A body of research in literature has demonstrated the benefits for software companies of adopting methods to address usability and user experience. However, as revealed by the very poor usability of many software systems, companies very often do not consider such methods in their development practices. From our previous studies it emerged that one of the reason is that usability and UX are quality requirements not formally established in the Call for Tender (CfT) for developing software products to which they respond. Therefore, they do not commit resources to satisfy usability and UX requirements. In this paper, we report a systematic review of 44 national and international CfTs for IT products, which aimed at investigating whether and how usability requirements are mentioned. 1 Introduction Since the 80s, when Human-Centred Design (HCD) was proposed, a significant amount of research has been done with the aim to define methods that support professionals, who work in companies that produce software, in designing and evaluating interactive systems. However, our experience confirms that HCD and other methods to ensure usability and good user experience (UX) even if always mentioned in the literature, but very rarely applied in the actual practice of software development [3, 5, 12]. Today many companies invest most of their resources to produce software that can be competitive on the market. However, the daily experience with a number of software products show that, despite the powerful features offered, users experience many difficulties in using them. A user interface that is difficult to understand and use causes many problems. Usability is a measure of the degree to which users are able to conduct their activities in their specific context of use with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction [11]. A low level of usability means that users cannot understand how to use the interactive system, regardless of its functional complexity [13]. Usability becomes, therefore, the main goal and usability evaluation represents a fundamental activity of the entire software development. We increasingly feel the need that this situation must be changed. Several researchers have suggested methods and techniques to maximize the impact of usability and UX of software products. Our experience with companies has
Addressing Usability and UX in Call for Tender for IT Products
ARDITO, CARMELO ANTONIO
2015-01-01
Abstract
A body of research in literature has demonstrated the benefits for software companies of adopting methods to address usability and user experience. However, as revealed by the very poor usability of many software systems, companies very often do not consider such methods in their development practices. From our previous studies it emerged that one of the reason is that usability and UX are quality requirements not formally established in the Call for Tender (CfT) for developing software products to which they respond. Therefore, they do not commit resources to satisfy usability and UX requirements. In this paper, we report a systematic review of 44 national and international CfTs for IT products, which aimed at investigating whether and how usability requirements are mentioned. 1 Introduction Since the 80s, when Human-Centred Design (HCD) was proposed, a significant amount of research has been done with the aim to define methods that support professionals, who work in companies that produce software, in designing and evaluating interactive systems. However, our experience confirms that HCD and other methods to ensure usability and good user experience (UX) even if always mentioned in the literature, but very rarely applied in the actual practice of software development [3, 5, 12]. Today many companies invest most of their resources to produce software that can be competitive on the market. However, the daily experience with a number of software products show that, despite the powerful features offered, users experience many difficulties in using them. A user interface that is difficult to understand and use causes many problems. Usability is a measure of the degree to which users are able to conduct their activities in their specific context of use with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction [11]. A low level of usability means that users cannot understand how to use the interactive system, regardless of its functional complexity [13]. Usability becomes, therefore, the main goal and usability evaluation represents a fundamental activity of the entire software development. We increasingly feel the need that this situation must be changed. Several researchers have suggested methods and techniques to maximize the impact of usability and UX of software products. Our experience with companies hasI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
