Tuxel: A Technique for User eXperience Evaluation in e-Learning

Abstract

The increasing interest in new learning technologies has led learning institutions and organizations to adopt powerful platforms designed to support the teaching and learning process, called Learning Management Systems (LMSs). The widespread adoption of LMSs raises the need to evaluate the quality in use of these platforms through attributes such as usability and User eXperience (UX). For instance, if the LMS does not provide a good usability, the learner will spend more time trying to understand how to use the platform rather than learning the educational content. Similarly, a positive UX is essential to make the platform more pleasuring, appealing and satisfactory to the learner. Although several studies have been conducted to evaluate LMSs, few techniques encompass both usability and UX. This work presents the development of a technique to evaluate the usability and UX of LMSs, called TUXEL, by means of Design Science Research methodology. Additionally, we developed a tool to support the evaluation process. We conducted two empirical studies in order to assess the feasibility of the technique, while comparing it with an existing technique from the literature. Results indicated that TUXEL allowed identifying a higher number of usability problems in comparison to an adapted version of the Heuristic Evaluation, while requiring less time.