Characterizing Usability Inspection Methods through the Analysis of a Systematic Mapping Study Extension

Abstract

Usability is one of the most relevant quality aspects in Web applications. A Web application is usable if it provides a friendly, direct and easy to understand interface. Many Usability Inspection Methods (UIMs) have been proposed as a cost effective way to enhance usability. However, many companies are not aware of these UIMs and consequently, are not using them. A secondary study can identify, evaluate and interpret all data that is relevant to the current knowledge available regarding UIMs that have been used to evaluate Web applications in the past few decades. Therefore, we have extended a systematic mapping study about Usability Evaluation Methods by analyzing 26 of its research papers from which we extracted and categorized UIMs. We provide practitioners and researches with the rationale to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of the emerging UIMs for the Web. Furthermore, we have summarized the relevant information of the UIMs, which suggested new ideas or theoretical basis regarding usability inspection in the Web domain. In addition, we present a new UIM and a tool for Web usability inspection starting from the results shown in this paper.