Abstract
This study analysed Student Internet Users’ (SIUs’) perception of Web usability. Adopting a user testing method, seven Web Usability Factors (WUFs) were tested for their significance in affecting the ease of use of website. Several elements in websites were also tested for their significance in affecting the WUFs. Result shows the most significant WUF is related to the aesthetic appeal of a website, i.e., Use of Colour and Font. However, it was found that most Web developers are not focusing on this important WUF. Elements such as site map, site search, product image catalogue and others were also found to positively affect SIUs’ perception of the WUFs. The results presented in this paper can be used as guidelines for designing usable websites for SIUs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abacus Web Services: A Usability Overview (2003). Available at http://abacuswebusability.com/usability.htm
Agarwal, R., Venkatesh, V.: Assessing a Firm’s Web presence: a heuristic evaluation procedure for the measurement of usability. Inf. Syst. Res. 13, 168–186 (2002)
Belsley, D.A., Kuh, E., Welsch, R.E.: Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity. Wiley, New York (1980)
Blythe, S.: Designing online courses: user-centred practises. Comput. Comp. 18(4), 329–346 (2001)
Brady, L., Phillips, C.: Aesthetics and usability: a look at colour and balance. Usability News, 5.1 (2003). Available at http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/51/aesthetics.htm
Brajnik, G.: Automatic Web usability evaluation: what needs to be done? (2000). Available at http://www.tri.sbc.com/hfWeb/brajnik/hfWeb-brajnik.html
Copas, G.M.: Can Internet shoppers be described by personality traits? Usability News, 5.1 (2003). Available at http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/51/personality.htm
Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G., Beale, R.: Human Computer Interaction. Prentice Hall, UK (1993)
Ekman, P.: An argument for basic emotions. Cogn. Emot. 6, 169–200 (1992)
Epstein, S.: Integration of the cognitive and psychodynamic. Am. Psychol. 49, 709–724 (1994)
Ezquerra, N., Braal, L., Garcia, Cooke, C., Krawczynska, E.: Interactive, knowledge-guided visualization of 3D medical imagery. Future Gener. Comput. Syst. 15(1):59–73 (1999)
Ginige, A., Murugesan, S.: The essence of Web engineering—managing the diversity and complexity of Web application development. IEEE Multimed. 8, 22–25 (2001)
Goleman, D.: Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ. Bloomsbury, London (1996)
Greenspan, R.: Online Asians lead in income, e-commerce (2004). Available at http://www.clickz.com/stats/big_picture/demographics/article.php/3326041
Helander, M.G.: Theories and models of electronic commerce. In: Proceedings of the IEA 2000/HFES 2000 Congress, vol 2, pp 770–773 (2000)
Henninger, S.: A methodology and tools for applying context-specific usability guidelines to interface design. Interact. Comput. 12(3), 225–243 (1999)
Hix, D., Hartson, H.R.: Developing User Interfaces. Ensuring Usability Through Product and Process. Wiley, New York (1993)
Hofstede, G.: Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (2001)
Internet World Statistics: Asia Marketing Research, Internet Usage, Population Statistics and Information (2007). Available at http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia.htm
Kirakowski, J., Claridge, N., Whitehand, R.: Human centred measures of success in Web Site design. In: Proceedings of the 1998 4th Conference on Human Factors and the Web, 5 June 1998, Basking Ridge, NJ, USA (1998). Available at http://www.research.microsoft.com/users/marycz/hfWeb98/kirakowski/index.htm
Lindgaard, G.: Does emotional appeal determine perceived usability of Web sites. In: Straker, L., Pollock, C. (eds.) Proceedings of the 1999 CybErg: the Second International Cyberspace Conference on Ergonomics, Perth, Western Australia, The International Ergonomics Association Press, Curtin University of Technology, pp. 202–211 (1999)
Looney, M., Lyman, P.: Portals in higher education. EDUCAUSE Review, July/August 2000
McDonough, B.: Cingular wireless goes to college. Wireless News Factor (2001). Available at http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/12582.html
Nathan, R.J., Yeow, P.H.P., Murugesan, S.: Key usability factors for service-oriented Websites for students: an empirical study. Online Inf. Rev. 32(3), 302–324 (2008)
Nielsen, J.: Nielsen’s Heuristic Evaluation (1993). Available at http://www.acm.org/~perlman/question.cgi?form=NHE
Nielsen, J.: The need for speed. Alertbox (1997). Available at http://www.useit.com
Nielsen, J.: Jacob Nielsen interview (1999). Available at http://webreference.com/new/nielsen2.html
Nielsen, J.: Is navigation useful? Alertbox (2000). Available at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000109.html
Nielsen, J., Norman, DA.: Usability is Not Luxury (2001). Available at http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/usabilityIsNotLuxury.html
Nielsen, J., Tahir, M.: Homepage usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed. New Riders Publishing, Indianapolis (2001)
Norman, D.A.: Emotion and design: attractive things work better. Interact. Mag. 9(4), 36–42 (2002)
Peterson, C.J.: Seven steps to easier Web navigation (2000). Available at http://www.smartisans.com/articles/web_navigation.aspx
Sharif, R.: Study on Malaysian Internet use. The Star In-Tech, pp. 3 (2003)
Teo, H.H., Oh, L.B., Lui, C., Wei, K.K.: An empirical study of the effects of interactivity on Web user attitude. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud. 58, 281–305 (2003)
Tilson, R., Dong, J., Martin, S., Kieche, E.: Factors and principles affecting the usability of four e-commerce sites. In: Proceedings of Human Factors and the Web (1998). Available at http://www.research.microsoft.com/users/marycz/hfWeb98/tilson/index.htm
Tractinsky, N., Katz, A.S., Ikar, D.: What is beautiful is usable. Interact. Comput. 13(2), 127–145 (2000)
Travis, D.: Back to Drawing Board: Why e-Commerce Sites Need to Focus on Usability? (2000) Available at http://www.system-concepts.com
Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J., Warkentin, M., Chung, H.M.: Electronic Commerce—A Managerial Perspective, pp. 131–133. Prentice Hall, New Jersey (2002)
Turban, E., King, D., Viehland, D., Lee, J.: Electronic Commerce—A Managerial Perspective. Pearson Education, New Jersey (2006)
Yeow, P.H.P., Nathan, R.J.: An empirical study of factors affecting the usability of Web Sites from the perspective student Internet users. In: Proceedings of Nordic Ergonomics Society Conference, Iceland (2003)
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Multimedia University for generously funding this research. The authors also thank the SIUs who evaluated the websites and the personnel who assisted in the computer labs. Truly the whole-hearted collaboration from the different parties involved in this study has made the research a success. The authors also thank Prof. Martin G. Helander, Prof. Hall Hendricks and Dr. Kazutaka Kogi for their invaluable input during the presentation of the preliminary results in SEAMEC, 2003.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix A
Appendix A
Table 31
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nathan, R.J., Yeow, P.H.P. An empirical study of factors affecting the perceived usability of websites for student Internet users. Univ Access Inf Soc 8, 165–184 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-008-0138-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-008-0138-8