Exploring the Quality in Use of Web 2.0 Applications: The Case of Mind Mapping Services

Abstract

Abstract.Research in Web quality has addressed quality in use as the most important factor affecting the wide acceptance of software applications. It could be seen as comprised of two complementary concepts, usability and user experience, thus focusing on the employment of more user-centered evaluations. Nevertheless, in the context of Web 2.0 applications, this topic has still not attracted enough attention from the HCI community. This paper addresses quality in use of Web 2.0 applications on the case of mind mapping services. The evaluation methodology brings together three complementary methods. Estimated quality in use was measured by means of logging actual use method while the perceived quality in use was evaluated with both retrospective thinking aloud (RTA) method and questionnaire. The contribution of our work is twofold. Firstly, we provided empirical evidence that proposed methodology altogether with model, set of attributes and measuring instruments is appropriate for evaluating quality in use of Web 2.0 applications. Secondly, the analysis of qualitative data revealed that performance and effort based attributes considerably contribute to the success of mind mapping services.

Development of a Methodology for Evaluating the Quality in Use of Web 2.0 Applications

“…In the first experiment, two methods were employed in order to gather both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (retrospective thinking aloud, RTA) data about the perceived quality of cloud based applications for collaborative writing [9]. In the second experiment [8], the research methodology was extended with the logging actual use method. The subjective assessment of Web 2.0 applications for mind mapping was conducted with the use of a questionnaire and RTA while the objective data about mouse movements, mouse clicks, keystrokes and time on task were gathered by means of the Mousotron tool [1].…”

Mobile Quality of Social Web Applications Designed for Collaborative Writing

“…As a follow up to the initial set of quality attributes proposed by Orehovački [27], evaluation methodology introduced in [24], their validation on the representative sample of various Web 2.0 applications when they have been used in their native environment [26,[31][32][33] as well as games [28], and their refinements [25,29], a novel evaluation framework adapted to the context of using social web application on mobile devices was proposed. The adapted version of the conceptual model is comprised of five quality categories which are further decomposed into 37 quality attributes.…”

Identifying Relevant Dimensions for the Quality of Web Mashups: An Empirical Study

“…Drawing on a comprehensive literature review that included prior studies on the assessment of mashups [5,9,11], mashup components [6], mashup tools [37], and Web 2.0 applications designed for collaborative writing [30,31,33], mind mapping [33,35,36], and diagramming [31,35], an initial pool of 165 items meant for measuring diverse facets of quality in the context of mashups was designed. To ensure content validity at all levels of granularity in the model, the relevance of items was examined by two independent mashup experts on a three-point scale (1-mandatory, 2 -desired, 3 -not relevant).…”