Marco Pretorius

Nelson Mandela University | NMMU · Department of Computing Sciences

Usability evaluation techniques have evolved over several years to assess the user interface of systems with regard to efficiency, interaction flexibility, interaction robustness and quality of use. The evaluation of the user's thought process is difficult to access with traditional usability techniques. Eye movement data and eye fixations can supp...

Problems experienced with website usability can prevent users from accessing and adopting technology, such as e-Government. At present, a number of guidelines exist for e-Government website user experience (UX) design; however, the effectiveness of the implementation of these guidelines depends on the expertise of the website development team and o...

The focus of this paper is on user research conducted in rural areas to inform the design of a Government website. Focus groups and one-on-one interviews were conducted at Cape Access e-Centres in the Western Cape. This paper illustrates the method used to conduct the user research and explains the results of the study. Results provided insights on...

Industry in South Africa is becoming increasingly aware of the need for user experience design in the development of products and services. Problems experienced with usability prevent people from accessing, and eventually adopting technology, and a deep understanding of the users' needs is needed for building a successful service. User experience a...

Over the last decade, the Middle East has experienced remarkable developments in the travel and tourism industry. Travel bookings in Saudi Arabia is considered the largest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) worth more than $25 billion each year. The modern traveler expects the travel experience to be seamless, personalised and affordable. S...

This article focuses on the effectiveness of the self-help enrolment facility at the University of South Africa (Unisa) that forms an important part of the open and distance learning (ODL) model (Unia) officially introduced the self-help enrolment model in December 2008. The goal of the self-help enrolment system is to speed up personal enrolment a...

The Internet is reshaping government through improved public services. A deep understanding of the users' needs is crucial for building a successful digital service. User research can be used to understand how people live their lives, in order to more effectively respond to user needs with informed and inspired design solutions. What remains, large...

Youth-at-risk in the Western Cape are faced with various challenges such as poverty, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse and an uncertain future. Online youth information can help young people to find the right information and take their own informed decisions. The Internet is a powerful source of information and communication, as well as an integ...

The lack of citizen inclusion is found to be key in inhibiting e-Government initiatives. Users are often not involved in the process of designing a service and this results in users’ important needs not completely being met. A deep understanding of the users’ needs is crucial for building a successful digital service. It has become increasingly com...

The lack of citizen inclusion is found to be key in inhibiting e-Government initiatives. Users are often not involved in the process of designing a service and this results in users' important needs not completely being met. A deep understanding of the users' needs is crucial for building a successful digital service. It has become increasingly com...

Industry in South Africa has become increasingly aware, and desiring of, the application of user experience design in the development and delivery of products and services. However, no professional bodies (associations, councils, regulators, etc.) exist for the field in South Africa, the practice itself takes many forms and names and while demand,...

A deep understanding of the users’ needs is crucial for building a successful digital service. A website that does not meet the user’s needs or requirements increases the frustration of the user and the difficulty and complexity of the successful completion of tasks. User research can be used to understand how people live their lives, in order to m...

An academic group and discussion forum were established on Facebook for a cohort of postgraduate students studying ‘Concepts and Principles of eLearning’. The Forum had a constructivist, student-centric ethos, in which students initiated discussion topics, while the course leader and administrator facilitated. In previous research, content analysis...

An academic group and discussion forum were established on Facebook for a cohort of postgraduate students studying the concepts and principles of eLearning. The Forum had a constructivist, student-centric ethos, in which students initiated topics for discussion, while the course leader and administrator facilitated. Previous research has been condu...

The growth in Africa’s Internet and broadband sector has significantly increased in recent years, specifically in the e-Government sector. The Internet has become a crucial tool to disseminate information to citizens, but poorly designed websites can drive a wedge between a government and its citizens. Designing a user friendly and functional provi...

The growth in Africa's Internet and broadband sector has significantly increased in recent years, specifically in the e-Government sector. The Internet has become an essential tool to disseminate information to citizens; however, poorly designed websites cause frustration. This paper focuses on the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC) e...

This article focuses on the effectiveness of the self-help enrolment facility at the University of South Africa (Unisa) that forms an important part of the open and distance learning (ODL) model. Unisa officially introduced the self-help enrolment model in December 2008. The goal of the self-help enrolment system is to speed up personal enrolment a...

The accelerated growth of the Internet has inspired related research and the development and implementation of commercial E-Commerce (EC) applications. One of the related research areas is web site usability and the associated user interface design. Human-Computer Interface (HCI) guidelines specify that for an EC web site to be successful, it is im...

This paper investigates the value of eye tracking in evaluating the usability of a Learning Management System, at an open distance learning university where the users’ computer and Web skills vary significantly. Eye tracking utilize the users’ eye movements, while doing a task, to provide information about the nature, sequence and timing of the cog...

The importance of skills in information and telecommunications technology (ICT) has made e-skills research a national priority in South Africa. Existing e-skills research differentiates between different kinds of e-skills but not between e-skill competencies such as novice, competent and proficient. Towards addressing the bigger question of e-skill...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of usability and learnability in learning management systems (LMS) by considering the experiences of information and communications technology (ICT) experts and non-experts in using the LMS of an open-distance university. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses task-based u...

The learnability principle was originally formulated with computer-based applications mainly for adults in mind. In this paper we compare how children and adults learn to use an unfamiliar computer game to determine whether learnability has different meanings across generations. We recorded eye tracking data while users taught themselves to play a...

The Web is becoming the preferred delivery mode of learning management services and information distribution portals. Intensive research has been done towards improving the usability of these Web sites. Post-test questionnaires are often used as a tool in evaluating e-services. In this paper we investigated the reliability of post-test questionnair...

The strengths and weaknesses of heuristic evaluation have been well researched. Despite known weaknesses, heuristic evaluation is still widely used since formal usability testing (also referred to as empirical user testing) is more costly and time consuming. What has received less attention is the type of information heuristic evaluation conveys in...

The general increase in the use of information visualisation techniques has highlighted the need for methodologies to evaluate the user interface of software system utilising these techniques. Usability evaluation techniques have evolved over several years in order to assess the user interface of systems with regard to efficiency, interaction flexi...

The Web is becoming the preferred delivery mode of learning management services such as student enrolment and assignment submission. In developing countries the students’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills vary greatly and this influences their ability to use Learning Management Systems. Technology has been proposed as the tool f...

http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication_article/comp_v36_a12 Usability evaluation techniques have evolved over several years to assess the user interface of systems with regard to efficiency, interaction flexibility, interaction robustness and quality of use. The evaluation of the user's thought process is difficult to access with tradition...

A variety of network management tools have been developed to represent and analyse the large amount of data generated by network applications. The general increase of information visualisation techniques has also highlighted the need for principles and methodologies for evaluating network management tools. Eye movement data can supplement the data...