Usability evaluation methods for the web: A systematic mapping study

Context

In recent years, many usability evaluation methods (UEMs) have been employed to evaluate Web applications. However, many of these applications still do not meet most customers’ usability expectations and many companies have folded as a result of not considering Web usability issues. No studies currently exist with regard to either the use of usability evaluation methods for the Web or the benefits they bring.

Objective

The objective of this paper is to summarize the current knowledge that is available as regards the usability evaluation methods (UEMs) that have been employed to evaluate Web applications over the last 14 years.

Method

A systematic mapping study was performed to assess the UEMs that have been used by researchers to evaluate Web applications and their relation to the Web development process. Systematic mapping studies are useful for categorizing and summarizing the existing information concerning a research question in an unbiased manner.

Results

The results show that around 39% of the papers reviewed reported the use of evaluation methods that had been specifically crafted for the Web. The results also show that the type of method most widely used was that of User Testing. The results identify several research gaps, such as the fact that around 90% of the studies applied evaluations during the implementation phase of the Web application development, which is the most costly phase in which to perform changes. A list of the UEMs that were found is also provided in order to guide novice usability practitioners.

Conclusions

From an initial set of 2703 papers, a total of 206 research papers were selected for the mapping study. The results obtained allowed us to reach conclusions concerning the state-of-the-art of UEMs for evaluating Web applications. This allowed us to identify several research gaps, which subsequently provided us with a framework in which new research activities can be more appropriately positioned, and from which useful information for novice usability practitioners can be extracted.     

Operational active fire mapping and burnt area identification applicable to Mexican Nature Protection Areas using MODIS and NOAA-AVHRR direct readout data

Since 1999, the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of the Biodiversity (CONABIO) in Mexico has been developing and managing the “Operational program for the detection of hot-spots using remote sensing techniques”. This program uses images from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites and from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA-AVHRR), which are operationally received through the Direct Readout station (DR) at CONABIO. This allows the near-real time monitoring of fire events in Mexico and Central America. In addition to the detection of active fires, the location of hot spots are classified with respect to vegetation types, accessibility, and risk to Nature Protection Areas (NPA). Besides the fast detection of fires, further analysis is necessary due to the considerable effects of forest fires on biodiversity and human life. This fire impact assessment is crucial to support the needs of resource managers and policy makers for adequate fire recovery and restoration actions. CONABIO attempts to meet these requirements, providing post-fire assessment products as part of the management system in particular for satellite-based burnt area mapping. This paper provides an overview of the main components of the operational system and will present an outlook to future activities and system improvements, especially the development of a burnt area product. A special focus will also be placed on the fire occurrence within NPAs of Mexico.     

The research on mechanism of color management system based on iCAM color appearance model

Since color recording and color representing abilities of various media are very different, color information is often lost or misrepresented in the process of image transmission and reproduction. A Color Management System (CMS) based on iCAM color appearance model is presented in this paper. It can be used either in computer operation system software or application software for obtaining color consistency across different software applications, imaging devices, imaging media and viewing conditions.     

Integrating airborne multispectral imagery and airborne LiDAR data for enhanced lithological mapping in vegetated terrain

Practical and financial constraints associated with traditional field-based lithological mapping are often responsible for the generation of maps with insufficient detail and inaccurately located contacts. In arid areas with well exposed rocks and soils, high-resolution multi- and hyperspectral imagery is a valuable mapping aid as lithological units can be readily discriminated and mapped by automatically matching image pixel spectra to a set of reference spectra. However, the use of spectral imagery in all but the most barren terrain is problematic because just small amounts of vegetation cover can obscure or mask the spectra of underlying geological substrates. The use of ancillary information may help to improve lithological discrimination, especially where geobotanical relationships are absent or where distinct lithologies exhibit inherent spectral similarity. This study assesses the efficacy of airborne multispectral imagery for detailed lithological mapping in a vegetated section of the Troodos ophiolite (Cyprus), and investigates whether the mapping performance can be enhanced through the integration of LiDAR-derived topographic data. In each case, a number of algorithms involving different combinations of input variables and classification routine were employed to maximise the mapping performance. Despite the potential problems posed by vegetation cover, geobotanical associations aided the generation of a lithological map - with a satisfactory overall accuracy of 65.5% and Kappa of 0.54 - using only spectral information. Moreover, owing to the correlation between topography and lithology in the study area, the integration of LiDAR-derived topographic variables led to significant improvements of up to 22.5% in the overall mapping accuracy compared to spectral-only approaches. The improvements were found to be considerably greater for algorithms involving classification with an artificial neural network (the Kohonen Self-Organizing Map) than the parametric Maximum Likelihood Classifier. The results of this study demonstrate the enhanced capability of data integration for detailed lithological mapping in areas where spectral discrimination is complicated by the presence of vegetation or inherent spectral similarities.     

