The theoretical foundation and validity of a component-based usability questionnaire

  • Authors:
  • W. -P. Brinkman;R. Haakma;D. G. Bouwhuis

  • Affiliations:
  • Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK;Philips Research Laboratories Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands;Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

  • Venue:
  • Behaviour & Information Technology
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Although software engineers extensively use a component-based software engineering (CBSE) approach, existing usability questionnaires only support a holistic evaluation approach, which focuses on the usability of the system as a whole. Therefore, this paper discusses a component-specific questionnaire for measuring the perceived ease-of-use of individual interaction components. A theoretical framework is presented for this compositional evaluation approach, which builds on Taylor's layered protocol theory. The application and validity of the component-specific measure is evaluated by re-examining the results of four experiments. Here, participants were asked to use the questionnaire to evaluate a total of nine interaction components used in a mobile phone, a room thermostat, a web-enabled TV set and a calculator. The applicability of the questionnaire is discussed in the setting of a new usability study of an MP3 player. The findings suggest that at least part of the perceived usability of a product can be evaluated on a component-based level.