INF4820/202/0/2017

Tutorial letter 202/0/2017

Human Computer Interaction

INF4820

Assignment 2

School of Computing

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Please activate your myUnisa and myLife email addresses and ensure you have
regular access to the myUnisa module site INF4820-2016-Y1 as well as your
group site.

Note: This is an online module, and therefore your module is available on myUnisa. However, in
order to support you in your learning process, you will also receive some study materials in
printed format.
 CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3
2 ASSIGNMENTS ........................................................................................................................... 3
Question 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Question 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Question 3 ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Question 4 ................................................................................................................................................ 7

2
 INF4820/202

1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Student
This tutorial letter contains Assignment 2.
Note the following:

• The opening date for Assignment 2 submission on myUnisa is 10 October 2017.

• The due date for Assignment 2 is 23 October 2017.
• The submission cut-off date for Assignment 2 is 26 October 2017.
• No assignments marks can be awarded if an assignment was not uploaded via
myUnisa. It follows that once the submission system is closed, no further submissions
(e.g. via email) can/will be accepted. For this reason, you are advised to start working on
your assignment well in advance of the due date, and to submit the assignment on the
opening date to allow time for access or technical difficulties.
• All assignments must be submitted in electronic .pdf format
At honours level the study focus is largely on research and on application. Read the questions
carefully and answer what is asked.

We wish you success in the assignment.

2 ASSIGNMENTS

# Dates Unique Chapters Year mark

number contribution

1 22/26/31 May 2017 881916 1, 2, 3, 4 and prescribed articles 50%

2 10/23/26 October 2017 871119 1-11, focus on Chapters 5-11 50%

3
 Assignment 2
Due date: 23 October 2017 Total: 117 marks
Unique number: 871119 Year mark contribution: 50%
Study material: Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 in prescribed book.

Question 1
Identify an online environment (e.g. a website) that you could use as a case for demonstrating
how to identify and prioritise usability issues. Now answer the following questions:
1.1 What would you consider as a usability issue? Give examples of usability issues from the
online environment you have identified as your case. You may include screenshots with a
supporting narrative. (For illustrative purposes, you may consider using 2 or 3 cases or additional
online environments). (10 Marks)

MEMO:
(This question is based predominantly on Chapter 5 of the textbook, but may include
content from other chapters)
To answer this question the student should elaborate on 1) what usability issues are
(p. 100 to 101), 2) how he/she identified usability issues (p. 102/3). A superior
answer will also elaborate on e.g. 3) different ways of identifying real vs. false
usability issues and 4) severity ratings. Including good examples/illustrations will be
viewed as a superior, because identifying such may require extensive searching and
assessing.

1.2 How would you prioritise the importance of usability issues identified in the previous question
– e.g. which types of usability issues would you address first and which ones would you address
later? In your answer, refer to the particular purpose or objective of the online environment and/or
of specific tasks. (10 Marks)

MEMO:
To answer this question, the student should elaborate on how he/she employed the
principles explained on severity ratings (pp. 103 to 107) and analysing metrics (pp.
107 to 111). A superior answer should have a sentence or two on the subjectivity of
usability assessment and an argument on the importance of understanding context
or purpose (e.g. referring to p. 111).

1.3 Write a short 400-word report to the Managing Director and/or CIO of the particular online
environment you have chosen and 1) explain the value of doing usability assessment, 2)
highlight the key usability issues you have identified in their online environment and 3) why it is
important to address them. (15 Marks)

MEMO:

4
 INF4820/202

To answer this question the student will have to demonstrate an ability to make specific
claims about the value of address usability issues, but also provide evidence and examples
for supporting the claims. A superior answer will have strong claims supported by evidence
from the textbook contextualised well with good examples from the chosen case study.