对DAG-MAP算法的研究

DAG－MAP是一个面向延迟优化的FPGA工艺映射算法,其中的标记过程是该算法的核心.文章对原算法中的标记过程进行了研究,并且提出了一个改进的标记方法.通过对MCNC标准测试电路的实验结果表明该算法比原算法更为有效,并且算法所用时间没有明显的增加.     

Parallel Implementation of a Class of Adaptive Signal Processing Applications

Recently, High Performance Computing (HPC) platforms have been employed to realize many computationally demanding applications in signal and image processing. These applications require real-time performance constraints to be met. These constraints include latency as well as throughput. In order to meet these performance requirements, efficient parallel algorithms are needed. These algorithms must be engineered to exploit the computational characteristics of such applications. In this paper we present a methodology for mapping a class of adaptive signal processing applications onto HPC platforms such that the throughput performance is optimized. We first define a new task model using the salient computational characteristics of a class of adaptive signal processing applications. Based on this task model, we propose a new execution model. In the earlier linear pipelined execution model, the task mapping choices were restricted. The new model permits flexible task mapping choices, leading to improved throughput performance compared with the previous model. Using the new model, a three-step task mapping methodology is developed. It consists of (1) a data remapping step, (2) a coarse resource allocation step, and (3) a fine performance tuning step. The methodology is demonstrated by designing parallel algorithms for modern radar and sonar signal processing applications. These are implemented on IBM SP2 and Cray T3E, state-of-the-art HPC platforms, to show the effectiveness of our approach. Experimental results show significant performance improvement over those obtained by previous approaches. Our code is written using C and the Message Passing Interface (MPI). Thus, it is portable across various HPC platforms. Received April 8, 1998; revised February 2, 1999.     

一个二阶非线性中立时滞微分方程的正解

研究了一个二阶非线性中立时滞微分方程,给出了关于此方程正解存在的一些充分条件,其优点在于省略了对任意的a〉0,aQ1（t）-Q2（t）都是最终非负的限制条件。最后通过数值例子说明研究结果的优越性。     

水泵选型应用系统中CAD在线绘图的设计与实现

水泵选型应用研究的目的是用计算机来代替传统的纸质资料。系统地介绍了在水泵选型应用系统中利用网络进行CAD在线绘图的特点、CAD在线绘图的设计构思以及实现方法,为B/S结构的水泵选型应用系统奠定基础。     

Structure quantitative map in application for AB2X4 system

Structure maps are constructed for AB₂X₄ (A = metal, B = three-valency element and X = O, S, Se, Te) system (>490 compounds). A way to improve the resolution of the maps is proposed. Crystal structure characteristic (symmetry) is represented on a quantitative scale (coordinate axe Z). The 3D structure diagram with approximating integral plane is constructed and a field of high symmetry compounds is specified with ion radii ratio R(A)/R(X) ≈ 0.60–0.85 and R(B)/R(X) ≈ 0.55–0.70.     

信息网格中具有动态变更适应性的元数据发布策略

信息源元数据的动态变更可能造成应用对信息源引用关系不一致，在不改应用程序的条件下，用户不能正确访问信息源。基于网格地址空间模型，使得应用程序通过虚拟层元数据，即应用领域元数据，来间接使用信息源元数据；当信息源元数据变更时，不是改应用程序而是通过调整信息源元数据和应用领域元数据之间的映射来保证应用对信息源引用关系的一致性，从元数据发布的角度出发，提出了一个具有动态适应性的元数据发布算法(Vega adaptive mapping)，通过此算法自动调整信息源元数据和应用领域元数据之间的映射；并将此算法相应的方法和现有的元数据发布方法进行了比较，比较结果表明此方法在适应元数据变更性方面具有一定的优越性。