Low-cost usability testing

Usability is an important aspect of software products. However, in practice not much attention is given to this issue during testing. Testers often do not have the knowledge, instruments and/or time available to test for usability. This article identifies the Heuristic Evaluation and the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) testing techniques as possible solutions to this problem. The focus of this article will be on SUMI. In a heuristic evaluation a small number of evaluators examine the interface and judge its compliance with recognised usability principles ("the heuristics"). SUMI is a rigorously tested and validated questionnaire-based method to measure software quality from a user's perspective. Using SUMI the usability of a software product or prototype can be evaluated in a consistent and objective manner1. The technique is supported by an extensive reference database and embedded in an effective analysis and reporting tool. SUMI has been applied to a great number of projects. This article discusses three practical applications. Results, usability improvements as well as cost and benefits are described.