Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
With the growth of the software industry, many development process models have
emerged, such as the waterfall, iterative and agile models. Companies are also placing
an increasing emphasis on the importance of compliance with standards such as ISO
9001 or the use of best practice models such as the Capability Maturity Model Inte-
gration (CMMI). But despite the number and variety of models and frameworks, there
is evidence that SMEs find it difficult to adhere fully to any one model or set of stan-
dards [3].
Recently there has been a call for new development process models that address
the unique requirements of web application development [4]. Such requirements in-
clude a short development lifecycle and a shorter shelf life of new functionality. They
must also keep pace with the rapidly changing technology on which they rely. There
are general guidelines available on what a web application process should incorpo-
rate. Suggestions include combining the activities of traditional models with those of
hypermedia design models [5]. Alternatively, an incremental process is recom-
mended, incorporating activities that address the needs of web application develop-
ment [6]. Despite these guidelines, there is evidence that most web development is
still largely ad-hoc and researchers liken it to the early days of traditional software
development [7, 8].
ISO 9241-11, a guidance on usability, defines usability in terms of measurable ob-
jectives, stating: “
the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to
achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified
context of use
”. Guidelines for web usability include: the degree of visual quality,
degree of customization, tracking user activity, and degree of proactivity [5]. How-
ever, usability guidelines for the web focus almost exclusively on web sites and fail to
identify usability issues unique to web applications. Even web application developers
are confused about usability standards and whether they should conform to web site
standards or Windows standards [19].
User-Centred Design (UCD) is an effort to involve the user in all stages of a soft-
ware development process. There are many UCD models, such as ISO 13407 or
industry models such as IBM's. Much research to date on the practice of UCD in
companies assumes that a reasonably defined development process exists in the first
place. For this reason, the significance of this study is that it investigates whether a
well-defined development process indeed exists and if so, whether usability practices
are incorporated into that process.
1.1 Research Aims
This study examines SMEs understanding of usability, what usability techniques they
currently practice and how well they believe usability is represented in their develop-
ment process. It analyses the software development process SMEs claim to use and
looks at whether the process is actually followed in a typical project. By comparing
results across several case study companies, this study investigates whether common
issues and attitudes exist and how their practices compare to software development
models and usability standards. By investigating the typical development process and
what usability techniques are being used, the aim of this study is to set the ground-
work for further investigation into whether SMEs find it difficult to follow software
