THE USE OF STANDARDS FOR MEASURING AND EVALUATING SOFTWAREUSABILITYEva Brenner Wallius, IBM Nordic Laboratories, Stockholm, Swe<strong>de</strong>nThe usability of a program has become a functional characteristic of similar importanceas more traditional types of performance variab<strong>le</strong>s. This has resulted in an increasingneed for measuring and evaluation methods that makes it possib<strong>le</strong> to compare theusability of different programs, or different versions of the same program.Standardized procedures or benchmark tests for measurement and evaluations is thetraditional approach to meet such needs. There are however, some important issuesconcerning usability that should be consi<strong>de</strong>red before such a standard procedure isproposed.DEVELOPING HUMAN-COMPUTER I NTE RATI ON STANDARDSJ KaratUser Interface Institute, IBM Watson Research Center, Box 704, Yorktown Heights, NY,10598With increasing presence of computers in society, there have been calls from anumber of sources for standardization of human-computer interfaces. Suchstandardization could contribute to the quality of computer software if the standardshelped produce systems which both matched the needs and capabilities of users, an<strong>de</strong>nab<strong>le</strong>d them to easily acquire know<strong>le</strong>dge nee<strong>de</strong>d to use the systems and transferpreviously <strong>le</strong>arned skills. One question that we can ask of the science base we areattempting to apply to HCI <strong>de</strong>sign is whether or not such standards might possibly bebased on theory. Whi<strong>le</strong> it is not possib<strong>le</strong> to offer a theoretically based HCI standard atthis time, theoretical research in cognitive psychology can offer some suggestions for<strong>de</strong>velopers of standards.In many ways the prob<strong>le</strong>ms of applying psychological know<strong>le</strong>dge to the <strong>de</strong>sign of thecognitive components of the user interface is more difficult than the physiologicalaspects. The objective goals for making a <strong>display</strong> <strong>le</strong>gib<strong>le</strong> or a keyboard responsiveare more easily quantified than those for making a user interface easy to <strong>le</strong>arn or easyto use. It is easier to <strong>de</strong>fine musc<strong>le</strong> fatigue, and to state that a keyboard should nottake a user to acquire the know<strong>le</strong>dge necessary to carry out an arbitrary task. To alarge extent it is this difficulty in <strong>de</strong>fining the prob<strong>le</strong>m which makes progress in the areaseem so elusive. Whi<strong>le</strong> psychologists have <strong>le</strong>arned a great <strong>de</strong>al about humancognition, there is both a great <strong>de</strong>al which is not known and consi<strong>de</strong>rab<strong>le</strong> difficultyapplying what is known to the fuzzy area of interface <strong>de</strong>sign. An important step thatneeds to be taken is for an objective statement of the prob<strong>le</strong>m to be <strong>de</strong>veloped. Weneed something more than easy to <strong>le</strong>arn and use to gui<strong>de</strong> the <strong>work</strong>.The position presented here is that whi<strong>le</strong> there are some general ru<strong>le</strong>s of humancognition which are fairly well established, there is not yet sufficient know<strong>le</strong>dge to putforth a ru<strong>le</strong> based <strong>de</strong>sign gui<strong>de</strong> for general purpose systems based on cognitiveprincip<strong>le</strong>s. There is some high <strong>le</strong>vel guidance that can be provi<strong>de</strong>d, but it is in thenature of gui<strong>de</strong>lines rather than formal ru<strong>le</strong>s. Some examp<strong>le</strong>s of prob<strong>le</strong>m areas whichhave yet to be addressed in <strong>de</strong>veloping useful information for system <strong>de</strong>velopment willbe presented.Whi<strong>le</strong> we wait for <strong>de</strong>velopments in the science, there is something to be <strong>le</strong>arned fromthe study of human cognition which can be applied to interface <strong>de</strong>sign. It is more of aprocess recommendation concerning how to go about <strong>de</strong>veloping gui<strong>de</strong>lines orstandards that an actual set of <strong>de</strong>sign ru<strong>le</strong>s or standards. The message from thescience is that un<strong>de</strong>rstanding the task to be carried out in terms of the necessarycognitive components is a necessary first step to un<strong>de</strong>rstanding human behavior on atask. This contribution is more in the methodology than in the ru<strong>le</strong>s, although simp<strong>le</strong>know<strong>le</strong>dge of the ru<strong>le</strong>s incorporated in the process can provi<strong>de</strong> some useful guidance.If <strong>de</strong>sign projects really began by addressing the question "What must the users knowand what must they do to use the system", and the answers were carefully analyzed,many improvements would be ma<strong>de</strong>. Unfortunately, though this seems to be simp<strong>le</strong>common sense, the practice of the methodology is very rare. Whi<strong>le</strong> there are isolatedventures into using an information processing frame<strong>work</strong> to improve interface <strong>de</strong>sign,a more comp<strong>le</strong>te examination of interaction <strong>with</strong> systems to do <strong>work</strong> is nee<strong>de</strong>d.KEYWORDS: standardizationTEV 1989 — DEUXIÈME CONFÉRENCE SCIENTIFIQUE INTERNATIONALE • MONTRÉAL • SECOND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE — WDU 1989196TEV 1989 — DEUXIÈME CONFÉRENCE SCIENTIFIQUE INTERNATIONALE • MONTREAL • SECOND IN'ITiRNATIONAI. SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE — WWDU 1989193
