Abstract
Previous research on Planning Support Systems (PSS) showed that low usability of these computer-based tools is one of the reasons why they are not widely used by planning professionals. Few studies for evaluating PSS usability are performed, possibly because developers do not regard it as their task, do not have enough skills to conduct them, and have not been stimulated so far to appreciate their value. In this chapter, a framework is described that aims at guiding usability evaluation of PSS; it is developed on the basis of a more general usability evaluation framework. The current version of the framework has been applied to evaluate three PSS by performing a test with a small group of land use planners. Results of this user test are discussed, also providing some recommendations for the design of PSS, specifically those addressing Land Suitability Analysis (LSA), capable to generate a positive user experience.
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The support of CRC for Spatial Information is acknowledged. The authors are grateful to the land use planners who participated in the user test.
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Russo, P., Costabile, M.F., Lanzilotti, R., Pettit, C.J. (2015). Usability of Planning Support Systems: An Evaluation Framework. In: Geertman, S., Ferreira, Jr., J., Goodspeed, R., Stillwell, J. (eds) Planning Support Systems and Smart Cities. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18368-8_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18368-8_18
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