Workshop on user-centric evaluation of recommender systems and their interfaces

In this paper, we aim to analyse the current level of usability on ten popular online websites utilising some kind of reputation system. The conducted heuristic and expert evaluations reveal a number of deficiencies on the overall usability of these websites, but especially on how the reputation information is currently presented. The low level of usability has direct consequences on how accessible and understandable the reputation information is to the user. We also conducted user studies, consisting of test tasks and interviews, on two websites utilising reputation information. The results suggest why the currently provided information remains under-utilised and, to a great extent, goes undetected or gets misinterpreted. On basis of the work so far, we propose ways to overcome some of the current problems by changing, rearranging and grouping of the visual elements and visual layout of the reputation information offered on the sites. The enhanced visualisations create "visual n...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: RECSYS
• Authors: Bart P. Knijnenburg, Lars Schmidt-Thieme, Dirk G. F. M. Bollen
• Keywords: Control Systems, Expert Evaluation, Information, RECSYS 2010, Usability