Evaluation of a Usability Testing Guide for Mobile Applications Focused on People with Down Syndrome (USATESTDOWN)

  • Doris Cáliz
  • Javier Gomez
  • Xavier Alamán
  • Loïc Martínez
  • Richart Cáliz
  • Carlos Terán
Conference paper
First Online:
Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 10069)

Abstract

Usability testing of mobile applications involving people with Down syndrome is an issue that has not been comprehensively investigated. There is no single proposal that takes on board all the issues that could potentially be taken into account to deal with the specific needs of people with Down syndrome. We propose a guide for a usability testing process involving participants with Down syndrome. This guide is called USATESTDOWN. It is based on a literature review and experience gained at a number of workshops where people with Down syndrome used mobile devices. This paper briefly describes USATESTDOWN and its application at a special employment centre called PRODIS with 10 participants.

Keywords

Usability testing Mobile applications Cognitive disability Down syndrome Human computer interaction (HCI) Mobile devices 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access

References

  1. 1.
    International Standards Organization. ISO 9241–11. Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) – Part 11: Guidance on usability (1998)Google Scholar
  2. 2.
    Nielsen, J.: Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (1993)MATHGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Yussof, Rahmah Lob, Badioze Zaman, Halimah: Usability evaluation of multimedia courseware (MEL-SindD). In: Badioze Zaman, Halimah, Robinson, Peter, Petrou, Maria, Olivier, Patrick, Schröder, Heiko, Shih, Timothy K. (eds.) IVIC 2009. LNCS, vol. 5857, pp. 337–343. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    Feng, J., Lazar, J., Kumin, L., Ozok, A.: Computer usage by children with down syndrome: challenges and future research. ACM Trans. Accessible Comput. (TACCESS) 2(3). Article no. 13 (2010)Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    Haro, B.P.M., Santana, P.C., Magaña, M.A.: Developing reading skills in children with Down syndrome through tangible interfaces. In: Proceedings of the 4th Mexican Conference on Human-Computer Interaction - MexIHC 2012, p. 28 (2012)Google Scholar
  6. 6.
    Kirijian, A., Myers, M.: Web fun central: online learning tools for individuals with Down syndrome. In: Lazar, J. (ed.) Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse Users, pp. 195–230. Wiley, Chichester (2007)Google Scholar
  7. 7.
    Schulze, E., Zirk, A.: Personalized Smart Environments to Increase Inclusion of People with Down’s syndrome. Results of the Requirement Analysis State of the Art, p. 144 (2014)Google Scholar
  8. 8.
    Brandão, A., Trevisan, D.G., Brandão, L., Moreira, B., Nascimento, G., Vasconcelos, C.N., Clua, E., Mourão, P.T.: Semiotic inspection of a game for children with Down syndrome. In: Proceedings - 2010 Brazilian Symposium Games Digital Entertainment, pp. 199–210 (2011)Google Scholar
  9. 9.
    Cáliz, D., Martínez, L., Alamán, X., Terán, C., Cáliz, R.: ‘USATESTDOWN’ a proposal of a Usability testing guide for mobile applications focused on persons with Down syndrome. Ar-chivo Digital UPM, vol. 1, pp. 1–17 (2016)Google Scholar
  10. 10.
    Lepistö, A.: Usability evaluation involving participants with cognitive disabilities. In: Proceedings of the Third, pp. 305–308 (2004)Google Scholar
  11. 11.
    Nielsen, J.: Heuristic Evaluation. Usability Insp. Methods, pp. 25–62 (1994)Google Scholar
  12. 12.
    Zaman, B., Vanden Abeele, V., De Grooff, D.: Measuring product liking in preschool children: an evaluation of the Smileyometer and This or That methods. Int. J. Child-Comput. Interact. 1(2), 61–70 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Macedo, I., Trevisan, D.G.: A Method to Evaluate Disabled User Interaction: A Case Study with Down Syndrome Children. Univers. Access Human-Computer Interact. Des. Methods, Tools, Interact. Tech. eInclusion, pp. 50–58 (2013)Google Scholar
  14. 14.
    Kumin, L., Lazar, J.: A usability evaluation of workplace-related tasks on a multi-touch tablet computer by adults with down syndrome. J. Usability Stud. 7(4), 118–142 (2012)Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    Ramli, R., Zaman, H.B.: Designing usability evaluation methodology framework of Augmented Reality basic reading courseware (AR BACA SindD) for Down Syndrome learner. In: Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Electrical, Engineers Informatics, ICEEI 2011 (2011)Google Scholar
  16. 16.
    Cáliz, D., Martínez, L., Alamán, X., Terán, C., Cáliz, R.: Usability testing in mobile applications involving people with down syndrome: a literature review. In: ICAIT 2016 Conference (2016)Google Scholar
  17. 17.
    Cáliz, D., Alamán, X.: Usability Evaluation Method for Mobile Applications for the Elderly: A Methodological Proposal, pp. 252–260 (2014)Google Scholar
  18. 18.
    Jadán-Guerrero, J., Guerrero, L., López, G., Cáliz, D., Bravo, J.: Creating TUIs using RFID sensors—a case study based on the literacy process of children with down syndrome. Sensors 15(7), 14845–14863 (2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Fundación PRODIS (2016). http://www.fundacionprodis.org/
  20. 20.
    Gómez, J., Alamán, X., Montoro, G., Juan, C., Plaza, A.: Am ICog – Mobile technologies to assist people with cognitive disabilities in the work place. Adv. Distrib. Comput. Artif. Intell. Jornual 2(1), 9–17 (2011)Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Doris Cáliz
    • 1
  • Javier Gomez
    • 2
  • Xavier Alamán
    • 2
  • Loïc Martínez
    • 1
  • Richart Cáliz
    • 3
  • Carlos Terán
    • 3
  1. 1.CETTICO Research Group, ETSIINFTechnical University of MadridBoadilla del Monte, MadridSpain
  2. 2.Department of Computer EngineeringAutonomous University of MadridMadridSpain
  3. 3.FIS Group, Departamento de Informática y Ciencias de la Computación (DICC), EPNEscuela Politécnica NacionalQuitoEcuador

Personalised recommendations