Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
need to develop new models that address the needs of web application development
[4]. The absence of a well-defined model for web applications has been explained by
two causes. Firstly, the scope of how a web application is defined varies greatly. Sec-
ondly, the web's legacy is as an information platform rather than an application plat-
form [8].
There are some general guidelines available on creating a development process for
web applications. [5] suggests combining the activities of traditional lifecycles with
those suggested for hypermedia. [6] suggests an evolutionary, or incremental, process
which addresses the needs of web application development through the following
activities: formulation, planning, analysis, modelling, page generation, testing and
customer evaluation. Finally, many agree that regardless of the type of application
being developed, the basic principles of software engineering should always apply.
Good design, solid testing and change control should all be used as they are histori-
cally proven to work [18, 6].
2.2 Role of Usability in Web Development Process
Web application usability goes beyond interface design and interaction issues specific
to web pages. This study has found that research on usability standards for the web
focuses almost exclusively on web sites and there is a lack of usability standards for
web applications and developers admit to defining standards as they go. They also
express confusion as to what standards they should conform to, those for web sites or
traditional applications [19]. In the absence of clear recommendations, this study
looks at how web applications share characteristics of both traditional applications
and web sites.
Web application front ends are accessed via a browser, just as web sites are. As far
as usability for the user interface is concerned, web applications can borrow from
guidelines common to web sites. Web applications share other usability issues with
web sites, such as: download times, browser preferences and access via different
devices, such as PDAs [11]. On the other hand, web applications may differ from web
sites when it comes to the importance of learnability. Learnability may be less critical
in web applications compared to web sites as they are likely to be accessed on a more
frequent basis. There is also a greater chance that some degree of training or docu-
mentation is available for web applications compared to informational web sites [20].
There is little evidence available on the level of usability being delivered in real
web applications today and how today's end users feel about usability standards. This
may be put down to the reluctance of companies to allow such information to become
public. But usability concerns for web sites focus on the UI and interaction issues
dealing with information, such as searching.
3 Case Studies
The case studies were restricted to companies that develop web applications. The
definition of web applications presented in section 1 has formed the basis for selecting
suitable companies. It was not limited to any genre of web application or to a geo-
graphical area. It was also considered immaterial if a company also developed tradi-
tional applications as long as a significant portion of development efforts focused on
