Increased website popularity through compliance with usability guidelines
Scowen, Greg
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Scowen, G. (2007, October 2). Increased website popularity through compliance with usability guidelines (Dissertation). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/1190
Permanent link to OUR Archive version:
http://hdl.handle.net/10523/1190
Abstract:
To create more interest is usability awareness in website development, further benefits of usability need to be introduced and examined. This paper attempts to identify and measure a positive correlation between compliance with usability guidelines and the popularity of a website. Showing a significant correlation between usability and popularity would promote further investigations into the importance of usability and could lead to an increase in usability studies within website development projects. There is a gap of knowledge in this area and this study is intended to create a foundation for future research into this issue.
To identify and measure this relationship, a sample of E-learning websites were reviewed and their usability scored using a web-based evaluation system developed during the study. This usability score was then tested against five different ranking systems using Spearman‟s Rank correlation method.
The results of these tests show a strong correlation between compliance with usability guidelines and website popularity. The five ranking systems also showed positive correlations to each-other and to the usability of the sites.
The conclusion drawn from these results is that compliance with usability guidelines could be a way to achieve higher website popularity and visitor numbers.
Date:
2007-10-02
Degree Name:
Diploma for Graduates
Degree Discipline:
Information Science
Pages:
66
Keywords:
Multimedia Systems Research Laboratory
Research Type:
Dissertation