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David A. Caulton

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Publications by David A. Caulton (bibliography)

2001

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Caulton, David A. (2001): Relaxing the homogeneity assumption in usability testing. In Behaviour and Information Technology, 20 (1) pp. 1-7.

“Much attention has been paid to the question of how many subjects are needed in usability research. Virzi (1992) modelled the accumulation of usability problems with increasing numbers of subjects and claimed that five subjects are sufficient to find most problems. The current paper argues that this answer is based on an important assumption, namely that all types of users have the same probability of encountering all usability problems. If this homogeneity assumption is violated, then more subjects are needed. A modified version of Virzi's model demonstrates that the number of subjects required increases with the number of heterogeneous groups. The model also shows that the more distinctive the groups, the more subjects will be required. This paper will argue that the simple answer 'five' cannot be applied in all circumstances. It most readily applies when the probability that a user will encounter a problem is both high and similar for all users. It also only applies to simple usability tests that seek to detect the presence, but not the statistical prevalence, of usability problems.”

1997

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Caulton, David A. and Dye, Ken (1997): Do Users Always Benefit When User Interfaces Are Consistent?. In: Thimbleby, Harold, O'Conaill, Brid and Thomas, Peter J. (eds.) Proceedings of the Twelfth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers XII August, 1997, Bristol, England, UK. pp. 57-66.

“Do users always learn a new program faster if its UI is consistent with a previously learned user interface? Most UI style guides claim they do. A study is described that refutes this claim by demonstrating a case where a version of Microsoft Project that is less consistent with Microsoft Office is more usable to expert Office users than one that is more consistent with Office. It is proposed that the inconsistent version is more usable because Microsoft Project is a different class of application -- more vertical -- and thus different UI techniques are appropriate. It is argued that users benefit from consistent interfaces where programs perform similar functions over a wide range of user goals, but in more vertical applications and where the user's goals are different, appropriateness to purpose is more important than consistency.”

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