Evaluating the usability of the mobile interface of an educational website

F. Javier Diaz

Harari Ivana Harari

B.S. Paola

pp. 47-52

in: Magued Iskander (ed), Innovative techniques in instruction technology, e-learning, e-assessment, and education, Berlin, Springer, 2008

Abstract

This article presents the experience of an evaluation of usability on the first version of the mobile website of the National University of La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. We will present the main characteristics of the traditional website, providing data representative of the amount of information it handles, the sample of participants and their profiles, the characteristics of the test, its organization, the design of spreadsheets used and the diagram of tasks the participants completed during the course of the evaluation.It is worth mentioning that the evaluation of this prototype constitutes the starting point for the execution of subsequent stages of redesign and reimplementation, within a methodological framework of adequate reengineering and prototyping.Testing prototypes of the mobile interface, working with samples on different user profiles, in different contexts and in different cell phone models, will result in the delivery of a product whose quality of use has already been tested and consolidated.