A quantitative usability assessment method for inclusion in software engineering courses

Abstract

Usability is recognized as a critically important quality of software, as evidenced by its inclusion in SE 2004: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Software Engineering. However, many techniques for designing useful, usable and desirable software depend on knowledge and skills in the behavioral sciences, making them difficult for SE students to learn and for SE educators to teach with confidence. This tutorial will introduce SE educators to a quantitative usability assessment method that has had over 100 papers validating its predictions in the Human-Computer Interaction literature and a tool embodying that method suitable for inclusion in SE courses.