research-article

Training software developers in usability engineering: a literature review

Author:

Anders BruunAuthors Info & Claims

NordiCHI '10: Proceedings of the 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Extending Boundaries

Pages 82 - 91

https://doi.org/10.1145/1868914.1868928

Published: 16 October 2010 Publication History

Abstract

Software companies focusing on Usability Engineering face two major challenges, the first being the sheer lack of usability specialists leading to missing competences in the industry and the second, which regards small companies suffering from the constraint of low budgets, thus not being able to fund usability specialists or comprehensive consultancy. Training of non-usability personnel in critical usability engineering methods has the potential of easing these challenges. It is, however, unknown how much and what kind of research that has been committed to novice training in UE methods. This paper presents a comprehensive literature study of research conducted in this area, where 129 papers are analyzed in terms of research focus, empirical basis, types of training participants and training costs. Findings show a need for further empirical research regarding long term effects of training, training costs and training in user based evaluation methods.

References

[1]

List of selected papers analyzed in this literature review. http://www.cs.aau.dk/~bruun/references.html.

[2]

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Bak, J. O., Nguyen, K., Risgaard, P. and Stage, J. Obstacles to usability evaluation in practice: a survey of software development organizations. In Proc. NordiCHI 2008, ACM Press (2008).

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Bonnardel, N., Lanzone, L. and Sumner, T. Designing web sites: The cognitive processes of lay-designers. Cognitive Science Quarterly 3, 1 (2003), 25--56.

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Brown, C., Pastel, R. Combining distinct graduate and undergraduate HCI courses: an experiential and interactive approach. In Proc. SIGCSE 2009, ACM Press (2009).

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Edwards, A., Wright, P. and Petrie, H. HCI education: We are failing--why? In Proc. HCIEd 2006, Springer (2006). Springer (2009).

[9]

European Commissions definition of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-definition/index_en.htm

[10]

Fonseca, M., Jorge, J., Gomes, M., Gonçalves, D. and Vala, M. Conceptual design and prototyping to explore creativity. IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 289 (2009), 203--217. Springer (2009).

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Frøkjær, E., Hornbæk, K. Metaphors of human thinking for usability inspection and design. TOCHI 14, 4 (2008). ACM Press (2008).

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Gulliksen, J., Boivie, I., Persson, J., Hektor, A. and Herulf, L. Making a difference: a survey of the usability profession in Sweden. In Proc. NordiCHI 2004, ACM Press (2004).

Digital Library

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Häkli, A. Introducing user-centered design in a small-size software development organization. Helsinki University of Technology (2005).

[14]

Høegh, R. T., Nielsen, C. M., Overgaard, M., Pedersen, M. B. and Stage, J. The Impact of Usability Reports and User Test Observations on Developers' Understanding of Usability Data: An Exploratory Study. Int. Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 21, 2 (2006), 173--196. Taylor & Francis (2006).

[15]

Howarth, J., Andre, T. S. and Hartson, R. A Structured Process for Transforming Usability Data into Usability Information. Journal of Usability Studies 3, 1, 7--23 (2007).

[16]

Ji, Y. G., Yun, M. H. Enhancing the minority discipline in the IT industry: A survey of usability and User-Centered design practice. Int. Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 20, 2 (2006), 117--134. Taylor & Francis (2006).

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John, B. E. and Mashyna, M. M. Evaluating a Multimedia Authoring Tool with Cognitive Walkthrough and Think-Aloud User Studies. Journal of the American Society of Information Science 48, 9 (1995), 1004--1022.

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Juristo, N., Moreno, AM and Sanchez-Segura, M. I. Guidelines for eliciting usability functionalities. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 33, 11 (2007), 744--758. IEEE Computer Society Press (2007).

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Karat, C. M., Campbell, R. and Fiegel, T. Comparison of empirical testing and walkthrough methods in user interface evaluation. In Proc. CHI 1992, ACM Press (1992).

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Kjeldskov, J., Skov, M. B. and Stage, J. Instant data analysis: conducting usability evaluations in a day. In Proc. NordiCHI 2004, ACM Press (2004).

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Medlock, M. C., Wixon, D., Terrano, M., Romero, R. and Fulton, B. Using the RITE method to improve products: A definition and a case study. In Usability Professional's Association Annual Conference 2002.

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Metzker, E., Offergeld, M. An Interdisciplinary Approach for Successfully Integrating Human-Centered Design Methods Into Development Processes Practiced by Industrial Software Development Organizations. In Proc. IFIP International Conference on Engineering for Human-Computer Interaction 2001, Springer-Verlag (2001).

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Nielsen, J. Usability inspection methods. In Proc. CHI 1994, ACM Press (1994).

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Nielsen, J. Finding usability problems through heuristic evaluation. In Proc. CHI 1992, ACM Press (1992).

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Rosenbaum, S., Rohn, J. A. and Humburg, J. A toolkit for strategic usability: results from workshops, panels, and surveys. In Proc. CHI 2000, ACM Press (2000).

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Rubin, J. Handbook of usability testing. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, NY, USA, 1994.

