Silvana Roncagliolo

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso | PUCV · School of Computer Engineering

Customer eXperience is one of the key concepts in Service Science, an interdisciplinary research field oriented to the systematic innovation of services. The Tourist eXperience, as customer of specific services, is strongly related to the quality of the services that are offered. Online travel agencies generate online communities, where tourists ca...

A national park website extends (in certain way) a physical national park. It does not have a physical location so its elements and information can be appreciated from anywhere in the world. Usability is a well-known concept, for decades. User eXperience (UX) is a broader concept that encompasses usability. The usability and UX evaluation are impor...

It is generally agreed that usability is a basic attribute in software quality. User eXperience (UX) extends the usability concept beyond its traditional dimensions (effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction). UX refers to all user’s perceptions resulting from the use (or even the anticipated use) of a product, system or service. For more than two...

The use of e-learning for educational purposes has been the focus of researchers for a long time, because of the difficulty to determine if a tool based on this concept is able to instruct the educational content that a professor can easily teach on a classroom. In this document the available tools and teaching methods to deliver Adaptive Learning...

Social networks have existed in all stages of the human history. Digital systems only helped to globalize their use. Usability refers to the efficacy, efficiency, and satisfaction in achieving user’s goals through a product, system or service. User eXperience (UX) extends the usability concept to the whole range of user’s perception when using (or...

Usability is a basic attribute in software quality. Its complex and evolving nature is hard to describe in a unique definition. Usability refers to ease of use and the way users can perform their tasks. User eXperience (UX) goes beyond the three generally accepted usability’s dimensions: effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. UX covers all aspec...

User eXperience (UX) evaluation is a challenging task, especially for newcomers and when evaluating domain related aspects. Usability and UX in virtual museums is one of our current research topics. We focused on identified users’ needs, on developing a set of specific usability heuristics, and a methodology to asses UX in virtual museums. We condu...

The paper presents a study on the perception of 16 evaluators over a set of usability heuristics for smartphones - SMASH. All participants were asked to perform a heuristic evaluation of the mobile version of Facebook. Later on a survey was conducted based on the standard questionnaire that we developed. Evaluators perceive SMASH as an appropriate...

Online travel agencies generate online communities. Travelers share their opinions, comment on their experiences, and quantitatively evaluate services. Their quantitative and qualitative reviews offer valuable information for other potential travelers. The paper analyzes customers’ (quantitative) opinions extracted from www.hotelclub.com in Februar...

Heuristic evaluation is a well-known and widely accepted usability evaluation method. When performing a heuristic evaluation, generic or specific heuristics may be used. But forming heuristic evaluators may be a challenging task. The paper presents a study that evaluates the perception of (novice) evaluators on Nielsen’s usability heuristics. A sta...

Usability is a key concept that refers not only to software systems, but also to products and services. User eXperience (UX) extends the usability concept. The broader concept of Customer eXperience (CX) is emerging. There are well established usability evaluation methods, but evaluating UX is more challenging. UX evaluation methods are also able t...

There are many methods to assess the usability of interactive software systems. The Heuristic evaluation is one of the methods that allow finding many usability issues, based on a set of usability principles (heuristics). However, sets of generic usability heuristics may miss domain ‑ related usability aspects. Particularly, transactional web sites...

Several methods allow measuring the degree of usability of a software product. The heuristic evaluation is one of the most popular methods which allow finding more usability problems, in comparison to other methods. However, sets of generic usability heuristics may not evaluate (usability) aspects related to specific software. A set of usability he...

Heuristic evaluation is one of the widely used methods for evaluating usability. Several authors have developed different sets of usability heuristics in order to evaluate the usability of specific applications. In this regard, it is important to know if authors use a formal methodology to develop their heuristics. This paper presents several such...

User eXperience (UX) is one of the most important aspects when developing a simulator. It ensures that the final product is not just functional, but users find a value in what they are getting. The paper presents a set of heuristic to assess usability in driving simulators. It also defines a set of design recommendations focused on UX.

