Revista Romana de Interactiune Om-Calculator

1-24

Authors: Cristhy Jimenez, Pablo Lozada, Pablo Rosas

The quality of interactive systems is defined by several attributes. One of the main quality attributes is Usability. Evaluating the usability of interactive systems can help to ensure that applications will be satisfactorily accepted by users. One of the most commonly used evaluation methods is heuristic evaluation. In this method, the set of heuristics can significantly influence its performance. Although, the Nielsen's heuristics have been widely applied, the development of new specific-domain usability heuristics is increasing nowadays. The real need for providing new specific heuristics is the question that we pretend to solve through this work. This paper synthesize the results of a literature review conducted to analyze the progress in the development and use of usability heuristics for both, determining heuristics that could serve as basis for developing new ones, but also identifying activities that could be collected to establish a methodology to develop specific-domain usability heuristics. The review included studies from journals published between 2008 and 2015. It was possible to summarize the current knowledge concerning usability heuristics and identify gaps and new knowledge about this topic. Results showed the need for developing specific-domain usability heuristics and also served as basis to formalize a methodology which was named PROMETHEUS.

39-60

Authors: Maria L. Villegas, César A. Collazos, William J. Giraldo, Juan M. González

This paper focuses on presenting the use of an Activity Taxonomy as an Evaluation Framework of modeling elements that are recently used to capture activity specifications in the context of the HCI. The aims of the evaluation are: to validate the categories of an Activity Taxonomy for Interactive Systems and to analyze the level of understanding of engineers and students, who practice the development of interactive systems, about the modeling elements evaluated. The results of the evaluation are aimed to show which of the notational elements under evaluation have the features to properly represent the activity in the specification of interactive systems. Some of the conclusions of the study reveal that most of the notations do not differentiate the representation of the activity for the business and system levels of abstraction. There is also evidence that is necessary the incorporation of HCI topics, such as task modeling, in training of computer engineering, in order to reinforce the knowledge that students have in these subjects.

75-88

Authors: Ştefan Trausan-Matu

This paper has as starting point the idea that we need a hermeneutic perspective on human-computer interaction and, in special, on analysing text discurse. Consequently, it is discussed and argued the need of considering hermenophore tools (that help generating a hermeneutic perspective) for supporting the analysis of texts for unveil their meaning. An example and discussion is provided for the case of metaphors identification.