automatically processed electronically. Such an approach makes the analysis easier as long as the data can be easily managed and becomes accessible when needed. Promoting quick results is another positive aspect. Such a benefit implies that a researcher can gain an insight of the forwarded questionnaires in less than 24 hours depending on the size and accessibility of the survey. Besides, one does not need to wait for a different entity to deliver the feedback. Conducting an online questionnaire enhances time convenience for the responders. They can give feedback to the questions while on their free schedule, and they can even commence a survey at a particular time and finish it later.
The primary negative aspect of developing and performing an online survey is that they have limited sampling and the responders can be unavailable. Since not all regions have the internet access, it makes it hard for those in reserves to participate in the online questionnaires. Furthermore, it is challenging to determine the probability samples while following email addresses and authentic websites. Besides, the responses may lack diligence as the administrator cannot know if the question was indeed thought through before submitting the response. Moreover, the responders may experience differences in understanding and interpreting the questionnaire since the administrator is not present to direct the responders. Due to the mentioned aspects, the results of the survey may seem subjective.
The Reliability of the Collected Data
The gathered data is reliable since it meets the internal validity. The approach implies that the results of the questionnaires comprehensively explain the outcome of the overall research. If the responders are not feeling comfortable to provide answers to the questions, they are free to not participating in the online survey. Such a measure ensures data authenticity since only those respondents willing to provide genuine feedback participate in the survey. Consequently, the data gathered from the online surveys, for instance the open library system, is credible and reliable.
Methods of Validating the Collected Data
Text validation method can be used to determine the format in which the responders should input the text data in a given question. For instance, the administrator can request the respondents to input their address number as either 4731 NY or 4731-NY. The approach allows the administrator to gather the overall results as a text for analysis.
Adoption of the required responses validation is another basic method. The administrator can highlight certain questions with a red asterisk, which the respondents should provide feedback. The measure will guarantee that the results will not be submitted successfully until the required responses are filled. Besides, the administrator can use length validation to determine the least and the maximum number of text characters that a responder can fill in a limited text response.
Major Challenges of Using an Online Questionnaire Website
The primary challenge of using an online survey website is that the site generates massive data, which is hard to analyze and interpret. Multiple choice queries can be viewed as an infographic, but it makes it problematic to assess the complete results since it encompasses many data and due to this fact, the data needs to be analyzed again by a human. Furthermore, open-ended questionnaires presented by the websites require specific responses, which cannot be measured electronically.
Accessibility issues are another immediate challenge of utilizing an online survey website. The reviews are inappropriate for users with visual problems or other associated barriers including illiteracy and hearing disorders. Therefore, a person should select a survey site which integrates accessibility options for all types of individuals. Even though the conducting an online questionnaire is free of charge, it requires one to have a premium account to enjoy other distinct features such as customizing reports.
In conclusion, an online survey is significant to the modern organizations as it guarantees low costs and facilitates data automation and real-time data access. Furthermore, the surveys enhance rapid results that forward the feedback to the administrator in roughly less than twenty-four hours. Nevertheless, the negative aspects of the questionnaires are that they have limited sampling and unavailability of the responders. Since the collected data are electronically validated, the website poll is reliable.