SWEDISH STRATEGIES ON EUROPEAN ERGONOMICSSTANDARDIZATION IN THE FIELD OF VDU WORKPer-Gunnar Wi<strong>de</strong>bâck, Swedish Agency for AdministrativeDevelopment, P.O. Box 34107, S-10026 Stockholm, Swe<strong>de</strong>nThe aim of the study is to enligthen the process towards a "consent"among actors in the new European approach to standardization.The participant observer is chosen as method when <strong>le</strong>tting a mixedgroup of actors playing scenarios of the reception of the standardISO 9241 - Visual <strong>display</strong> terminals (VDTs) used for office tasks -Ergonomie requirements - in a seminar. The actor is playing his ownro<strong>le</strong> as representative of a distinguished interest. The participantswill be questioned twice after the seminar. The second time willappear after the international canvass. A control group consisting ofactors who are active in standardization bodies will also bequestioned.The results concern opinions of content and type of document whenintroducing standards, regulations and other recommendations. Thetransfer of experience from hardware to software will also bediscussed.KEYWORDS: Standardization, strategies, scenario"HCI Standards"PRÉSENTATION AlIDIO-VISI1:1.1.1:AUDIO VISIJAI. PRESENTATION"Y A-T-IL UN ERG0N0ME AU MENU ?" septembre 1988 Bruxel<strong>le</strong>s - BelgiqueUn vidéogramme <strong>de</strong> 30 minutes disponib<strong>le</strong> en français, anglais et néerlandais.Coproducteurs :. Institut pour l'Amélioration <strong>de</strong>s Conditions <strong>de</strong> Travail (I.A.C.T.), 60 rue <strong>de</strong>la Concor<strong>de</strong>, 1050 Bruxe.l<strong>le</strong>s. Service médical interentreprises M.S.R., 16 Quai aux Pierres <strong>de</strong> Tail<strong>le</strong>,1000 Bruxel<strong>le</strong>s. Service médical interentreprises Santé et Travail, 128 avenue Henri Jaspar,1060 Bruxel<strong>le</strong>s.Equipe pluridisciplinaire :. Dr. Jean DE MEYER, équipe ergonomique du Service médical interentreprises M.S.R.. Prof. José GAUSSIN, Unité <strong>de</strong> Psychologie du Travail et <strong>de</strong>s Organisations,Université Catholique <strong>de</strong> Louvain (U.C.L.). Dr. Robert LEONARD, Service d'ergonomie et <strong>de</strong> documentation du Service médicalinterentreprises Santé et Travail. Prof. René PATESS0N, Section d'informatique et Sciences humaines, Faculté <strong>de</strong>sSciences socia<strong>le</strong>s, politiques et économiques, Université Libre <strong>de</strong> Bruxel<strong>le</strong>s(U.L.B.). ELisabeth WENDELEN, psychologue industriel<strong>le</strong>, I.A.C.T.Déléguée <strong>de</strong> production : Mme E. WENDELEN, I.A.C.T.Ce vidéo est <strong>de</strong>stiné :. aux déci<strong>de</strong>urs. aux membres <strong>de</strong>s services médicaux du <strong>travail</strong> et <strong>de</strong> services <strong>de</strong> sécurité. aux formateurs. aux membres <strong>de</strong>s comités sécurité et hygiène et. aux délégués syndicaux,qu'ils soient déj<strong>à</strong> informatisés ou qu'ils aient l'intention <strong>de</strong> l'être.Contenu du vidéogramme :- Le poste <strong>de</strong> travai1 :Comment choisir, combiner et aménager ses éléments (écran, clavier, tab<strong>le</strong> <strong>de</strong><strong>travail</strong>, siège, etc...) et comment adapter l'environnement, en partant <strong>de</strong>l'étu<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>s fonctions et <strong>de</strong>s tâches.. L'ergonomie du logiciel :Les moyens <strong>de</strong> "dialoguer" avec la machine doivent être ajustés <strong>à</strong> la manièredont l'utilisateur pense, par<strong>le</strong>, mémorise, perçoit, traite <strong>le</strong>s informationset résout <strong>le</strong>s problêmes.- L'organisation du <strong>travail</strong> :Comment mettre <strong>à</strong> profit <strong>le</strong>s possibilités <strong>de</strong> l'informatique pour améliorer <strong>le</strong>sconditions <strong>de</strong> <strong>travail</strong>, notamment la qualité, la variété et l'intérêt <strong>de</strong>s tâches.- La santé <strong>de</strong>s utilisateurs :Quel<strong>le</strong>s dispositions prendre pour éviter la fatigue oculaire et <strong>le</strong>s troub<strong>le</strong>sposturaux consécutifs <strong>à</strong> un <strong>travail</strong> prolongé sur écran.- Les aspects légaux :Quels sont <strong>le</strong>s droits et obligations <strong>de</strong>s <strong>travail</strong><strong>le</strong>urs, <strong>de</strong>s employeurs, <strong>de</strong>s mé<strong>de</strong>cinsdu <strong>travail</strong>, <strong>de</strong>s chefs <strong>de</strong> sécurité, <strong>de</strong>s représentants syndicaux, <strong>à</strong> l'occasiond'un projet d'informatisation.Mots-clés : TEV - Ergonomie - VidéogrammeTEV 1989 — DEUXIÈME CONFÉRENCE SCIENTIFIQUE INTERNATIONALE • MONTRÉAL • SECOND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE — WDU 1989198TEV 1989 — DEl JXIÈME CONFÉRENCE. SCIENTIFIQl 'E INTERNATIONALE • MONTRÉAL • SECOND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC. CONFERENCE — WWDU 1989199