Quality model for the world wide web

This paper proposes the quality model and methodology that guides the Web site quality evaluation. The model can be viewed as a hierarchical tree with three levels. The first level is composed of six quality characteristics defined by ISO standards: functionality, usability, reliability, efficiency, maintainability and portability. The second level decomposes characteristics into subcharacteristics, which are further decomposed into third-level measurable indicators. The four stages of evaluation process are defined. The paper proposes the application of Goal-Question-Metrics model to evaluate indicators, subcharacteristics and characteristics, as well as the overall quality of the site. The proposed model and metrics are verified on the selected set of Web sites at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. In spite of tremendeous growth of the World Wide Web in the last several years, the number of Web sites that offer useful and reliable information is still negligable. The quality of the information delivered through the Web is not merely the result of good design and visual appereance of the site, but is a part of a much broader process in which the information and its presentation are tailored according to users' needs and expectations. Therefore, a high-quality Web site is the one that meets the users'