Capturing usability data on-the-goP.J. Blignaut and T. McDonaldDepartment of Computer Science and Informatics (IB 65), Free State University, South AfricaA tool was developed to capture users responses while using software, e.g. a word processor, internet browser or customized stock control system. All actions, i.e. buttons clicked, text typed, items selected, etc. along with the user name and host name of the PC and exact date and time of every action are saved to an underlying MySQL database. The tool fills the bottom 10% of the screen with the software application filling the remaining 90%. It is always on top of the display without obscuring any part of the application that is to be tested. Questions are displayed that prompt the user to select the answer from a mutually exclusive set of possibilities or type free text into a box. Three categories of questions can be posted into the underlying database beforehand to accommodate a researchers needs regarding the specific software application to be tested:
The tool was used successfully during research to determine the differences in websearching patterns between various user groups. More than 500 users were observed in two computer laboratories in one week. Questions were formulated to instruct the users to do specific searches on the Internet. Every URL visited and all text typed, e.g. into the search box of a search engine, were recorded. SQL queries were used afterwards to analyze the correctness of answers, obtain the average time between clicks, the average time for reading on a specific website and the average number of URLs visited per search. Paper presented at Measuring Behavior 2005 , 5th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research, 30 August - 2 September 2005, Wageningen, The Netherlands. © 2005 Noldus Information Technology bv |