This half day tutorial will explain how quality in use can be specified and measured ata broad systems level. Quality in use is the extent to which a system meets end userneeds. It is defined as a system-level concept in the software quality standards ISO/IEC9126-1 and ISO/IEC 14598-1. The tutorial is based on a methodology originally developed bythe collaborative European ESPRIT MUSiC (Measurement of Usability in Context) project.This methodology implements the principles of ISO 9241-11, where usability is defined as ahigh level objective synonymous with quality in use. The tutorial will includedemonstration of the use of MUSiC tools, and class exercises to apply the methods to casestudies.
Quality in use has a fundamental system orientation, as it requires specification ofall elements of the "work system", including the human users. Rather thanfocussing on the details of implementation (the "cause") it deals with highlevel requirements and delivered results (the "effect").
In many organisations quality in use is ignored because there are no objective criteriafor meeting end user needs when developing and procuring systems. Quality in use will onlybe taken seriously when it is part of the acceptance criteria for a system; and thisrequires a means to specify quality in use goals and assess their achievement. The MUSiCmethodology is currently being used as a basis for a US industry initiative to enablesuppliers to provide reports on the usability of their products to potential purchasers.
Intended Audience: Anyone who wishes to specify or measure quality inuse as a system quality objective during product development or to evaluate quality in usewhen making purchase decisions.
Class Size: Limited to 50 participants.
Instructor:Nigel Bevan is manager of Serco Usability Services, which exploits theusability and quality methods developed at the National Physical Laboratory. He has firstdegrees in physics and psychology, and a PhD in man-machine interaction. He was technicalco-ordinator of the MUSiC project, and manager of the INUSE and RESPECT projects whichhave set up a network of Usability Support Centres around Europe. MUSiC methods have beenapplied commercially in a wide range of European companies. Nigel Bevan participates inseveral international standards groups, and was editor of ISO 9241-11 (Guidance onusability) and is now editor of ISO 14598-1 (Evaluation of software quality - Generalguide) and ISO/IEC 9126-1 (Software quality characteristics).
Each participant will be given a copy of the Usability Context Analysis Guide.
Please note the following is based upon a full-day tutorial. The half-day tutorialwill be a subset of this. The following topics will be covered:
1. The benefits of setting and testing quality in use goals in design will beexplained, and how quality in use goals can be derived by decomposing overall businessgoals for the product.
2. Quality in use measurement will be related to evaluation procedures in ergonomics,software quality and quality management.
3. The importance of specifying the context of use will be explained (a structuredapproach to user, task and environmental analysis), and using the Usability ContextAnalysis Guide, the class will carry out an exercise to specify the intended context ofusage, the actual context of measurement and a measurement plan including specific qualityin use goals.
4. Use of performance measures: will include a description of the MUSiC PerformanceMeasurement Method which can be used to derive user performance metrics and diagnosticinformation from an analysis of a videotape of interaction.
5. Use of attitude questionnaires: will include a description of the public domain SUSquestionnaire, and the validated SUMI scale which can be used to measure six components ofattitude towards the interaction and identify problem areas.
6. Case studies: use of the tools will be illustrated by case studies and classexercises which draw from the experience of the use of the methods in a wide variety ofcommercial applications.