(1946) USABILITY - SOFTWARE COMPANIES STILL NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SATISFY THEIR USERS

摘要

The usability of products, systems, and services has been an important factor of modern informationtechnology for more than 20 years. The spread of new, more diverse technology demands acontinuous involvement of future users in the development process. Nevertheless, well-knowncompanies still release products which were obviously insufficiently evaluated with users or notevaluated at all. An example would be Microsoft's Windows 8, which, according to usability expertJakob Nielsen, offers "disappointing usability for both novice and power users". Despite the longexistence and the known benefits of user-centered design, it seems that usability methods are onlylittle integrated into the development process of many companies.Since more than eight years, a range of usability lectures have been part of the education of engineersand developers at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien in Vienna, Austria. Universitiesof Applied Sciences focus on teaching state-of-the-art sciences which are directly applicable toeconomy goals in order to meet the requirements of companies. So how do companies handleusability in particular, what are their usability needs, and what skills do they miss from developers?These questions and more have been asked within an online survey in order to identify current trendsand needs, which can then be integrated in the development of existing and new usability lectures,preparing and equipping our students to fit the actual needs of economy.The survey has been sent to various companies in the fields of software development, IT services andconsulting, banking and financial services, public service, and industry, focusing on the Germanspeakingarea, mainly Austria. 81 participants of different companies shared their experiences on howthey see and encounter usability in their daily work life and what's important to them. The resultsindicate, among other findings, the still increasing importance of usability in the economy, but at thesame time, a lack of knowledge in the field of usability. Due to time and budget constraints, preferablysimple and cost-effective usability methods are to be applied within the development process in a firststep. The contrast of an increasing demand for usability and a simultaneous shortage of expertiserequires an even deeper integration of user centered design methods in software development studyprograms.