Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study

Context: As a result of the growth of non-developer users of OSS applications, usability has over the last ten years begun to attract the interest of the open source software (OSS) community. The OSS community has some special characteristics (such as worldwide geographical distribution of both user...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Llerena, Lucrecia, Rodriguez, Nancy, Castro, John W., Acuña Castillo, Silvia Teresita
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/694916
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/694916
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2018.10.011
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Direct observation
Open source software
Personas
Post-test information
Usability techniques
User profiles
Informática
id ES_8739894e622fd1e96f3c03aa95da5ea7
oai_identifier_str oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/694916
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case studyLlerena, LucreciaRodriguez, NancyCastro, John W.Acuña Castillo, Silvia TeresitaDirect observationOpen source softwarePersonasPost-test informationUsability techniquesUser profilesInformáticaContext: As a result of the growth of non-developer users of OSS applications, usability has over the last ten years begun to attract the interest of the open source software (OSS) community. The OSS community has some special characteristics (such as worldwide geographical distribution of both users and developers and missing resources) which are an obstacle to the direct adoption of many usability techniques as specified in the human-computer interaction (HCI) field. Objective: The aim of this research is to adapt and evaluate the feasibility of applying four usability techniques: user profiles, personas, direct observation and post-test information to four OSS projects from the viewpoint of the development team. Method: The applied research method was a multiple case study of the following OSS projects: Quite Universal Circuit Simulator, PSeInt, FreeMind and OpenOffice Writer. Results: We formalized the application procedure of each of the adapted usability techniques. We found that either there were no procedures for adopting usability techniques in OSS or they were not fully systematized. Additionally, we identified the adverse conditions that are an obstacle to their adoption in OSS and propose the special adaptations required to overcome the obstacles. To avoid some of the adverse conditions, we created web artefacts (online survey, wiki and forum) that are very popular in the OSS field. Conclusion: It is necessary to adapt usability techniques for application in OSS projects considering their idiosyncrasy. Additionally, we found that there are obstacles (for example, number of participant users, biased information provided by developers) to the application of the techniques. Despite these obstacles, it is feasible to apply the adapted techniques in OSS projectsThis research was funded by the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT) of the Government of Ecuador as part of an academic scholarship granted for postgradu- ate training, and Quevedo State Technical University through doctoral scholarships for university professors. Also this research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports FLEXOR ( TIN2014-52129-R ) and TIN2014-60490-P projects and the eMadrid- CM project ( S2013/ICE-2715 ). Finally, this research received funding from the University of Atacama “DIUDA 22316 ”projectElsevierDepartamento de Ingeniería InformáticaEscuela Politécnica Superior20192019-03-01research articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1AMhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aainfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10486/694916https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2018.10.011reponame:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAMinstname:Universidad Autónoma de MadridInglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/6949162026-06-23T12:46:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
title Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
spellingShingle Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
Llerena, Lucrecia
Direct observation
Open source software
Personas
Post-test information
Usability techniques
User profiles
Informática
title_short Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
title_full Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
title_fullStr Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
title_full_unstemmed Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
title_sort Adapting usability techniques for application in open source Software: A multiple case study
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Llerena, Lucrecia
Rodriguez, Nancy
Castro, John W.
Acuña Castillo, Silvia Teresita
author Llerena, Lucrecia
author_facet Llerena, Lucrecia
Rodriguez, Nancy
Castro, John W.
Acuña Castillo, Silvia Teresita
author_role author
author2 Rodriguez, Nancy
Castro, John W.
Acuña Castillo, Silvia Teresita
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Departamento de Ingeniería Informática
Escuela Politécnica Superior
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Direct observation
Open source software
Personas
Post-test information
Usability techniques
User profiles
Informática
topic Direct observation
Open source software
Personas
Post-test information
Usability techniques
User profiles
Informática
description Context: As a result of the growth of non-developer users of OSS applications, usability has over the last ten years begun to attract the interest of the open source software (OSS) community. The OSS community has some special characteristics (such as worldwide geographical distribution of both users and developers and missing resources) which are an obstacle to the direct adoption of many usability techniques as specified in the human-computer interaction (HCI) field. Objective: The aim of this research is to adapt and evaluate the feasibility of applying four usability techniques: user profiles, personas, direct observation and post-test information to four OSS projects from the viewpoint of the development team. Method: The applied research method was a multiple case study of the following OSS projects: Quite Universal Circuit Simulator, PSeInt, FreeMind and OpenOffice Writer. Results: We formalized the application procedure of each of the adapted usability techniques. We found that either there were no procedures for adopting usability techniques in OSS or they were not fully systematized. Additionally, we identified the adverse conditions that are an obstacle to their adoption in OSS and propose the special adaptations required to overcome the obstacles. To avoid some of the adverse conditions, we created web artefacts (online survey, wiki and forum) that are very popular in the OSS field. Conclusion: It is necessary to adapt usability techniques for application in OSS projects considering their idiosyncrasy. Additionally, we found that there are obstacles (for example, number of participant users, biased information provided by developers) to the application of the techniques. Despite these obstacles, it is feasible to apply the adapted techniques in OSS projects
publishDate 2019
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2019
2019-03-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv research article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1
AM
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aa
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10486/694916
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2018.10.011
url http://hdl.handle.net/10486/694916
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2018.10.011
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
instname:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
instname_str Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
reponame_str Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
collection Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869412430865498112
score 15,300719

Similares en LA Referencia