1.4 Using a Google form, design an online questionnaire that can be used to collect self-
reported data on usability issues from potential participants who may use your online
environment. Refer to Chapter 6 of Tullis and Albert (2013) on the importance of self-reported
data and rating scales.
a) Identify at least 10 questions on usability issues specific to your online environment that
can be presented to study participants. For each question, indicate WHY you included
the specific question – elaborate on the purpose of the question. You may answer this
question in table format. (20 Marks)
b) Now use a Google form and the 10 questions that you identified to design an actual
online questionnaire that you can distribute to participants. IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO
COLLECT ANY DATA! However, it may be useful to pilot the questionnaire with a trusted
colleague or friend.
• The first part of the questionnaire should have a short introduction that explains
the purpose of the usability study and how self-reported data will be used.
(5 Marks)
• The second part of the questionnaire will contain the actual questions. (The figure
below is a screenshot of how a google form will typically start up). Paste the
actual questionnaire URL that you would present to participants as your
answer. Your online questionnaire will be assessed, so please ensure that the
questionnaire URL works and that it can receive actual responses.
(10 Marks)

5
 MEMO:
This online question should be assessed for three aspects:
1) The choice of questions; why they are chosen to assess for usability
2) The introduction to the online questionnaire; through the introduction the student
should provide adequate explanation of context and purpose of the study, e.g. the
participants should be able to infer from the introduction why the study is conducted
and how the 10 questions should be answered
3) The presentation and use of either Likert scales or rating scales for self-reported data.

Question 2
Tullis and Albert (2013) (the textbook) present a discussion on the ‘magical number 5’ in
usability testing and some debates related to whether 5 participants will allow one to identify the
majority of usability issues. What is your view on the matter and under which conditions or in
which types of scenarios would you consider more than 5 people for finding usability issues?
(10 Marks)

Possible answers (also see p. 117):

This is an open reflexive answer. However, I am looking to see whether the student can for
example identify when usability is mission critical like in banking and security, one would
rather get more participants in order to identify all or most of the issues. The student might
also want to elaborate on availability of budget; more participants, more costs, or on what
types of usability tests are being employed.

Question 3
3.1 Briefly list and explain the most common eye-tracking metrics? (7 Marks)

MEMO:
P. 172/3

• Dwell time
• Number of fixations
• Fixation duration
• Sequence
• Time to first fixation
• Revisits
• Hit ratio
Each of the above needs a brief explanation

3.2 A quick search on Google offers quite a significant variety of free and open source eye
tracking software. Download one of these free applications and write a brief overview of the
value or purpose of the application and how it could be useful. (10 Marks)

MEMO:

6
 INF4820/202

This is an open question. In an answer, a student should 1) indicate which application was
downloaded, 2) what the application does – elaborate on its purpose, 3) and indicate how it
could be useful or be applied in practice.

Question 4
Read the case study: 10.4 Using metrics to help improve a University prospectus on p. 263 in the
prescribed book (Tullis and Albert, 2013). Explain how you can use behavioural and psychological
metrics to evaluate their website by using the following format:
4.1 List the behavioural and physiological metrics available for measuring user experience and
briefly explain what each of the metrics measure. (10 Marks)

MEMO:
See the figure below for the metrics – the explanation is awarded marks.

4.2 Which of these metrics will be appropriate for evaluating the website (motivate your answer)?
(10 Marks)

MEMO:
Answers must be adequately motivated. Personal experience with the Unisa
prospectus/registration system may come in handy in answering the question and is
accepted.

7
 Since the website is a prospectus, some of the users will be prospective students and
therefore new to the site. To improve the navigation or information displayed on the website,
AOIs/eye tracking appears most suited.
By using eye tracking glasses the participants may comfortably use their BYOD. When
visualizing and analysing aggregated data for many participants the researcher can determine
AOIs accurately as well as information that they are entering in forms. This can help to
determine if, for example, menu items are correctly and properly structured as well as ease of
access. It will also give an indication of how easy it is to enter data into form fields. Dwell time
can point at the how much of the content the user has consumed. In this case, a well-
constructed navigation system with just the right amount of content to not confuse the
prospective student (who is likely to be very unsure and requires a lot of information) will
result in less dwell time on the (right) pages. Here the sequence of fixations can also be
helpful. Unisa, for example, now provides a navigation system that orders and highlights the
next step to be followed when registering for a course/module. This will also influence the time
to the first fixation, especially when it concerns actions to take to the next step.

Many of the other equipment like EEG, heart rate monitors and skin conductance are not
always readily available and also can influence the participant’s state of mind when
connected to the apparatus. They may, for example, feel intimidated and change their usual
behaviour.

© UNISA 2017