Integrating user-perceived quality into Web server design

Abstract As the number of Web users and the diversity of Web applications continues to explode, Web Quality of Service (QoS) is an increasingly critical issue in the domain of e-commerce. This paper presents experiments designed to estimate users' tolerance of QoS in the context of e-commerce. In addition to objective measures, we discuss contextual factors that influence these thresholds and show how users' conceptual models of Web tasks affect their expectations. We then show how user thresholds of tolerance can be taken into account when designing Web servers. This integration of user requirements for QoS into systems design is ultimately of benefit to all stakeholders in the design of Internet services.

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