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Schaffer, E. Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-By-Step Guide. Addison Wesley, Redwood City, CA, USA, 2007.

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Scholtz, J., Laskowski, S. and Downey, L. Developing usability tools and techniques for designing and testing web sites. In Proc. Conference on Human-Factors & the Web 1998.

[29]

Seffah, A., Gulliksen, J. and Desmarais, M. An Introduction to Human-Centered Software Engineering. In Seffah, A., Gulliksen, J., Desmarais, M. C. (eds.) vol. 1, 59--70. Springer, Netherlands (2005).

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Taylor, M. J., England, D. and Gresty, D. Knowledge for Web site development. Internet Research 11, 5 (2001), 451--461. MCB UP Ltd. (2001).

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Wixon, D. Evaluating usability methods: why the current literature fails the practitioner. Interactions 10, 4 (2003), 28--34. ACM Press (2003).

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Cited By

Mbelekani NBengler K(2023)Learnability in Automated Driving (LiAD): Concepts for Applying Learnability Engineering (CALE) Based on Long-Term Learning EffectsInformation10.3390/info1410051914:10(519)Online publication date: 22-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.3390/info14100519
Hinderks ADomínguez Mayo FThomaschewski JEscalona M(2022)Approaches to manage the user experience process in Agile software developmentInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2022.106957150:COnline publication date: 1-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.infsof.2022.106957
Lyon AKoerner KChung J(2020)Usability Evaluation for Evidence-Based Psychosocial Interventions (USE-EBPI): A methodology for assessing complex intervention implementabilityImplementation Research and Practice10.1177/26334895209329241Online publication date: 21-Sep-2020
https://doi.org/10.1177/2633489520932924
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Index Terms

Training software developers in usability engineering: a literature review
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
  2. Interaction design
    1. Interaction design process and methods
      1. User centered design

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cover image ACM Other conferences

NordiCHI '10: Proceedings of the 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Extending Boundaries

October 2010

889 pages

ISBN:9781605589343

DOI:10.1145/1868914

General Chairs:
Ebba Þóra Hvannberg
University of Iceland, Iceland
,
Marta Kristín Lárusdóttir
Reykjavik University, Iceland
,
Program Chairs:
Ann Blandford
University College London
,
Jan Gulliksen
Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Copyright © 2010 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Reykjavik University
University of Iceland

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SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 16 October 2010

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NordiCHI '10: 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

October 16 - 20, 2010

Reykjavik, Iceland

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Cited By

Mbelekani NBengler K(2023)Learnability in Automated Driving (LiAD): Concepts for Applying Learnability Engineering (CALE) Based on Long-Term Learning EffectsInformation10.3390/info1410051914:10(519)Online publication date: 22-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.3390/info14100519
Hinderks ADomínguez Mayo FThomaschewski JEscalona M(2022)Approaches to manage the user experience process in Agile software developmentInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2022.106957150:COnline publication date: 1-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.infsof.2022.106957
Lyon AKoerner KChung J(2020)Usability Evaluation for Evidence-Based Psychosocial Interventions (USE-EBPI): A methodology for assessing complex intervention implementabilityImplementation Research and Practice10.1177/26334895209329241Online publication date: 21-Sep-2020
https://doi.org/10.1177/2633489520932924
Hoffmann RJónsdóttir AHvannberg E(2019)Consolidation of Usability Problems With Novice Evaluators Re-Examined in Individual vs. Collaborative SettingsInteracting with Computers10.1093/iwc/iwz03431:6(525-538)Online publication date: 26-Nov-2019
https://doi.org/10.1093/iwc/iwz034
Liu XLeung EToreini PMaedche A(2018)ServiceDesignKIT: A Web Platform of Digital Service Design TechniquesDesigning for a Digital and Globalized World10.1007/978-3-319-91800-6_3(34-48)Online publication date: 19-May-2018
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91800-6_3
Bornoe NStage J(2017)Active Involvement of Software Developers in Usability Engineering16th IFIP TC 13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction --- INTERACT 2017 - Volume 1051610.1007/978-3-319-68059-0_10(159-168)Online publication date: 25-Sep-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-68059-0_10
Bordin SDe Angeli A(2017)Inoculating an Agile Company with User-Centred Design: An Empirical StudyAgile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming10.1007/978-3-319-57633-6_15(235-242)Online publication date: 14-Apr-2017
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57633-6_15
Øvad TLarsen L(2016)How to reduce the UX bottleneck – train your software developersBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2016.122581835:12(1080-1090)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1080/0144929X.2016.1225818
Øvad TLarsen L(2016)Templates: A Key to Success When Training Developers to Perform UX TasksIntegrating User-Centred Design in Agile Development10.1007/978-3-319-32165-3_3(77-96)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2016
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32165-3_3
Øvad TBornoe NLarsen LStage J(2015)Teaching Software Developers to Perform UX TasksProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Australian Special Interest Group for Computer Human Interaction10.1145/2838739.2838764(397-406)Online publication date: 7-Dec-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2838739.2838764
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