Uma investigação experimental sobre a representação da usabilidade em artefatos utilizados no design de interface de usuário.

Abstract

Usability is an important quality attribute in software design due to its impact on the quality of use. One way to improve usability is to represent its different aspects in the interface design artifacts, such as prototypes or models that are used to represent an system. This needs to be done in the early stages of software development, to prevent design rework. The strategy of considering usability in the early stages of software development is called “early usability”. One way to represent usability aspects in artifacts is to use FUFs (Functional Usability Features) during this process. FUFs are usability recommendations. If usability aspects are represented in an interface artifact, this artifact can promote early usability. However, there is no evidence on which strategy of using these artifacts best supports the interface design for early usability. Which artifact is best suited to promote early usability in interface design? The main objective of this thesis is to verify how usability aspects can be represented in these artifacts and if they support the design aiming that the usability is present from the beginning. We investigated how usability is perceived in the interface artifacts and how the usability can be propagated to artifacts in order to promote early usability. To achieve the objective of this work and answer the research question presented, we carried out 3 exploratory studies. In the studies it was possible to verify the viability of the artifacts and which one can help more effectively to promote early usability in interface design. The results of the studies carried out in this research indicate that the most appropriate strategy to represent the usability aspects is to use the prototype type artifact to promote early usability. Theses prototypes with usability mechanisms can help to anticipate usability during interface design and guide the next steps of the development process.