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Title:
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TASK SEQUENCE EFFECTS IN USABILITY TESTS |
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Author(s):
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Yiqi Li, Nina Hollender,Theo Held |
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ISBN:
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978-972-8939-90-8 |
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Editors:
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Katherine Blashki |
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Year:
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2013 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Usability test, usability evaluation, task sequence, task complexity, transfer |
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Type:
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Full Paper |
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First Page:
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141 |
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Last Page:
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148 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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How to order tasks in a usability test is an important question, since the task ordering is likely to confound the success rate, time on task and subjective measures, such as satisfaction. This may provide incorrect information for decision-making. We hypothesize that if a subsequent task comprises similar components to a previous task, the performance on the subsequent task will be improved due to learning processes and transfers, accompanied by more favorable subjective ratings. An experiment was carried out to examine the hypothesis using two pairs of similar tasks presented in different orders. In each pair, one task was more complex than the other. The task sequence turned out to have varying effects, depending on the kind of the measures and the complexity of the subsequent task. Further implications for usability testing are discussed. One important aspect is that task sequence should not only be set and monitored carefully, but controlled transfers between tasks can also be utilized to improve the detection of specific usability problems. |
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