Usability Evaluation Framework for E-commerce Websites in Developing Countries PDF Download

Author: Layla Hasan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

Book Description
The importance of evaluating the usability of e-commerce websites is wellrecognised and this area has attracted research attention for more than a decade. Nearly all the studies that evaluated the usability of e-commerce websitesemployed either user-based (i.e. user testing) or evaluator-based (i.e. heuristicevaluation) usability evaluation methods; but no research has employed softwarebased(i.e. Google Analytics software) in the evaluation of such sites. Furthermore, the studies which employed user testing and/or heuristic evaluation methods in theevaluation of the usability of e-commerce websites did not offer detail about thebenefits and drawbacks of these methods with respect to the identification ofspecific types of usability problems. This research developed a methodological framework for the usabilityevaluation of e-commerce websites which involved user testing and heuristicevaluation methods together with Google Analytics software. The framework wasdeveloped by comparing the benefits and drawbacks of these methods in terms ofthe specific areas of usability problems that they could or could not identify on ecommercewebsites. The framework involves Google Analytics software as a preliminary step toprovide a quick, easy and cheap indication of general potential usability problemareas on an e-commerce website and its specific pages. Then, the frameworkenables evaluators to choose other methods to provide in-depth detail about specificivproblems on the site. For instance, the framework suggests that user testing is goodfor identifying specific major usability problems related to four areas: navigation, design, the purchasing process and accessibility and customer service, while theheuristic evaluation is good for identifying a large number of specific minorusability problems related to eight areas including: navigation, internal search, thesite architecture, the content, the design, accessibility and customer service, inconsistency and missing capabilities. The framework also suggests that theheuristic evaluation is good at identifying major security and privacy problems. The framework was developed based on an extensive evaluation of theeffectiveness of the three methods in identifying specific usability problems in threecase studies (e-commerce websites) in Jordan. This highlighted the usefulness of themethods and therefore helps e-commerce retailers to determine the usability methodthat best matches their needs. The framework was tested and the results indicated the usefulness of thesuggested framework in raising awareness of usability and usability evaluationmethods among e-commerce retailers in Jordan. This will help them addressusability in the design of their websites, thus helping them to survive, grow andachieve success.