Usability is one of the most relevant attribute when evaluating a software product, application or a website, as it is important to analyze how the interaction design facilitates or hinders the user to achieve an objective in concrete. Moreover, the user experience expresses its positive or negative perception of a particular application through a...

The smartphone market is nowadays highly competitive. When buying a new device, users focus on visual esthetics, ergonomics, performance, and user experience, among others. Assessing usability issues allows improving these aspects. One popular method for detecting usability problems is heuristic evaluation, in which evaluators employ a set of usabi...

Human – Computer Interaction (HCI) should be a basic part of the formative process of all computer science professionals. Usability and User Experience (UX) were (re)defined by many authors and well recognized standards. UX is usually considered as an extension of usability. To move from usability to UX seems to be a tendency lately. Forming usabili...

Human – Computer Interaction (HCI) should be a basic part of the formative process of all Computer Science (CS) professionals. Usability and User Experience (UX) were (re)defined by many authors and well recognized standards. UX is usually considered as an extension of usability. To move from usability to UX seems to be a tendency lately. The lack...

Since 1999, the Iberoamerican Congress on Higher Education in Computing (CIESC) has been held as one of the main associated scientific events of the Latin American Conference on Informatics (CLEI). Its purpose has been to stimulate and provide a space for academics and professionals to discuss topics centered on undergraduate and graduate education...

There are multiple methods that permit measuring a software product's degree of usability. Heuristic evaluation is an inspection method widely used, since it allows finding many usability problems. Transactional websites have their own defining features; therefore general heuristics may not be appropriate when evaluating their usability. A set of u...

The massive use of internet provides information access all over the world. It represents a potential benefit for everyone, but also brings disadvantages when it comes to deliver the information in an effective manner. Intercultural aspects have to be explicitly considered when developing web applications. This paper proposes a set of usability heu...

Touchscreen-based mobile devices are very popular and the development of new devices and applications is demanded. Usability is critical for users when deciding which product to buy; it must be considered when designing the interface of new interactive products. This is why we propose a (preliminary) set of 7 design patterns for touchscreen-based m...

The idea of usability as something optional and only applicable in latest stages of the development process is obsolete. Usability is very valuable for users, reason why counting with proper tools for assessing usability in products like touchscreen-based mobile devices is needed. One traditional usability evaluation method is the heuristic evaluat...

This paper presents an empirical analysis about how the Nielsen’s usability heuristics are perceived by novice evaluators. Twenty-eight undergraduate students of an Informatics Engineering program were trained in usability and heuristic evaluations for this purpose. They were asked to perform a heuristic evaluation of a transactional Web site. A su...

Usability is a main issue which definitely affects the quality and success of any interactive product. Touchscreen-based mobile devices are very popular nowadays; the development of new devices and related applications is demanded by users around the world. These new products should be designed following a user-centered approach, which require syst...

Assessing usability in any software product may be a key factor for predicting its success or fail. Heuristic evaluation is the most commonly used usability evaluation method. It uses a set of recognized usability design principles (heuristics). Until now, the Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics have been widely used. However, such heuristics are to...

The challenge of developing highly usable interactive software systems has motivated several researchers to focus on providing new elements for designing and evaluating usability. The use of interaction and usability design patterns has been promoted to achieve this. A proposal to formally specify a new set of usability heuristics to be used in a h...

Usability is a main quality attribute for any interactive product. Usability in touchscreen-based mobile devices is something essential and should be considered when launching a new product; it could be a distinguishing feature in a rushing market, as it is the one of the mobile devices nowadays. Traditional methods for usability measuring do not r...

The Probabilistic Traveling Salesman Problem (PTSP) is a variation of the well known Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). This problem arises when the information about customers demand is not available at the moment of the tour generation and/or the tour re-calculating cost is too elevated. In this article, a Hybrid Algorithm combining Particle Swarm...

