CARMA: Assessing Usability through a Non-Biased Online Survey Technique

CARMA is an advisory and research support tool for grasshopper infestations. Designed with usability as a primary goal, CARMA presents an interface so intuitive that it completely eliminates the need for a user manual. To achieve this goal, CARMA interacts with the user through a goal-oriented, guid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2010 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences pp. 1 - 10
Main Authors Hastings, J.D., Mirasano, A., Latchininsky, A., Schell, S.P.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.01.2010
Subjects
Computer science
Costs
Degradation
Environmental economics
Feedback
Graphical user interfaces
Humans
Java
Problem-solving
Usability
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Summary:CARMA is an advisory and research support tool for grasshopper infestations. Designed with usability as a primary goal, CARMA presents an interface so intuitive that it completely eliminates the need for a user manual. To achieve this goal, CARMA interacts with the user through a goal-oriented, guided style reminiscent of a natural conversation between an advice seeker and an expert. Usability is furthered by its modeling of four important characteristics of human expert problem solving (speed, graceful degradation, explanations, and opportunism). In order to gain non-biased user feedback about CARMA's interface, we surveyed a group of novice users not previously familiar with CARMA. Positive survey results suggest that CARMA's approach to usability is a success. Furthermore, our survey approach illustrates a simple anonymous online technique which elicits candid non-biased feedback from participants about a product, and is particularly applicable to practitioners short on staff or time.
ISBN:9781424455096
142445509X
ISSN:1530-1605
2572-6862
DOI:10.1109/HICSS.2010.93