Interactive usability instrumentation

Usage data logged from user interactions can be extremely valuable for evaluating software usability. However, instrumenting software to collect usage data is a time-intensive task that often requires technical expertise as well as an understanding of the usability issues to be explored. We have developed a new technique for software instrumentation that removes the need for programming. Interactive Usability Instrumentation (IUI) allows usability evaluators to work directly with a system‟s interface to specify what components and what events should be logged. Evaluators are able to create higher-level abstractions on the events they log and are provided with realtime feedback on how events are logged. As a proof of the IUI concept, we have created the UMARA system, an instrumentation system that is enabled by recent advances in aspect-oriented programming. UMARA allows users to instrument software without the need for additional coding, and provides tools for specification, data co...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: EICS
• Authors: Scott Bateman, Carl Gutwin, Nathaniel Osgood, Gordon I. McCalla
• Keywords: Applied Computing, EICS 2009, Interactive Usability Instrumentation, Usability, Usage Data