User Interface Service Software Developerís Guide - Hitech Projects

January 2008
Public
3.10 Assessment GUI Service
3.10.1 User Acceptance
As part of the work package 4.7.2 a GUI mock-up has been developed. The goal of this mockup
was to find out how the menu structure of a graphical user interface shall look like and how
people interact with GUIs that follow different navigation strategies.
To this end, we built three mock-ups that all represent a different way how a menu structure is
logically generated. Each mock-up represents a menu structure for the same simple home that
consists of several rooms (bath room, kitchen, hall, living room, bedroom) with various devices
(e.g., cooker, TV set, radio, windows, light). The difference between the mock-ups were that
the first two mock-ups share a device oriented view while the last mock-up is function oriented.
That is, in the last mock-up the device borders are dissolved brining functions of different
devices onto a single menu page.
In order to find out how user operate with these different kind of menu systems, the mock-up
were implemented as Java applications that can be executed on a PC. The test user were
assigned a set of tasks they had to execute. The time required by the various users were
recorded. Further, the user had to fill out a questionnaire.
The current section is a summary of the deliverable for work package 4.7.2. Please refer to
this document for further details about the user acceptance study.
3.10.1.1 Study Methodology and Hypothesis
Our tests aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of different menu structure from a use
perspective. That is, the outcome of the tests is expected to answer crucial questions
regarding user preferences on menu structures. To obtain the results, users were confronted
with the mock-ups and asked to perform a set of task. The results of this user test will feed into
development of the user interface services.
One major goal of the test was to find out, how people would like to have their menu structures
logically laid out. Especially, we want to check out, whether people prefer a device/room
oriented view on the devices or prefer to focus on the functions instead of devices.
Before the tests, we had the following expectations:
− It is expected that users prefer different user interfaces and that the preference is
somehow equally distributed among the menu candidates. I.e., we expect that there is
no single “one approach fits all” solution
− We expect that user become faster when they become used to the specific way a
menu structure is logically build.
− We expect that user will prefer those menu structures which they are able to reach
their goal in less time.
3.10.1.2 Test apparatus
There were three mock-ups created for the same virtual apartment. The mock-ups were
implemented as Java based applications. Hence, user were able to operate it via a mouse.
3.10.1.2.1 Mock-up 1
The first mock-up implemented a menu structure where at the first menu level the user had to
choose the appropriate room, then a device and finally a function of the device. Depending on
the device type, they could then directly select a specific function or had to choose between
Amigo IST-2004-004182 106/114