Usability is a main attribute of any interactive software system. Its relevance for Grid Computing applications is expected to increase, as the technical knowledge of grid users will gradually decrease. Usability evaluation for Grid Computing applications brings new challenges. A set of specific usability heuristics was defined and validated. The p...

Grid Computing is a relatively new, distributed computing technology, based on sharing different types of computational resources, located in various geographic locations. Usability evaluation for Grid Computing applications brings new challenges. There is a need for new usability evaluation methods or at least for the use of traditional evaluation...

Usability evaluation for applications based on emerging information technology brings new challenges. Virtual Worlds (VWs) are computer-simulated virtual environments accessed by multiple users, through their avatars. VWs constitute a growing space for collaborative play, learning and work. When evaluating VWs’ usability, there is a need for new ev...

Usability evaluation for applications based on emerging information technology brings new challenges. Grid Computing is a relatively new, distributed computing technology, based on sharing different types of computational resources, located in various geographic locations. Technical knowledge of grid users is expected to decrease in the future; tha...

Usability evaluation for applications based on emerging information technology brings new challenges. Is it the classical concept of usability still valid? Which are the dimensions of the (new) usability? How can it be measured? How should we develop for (better) usability? A methodology to develop usability heuristics for emerging applications is...

Most of the usability evaluation methods may be used in order to evaluate transactional Web applications. The problem arises when deciding which usability evaluation methods bring more information. A study has been done in order to develop a methodology for the usability evaluation of transactional Web applications. The methodology was developed an...

Grid Computing is a relatively new, distributed computing technology, based on sharing different types of computational resources, located in various geographic locations. Technical knowledge of grid users is expected to decrease in the future; that is why the usability of Grid Computing applications will become a main issue. Grid Computing applica...

The importance of human-computer interaction (HCI) education for software professionals should be evident and well understood, when designing computing programs, at all levels. Unfortunately there is a lack of HCI courses in Peruvian computing programs. Changing curricula is often difficult and involves a long bureaucratic process. However, making...

Interactive television (iTV) is the convergence of television with digital media technologies. iTV must be treated as a unique medium with its own set of constraints and opportunities. A set of principles to follow, when designing iTV applications, is presented. Heuristics to be applied when evaluating iTV applicationspsila usability is described.

Some authors argue that it can be complicated to build systems with both usability and security, but the reality is that there is no real conflict between these two properties. Certainly, it takes more work to build systems that have the properties of usability and security, but in many cases it is a matter of doing just a good job not miracles. Th...

Three languages for interaction modeling were evaluated, comparing their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Exercises questionnaires and interviews were applied.

The importance of human-computer interaction (HCI) education for software professionals should be evident and well understood, when designing Computer Science (CS) programs, at all levels. Unfortunately there is a lack of HCI courses in Chilean CS programs. It is difficult and usually highly bureaucratic to change curricula. It is only a matter of...

The present work details the experience on designing a multiagent system devoted to a dynamic Job Shop setting using the PASSI methodology. The agent system is in charge of the planning and scheduling of jobs and their operations on a set of available machines, while considering the materials assigned to each operation. Dynamicky concerns job order...

Differences in cooling rate of Cheddar cheese from pressing (35C) to aging temperature (3.5–12C) has been reported to be responsible for flavor variation within a production lot. During aging, starter and nonstarter bacteria contribute extensively to flavor quality. Temperature effects on these bacteria were quantified using cheese from a local pro...

Recently there have been a number of dif-ferent approaches developed for hierarchi-cal reinforcement learning in propositional setting. We propose a hierarchical version of relational reinforcement learning (HRRL). We describe a value function approximation method inspired by logic programming which is suitable for HRRL.

The importance of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) education for software professionals should be evident and well understood, when designing Computer Science (CS) programs, at all levels. Unfortunately there is a lack of HCI courses in Chilean CS programs. The first optional undergraduate HCI course was taught in Pontificia Universidad Católica de...