Recommendations for Usability Testing in Ubiquitous Applications

Abstract

Ubiquitous systems change the way users interact with computers, because their services must be available anytime and everywhere, supporting users in several everyday activities. Thus, there is a high risk of users feeling annoyed and overwhelmed by ubiquitous systems. It is, therefore, essential to evaluate the quality of use in those systems. One of the methods to perform this activity is the usability testing. However, the traditional process does not take into account specific characteristics from ubiquitous systems, for example context-awareness, transparency, attention, calmness, and mobility. This paper provides eight recommendations for usability testing in ubiquitous applications based on a literature review and on the authors experience with the evaluation of those systems.