research-article

Evaluating usability: using models of argumentation to improve persuasiveness of usability feedback

Authors:

Rune T. HøeghAuthors Info & Claims

DIS '08: Proceedings of the 7th ACM conference on Designing interactive systems

Pages 212 - 221

https://doi.org/10.1145/1394445.1394468

Published: 25 February 2008 Publication History

Abstract

Usability evaluation is widely accepted as a valuable activity in software development. However, how results effectively are fed back to developers is still a relatively unexplored area. We argue that usability feedback can be understood as an argument for a series of usability problems, and that basic concepts from argumentation theory can help us understand how to create persuasive feedback. We revisit two field studies on usability feedback to study if concepts from Toulmin's model for argumentation and Aristotle's modes of persuasion can explain why some feedback formats outperform others. We recommend that evaluators specifically back up the warrants behind their usability claims, that their arguments use several modes of persuasion, and that they present feedback in browsable amounts not to overwhelm developers with information. For complex and controversial problems, we advise evaluators to involve developers in a learning process and provide the opportunity to experience and discuss the findings.

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Cited By

Fuller HAdams K(2022)Communicating Level of Certainty Associated with Human Factors Findings and Recommendations in HealthcareProceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care10.1177/232785792211101311:1(66-69)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2022
https://doi.org/10.1177/2327857922111013
Wang WArya DNovielli NCheng JGuo JBernhaupt RMueller FVerweij DAndres JMcGrenere JCockburn AAvellino IGoguey ABjørn PZhao SSamson BKocielnik R(2020)ArguLens: Anatomy of Community Opinions On Usability Issues Using Argumentation ModelsProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376218(1-14)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3313831.3376218
Chandrasekaran AJain R(2018)Patterns and commonalities in rapid system development methodologiesInternational Journal of Business Information Systems10.5555/2961009.296101422:3(343-361)Online publication date: 27-Dec-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2961009.2961014
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Evaluating usability: using models of argumentation to improve persuasiveness of usability feedback
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

DIS '08: Proceedings of the 7th ACM conference on Designing interactive systems

February 2008

487 pages

ISBN:9781605580029

DOI:10.1145/1394445

General Chairs:
Johann van der Schijff
University of Cape Town
,
Gary Marsden
University of Cape Town

Copyright © 2008 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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ACM: Association for Computing Machinery
Microsoft: Microsoft
University of Cape Town
SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 25 February 2008

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Danish Research Agency through the NABIIT Programme Committee

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DIS08

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ACM
Microsoft
SIGCHI

DIS08: Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2008

February 25 - 27, 2008

Cape Town, South Africa

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Cited By

Fuller HAdams K(2022)Communicating Level of Certainty Associated with Human Factors Findings and Recommendations in HealthcareProceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care10.1177/232785792211101311:1(66-69)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2022
https://doi.org/10.1177/2327857922111013
Wang WArya DNovielli NCheng JGuo JBernhaupt RMueller FVerweij DAndres JMcGrenere JCockburn AAvellino IGoguey ABjørn PZhao SSamson BKocielnik R(2020)ArguLens: Anatomy of Community Opinions On Usability Issues Using Argumentation ModelsProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376218(1-14)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3313831.3376218
Chandrasekaran AJain R(2018)Patterns and commonalities in rapid system development methodologiesInternational Journal of Business Information Systems10.5555/2961009.296101422:3(343-361)Online publication date: 27-Dec-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2961009.2961014
Yusop N(2015)Understanding Usability Defect Reporting in Software Defect RepositoriesProceedings of the ASWEC 2015 24th Australasian Software Engineering Conference10.1145/2811681.2817757(134-137)Online publication date: 28-Sep-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2811681.2817757
Law EPaternò FLuyten KMaurer F(2011)The measurability and predictability of user experienceProceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGCHI symposium on Engineering interactive computing systems10.1145/1996461.1996485(1-10)Online publication date: 13-Jun-2011
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1996461.1996485
Clemmensen T(2011)Usability problem identification in culturally diverse settingsInformation Systems Journal10.1111/j.1365-2575.2011.00381.x22:2(151-175)Online publication date: 12-Sep-2011
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2575.2011.00381.x
N⊘rgaard MHornbæk K(2009)Exploring the Value of Usability Feedback FormatsInternational Journal of Human-Computer Interaction10.1080/1044731080254670825:1(49-74)Online publication date: 14-Jan-2009
https://doi.org/10.1080/10447310802546708

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