Darryn Lavery

Comparison of evaluation methods using structured usability problem reports

Abstract Recent HCI research has produced analytic evaluation techniques which claim to predict potential usability problems for an interactive system.Validation of these methods has involved matching predicted problems against usability problems found during empirical user testing. This paper shows that the matching of predicted and actual problems requires careful attention, and that current approaches lack rigour or generality. Requirements for more rigorous and general matching procedures are presented. A solution to one key requirement is presented: a new report structure for usability problems.It is designed to improve the quality of matches made between usability problems found during empirical user testing and problems predicted by analytic methods. The use of this report format is placed within its design research context, an ongoing project on domain-specific methods for software visualizations.

Visualising persistent stores

This paper summarises work to design Software Visualisations that support Napier88 programmers in understanding and using the contents of the persistent store. Two example visualisations are described. Their effectiveness in supporting their intended tasks has been assessed by studying programmers using these visualisations.

The Glasgow Persistent Libraries

This chapter describes the development of the Glasgow Persistent Libraries for Napier88. Our overall goals are to increase software re-use and accelerate software construction and maintenance. The objectives of this work were to investigate the creation of high-quality library components and the provision of accurate retrieval mechanisms enabling users to find relevant library components. We discuss the basic principles which guided our research and describe the tools which were built to support the construction and use of the Libraries. To conclude, we outline possible future work in the area of large component libraries.