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Usability of User Interface Styles for Learning Graphical Software Applications
Andishe Feizi, Chui Yin Wong
Pages - 34 - 53     |    Revised - 05-04-2013     |    Published - 30-04-2013
Volume - 4   Issue - 1    |    Publication Date - April 2013  Table of Contents
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KEYWORDS
Usability, User Interface Styles, Graphical User Interface (GUI), Command Line Interface (CLI), Graphical Software Application.
ABSTRACT
This paper examines usability of different user interface styles for learning graphical software applications, namely Adobe Flash CS4 and Microsoft Expression blend 4. An empirical study was performed to investigate the usability attributes of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction scores for learning the graphical software applications. There were 32 participants recruited whom consist of interface designers and software developers. A set of 7 tasks was designed to compare the different effects of user interface styles including graphical user interface (GUI) and command line interface (CLI). User Performance variables (effectiveness, efficiency, duration, number of errors and number of helps) were measured for tasks performed by all the participants in the test. Satisfaction score was measured using QUIS (Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction) tool. The result revealed that the average effectiveness scores are higher than 75% for both software applications. Although Adobe Flash CS4 gained slightly higher on effectiveness, Microsoft Expression Blend 4 obtained better results in terms of efficiency, duration, errors and helps. The user satisfaction rates also showed Microsoft Expression Blend 4 gained higher satisfaction comparing Adobe Flash CS4. Generally, both software applications gained scores above average (>3.5) for majority of the user interface satisfaction attributes of software regardless of users’ background.
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Miss Andishe Feizi
Interface Design Department, Faculty of Creative Mu ltimedia Multimedia University Cyberjaya, 63100 - Malaysia
feiziandisheh@yahoo.com
Dr. Chui Yin Wong
Interface Design Department, Faculty of Creative Mu ltimedia Multimedia University Cyberjaya, 63100 - Malaysia


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