Arif Raza

An open source usability maturity model (OS-UMM)

User satisfaction has always been a major factor in the success of software, regardless of whether it is closed proprietary or open source software (OSS). In open source projects, usability aspects cannot be improved unless there are ways to test and measure them. Hence, the increasing popularity of open source projects among novice and non-technical users necessitates a usability evaluation methodology. Consequently, this paper presents a usability maturity model specifically aimed at usability-related issues for open source projects. In particular, the model examines the degree of coordination between open source projects and their usability aspects. The measuring instrument of the model contains factors that have been selected from four of our empirical studies, which examine the perspectives of OSS users, developers, contributors and the industry. In addition to presenting the usability maturity model, this paper discusses assessment questionnaires, a rating methodology and two case studies.

Users’ perception of open source usability: an empirical study

The number of open source software (OSS) users has increased in recent years. No longer are they limited to technically adept software developers. Many believe that the OSS market share could increase tremendously provided OSS had systems that were easier to use. Although examples of good usable open source software exist, it is agreed that OSS can be made more usable. This study presents an empirical investigation into the impact of some key factors on OSS usability from the end users’ point of view. The research model studies and establishes the relationship between the key usability factors from the users’ perspective and OSS usability. A data set of 102 OSS users from 13 open source projects of various sizes was used to study the research model. The results of this study provide empirical evidence by indicating that the highlighted key factors play a significant role in improving OSS usability.

Evolution of software engineers' personality profile

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has been applied to several studies that explore various dimensions of human factors in software engineering. Accordingly, this work reviews the results of these studies to explore existing trends. In order to attain a greater understanding of human resources in the software industry, we have reviewed sixteen studies that had been performed between 1985 and 2011. This review concludes that the changes in the complexity of software processes and products have created new roles and demanded new skills for software engineers.

Usability issues for smartphone users with special needs — Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a cognitive disorder caused due to abnormal functioning of brain impacting development activities. Over the time different techniques and methods have been in practice to teach and communicate with people suffering from ASD. With the rapid advancement in the field of smart phone technology researchers have come up with creative ideas to aid others. Usability of smart phone applications for disabled people gains great attention of modern researchers. This paper focuses on the usability issues of smart phone applications designed for people suffering from ASD. Comparative analysis of android and iPhone applications for autism has been presented in the paper. Usability of these applications is analyzed on the basis of a survey conducted on the ASD patients. Results gathered after survey highlight the usability issues with the apps available in the market. We present an abstract app design to overcome usability issues.

A Systematic Review of the Critical Factors for Success of Mobile Learning in Higher Education (University Students' Perspective).

The phenomenon of the use of a mobile learning (m-Learning) platform in educational institutions is slowly gaining momentum. However, the enthusiasm with which mobile phones have been welcomed into every aspect of our lives is not yet apparent in the educational sector. To understand the reason, it is important to understand user expectations of the system. This article documents a systematic review of existing studies to find the success factors for effective m-Learning. Our systematic review collates results from 30 studies conducted in 17 countries, where 13 critical success factors were found to strongly impact m-Learning implementation. Using these results within the framework of the diffusion of innovation model for innovation adoption and the critical success factors together help us see what aspects of the innovation decision process are the likely causes of the reduced take-up of m-Learning by university students.

Influence of personality types in software tasks choices

This work relates roles and personality traits in the software life cycle.Results show that analyst, designer and programmer are the most preferred roles.Whereas, tester and maintainer are the least desirable roles.It helps understanding the influence of personality on software development.It has implications to software project management. According to psychology, not everybody can excel at all kinds of tasks. Thus, chances of a successful outcome of software development increase if people with particular personality types are assigned to their preferred tasks in the project. Likewise, software development depends significantly on how software practitioners perform their tasks. This empirical study surveys 100 Cuban software developers, who also teach or study at the University of Informatics Sciences in Havana, Cuba. This work aims to find possible patterns that link personality types to role preferences in a software life cycle. Among the various roles, system analyst, software designer, and programmer are found to be the most preferred among the participants. In contrast, software tester and software maintainer happen to be the least popular roles among software engineers.

Semi-automation for ambiguity resolution in Open Source Software requirements

The critical phase of Requirements Engineering (RE) is an active research domain for decades. The evolutions in RE over the years have improved them considerably but still many anomalies exist. It is especially true for the case of Open Source Software Development (OSSD) where most informal requirements and communications exist. With growing problems and extreme participant heterogeneity, the usual methods of ambiguity resolution do not seem to cater needs of OSSD community. For this purpose, various interdisciplinary mechanisms can be used to aid the community members and reach a consensus based agreement along with reaching unambiguous requirements sets. A framework is proposed for resolving the burdening problems of OSSD context. Framework components are discussed in detail to give an overview of developable ambiguity resolution strategies.

Analysis of risks faced by information technology offshore outsourcing service providers

To gain competitive advantage, organisations are considering information technology (IT) outsourcing as a strategic option by concentrating on their core operations and by reducing their operating costs. Many organisations are offering outsourcing services from various parts of the world. There are certain risks factors which IT outsourcing service providers come across while managing their service operations. Risk-related data from 50 Indian IT outsourcing service providers about their risks and concerns have been collected and archived. This study identifies risks from the providers’ perspective in regard to offshore outsourcing and put forward some guidelines to mitigate such risks.

Management's Perspective on Critical Success Factors Affecting Mobile Learning in Higher Education Institutions - An Empirical Study

Mobile learning (m-Learning) is considered to be one of the fastest growing learning platforms. The immense interest in m-Learning is attributed to the incredible rate of growth of mobile technology and its proliferation into every aspect of modern life. Despite this, m-Learning has not experienced a similar adoption rate in the education sector, chiefly higher education. Researchers have attempted to explain this anomaly by conducting several studies in the area. However, mostly the research in m-Learning is examined from the perspective of the students and educators. In this research, it is contended that there is a third important stakeholder group whose opinion is equally important in determining the success of m-Learning: the university management. Although diversified by nature, heads of departments, deans, and information technology system administrators are nevertheless considered members of any university management. The results of the research show that university commitment to m-Learning, university learning practices, and change management practices were the factors critical to the success of m-Learning, from the university management perspective.

INSTRUCTOR PERSPECTIVES OF MOBILE LEARNING PLATFORM : AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Mobile learning (m-Learning) is the cutting-edge learning platform to really gain traction, driven mostly by the huge uptake in smartphones and their ever-increasing uses within the educational society. Education has long benefitted from the proliferation of technology; however, m-Learning adoption has not proceeded at the pace one might expect. There is a disconnect between the rate of adoption of the underlying platform (smartphones) and the use of that technology within learning. The reasons behind this have been the subject of several research studies. However, previous studies have mostly focused on investigating the critical success factors (CSFs) from the student perspectives. In this research, we have carried out an extensive study of the six factors that impact the success of m-Learning from instructors’ perspectives. The results of the research showed that three factors – technical competence of instructors, Instructors’ autonomy, and blended learning – are the most important elements that contribute to m-Learning adoption from instructors’ perspectives.