Usability Engineering Practice Test — Flashcards

Usability engineering is a field that is concerned generally with human–computer interaction (HCI) and specifically with devising human–computer interfaces that have high usability or user friendliness. It provides structured methods for achieving efficiency and elegance in interface design

Several broad disciplines including Psychology, Human Factors and Cognitive Science subsume usability engineering, but the theoretical foundations of the field come from more specific domains: human perception and action; human cognition; behavioral research methodologies; and, to a lesser extent, quantitative and statistical analysis techniques.

Usability, especially with the goal of Universal Usability, encompasses the standards and guidelines of design for accessibility. The aim of these guidelines is to facilitate the use of a software application for people with disabilities. Some guidelines for web accessibility are:

The Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines.
The Section 508 government guidelines applicable to all public-sector websites.
The ADA Guidelines for accessibility of state and local government websites.
The IBM Guidelines for accessibility of websites.

Usability engineers conduct usability evaluations of existing or proposed interfaces and their findings are fed back to the designer for use in design or redesign. Common usability evaluation methods include:

Usability testing
Interviews
Focus groups
Questionnaires/surveys
Cognitive walkthroughs
Heuristic evaluations
RITE method
Cognitive task analysis
Contextual inquiry
Think aloud protocol
Card sorting

Usability testing is when participants are recruited and asked to use the actual or prototype interface and their reactions, behaviors, errors, and self-reports in interviews are carefully observed and recorded by a usability engineer. On the basis of this data, the usability engineer recommends interface changes to improve usability.
(Source: Wikipedia)