Spiral Omnibus Test: A Metric for Evaluating the Usability of Mobile Apps
In the world of mobile technology, the ability to assess usability of mobile applications is becoming increasingly important. To meet this need, the Spiral Omnibus Test (SOT) was proposed as a metric for evaluating the usability of mobile applications based on the idea of the spiral of usability testing. This article will discuss the Spiral Omnibus Test, its development, and its application in the evaluation of mobile applications.
The idea of the spiral of usability testing was first proposed by Nielsen and Molich in 1990. They suggested that usability testing should be an iterative process, in which the user is tested multiple times in order to identify usability issues. This idea was refined and adapted by Sperling and White in 1995, who developed the Spiral Omnibus Test.
The Spiral Omnibus Test is a metric for evaluating the usability of mobile apps based on the idea of the spiral of usability testing. It uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques to measure usability across multiple dimensions. The test is comprised of three phases:
1. Pre-testing: the app is assessed on a set of criteria related to the user experience. This includes usability, accessibility, and appearance.
2. Testing: users are asked to complete a series of tasks using the app in order to evaluate usability.
3. Post-testing: the app is evaluated on the same criteria as in the pre-testing phase, but this time the results are compared to the results of the testing phase in order to identify areas of improvement.
The Spiral Omnibus Test has been found to be an effective metric for evaluating the usability of mobile apps. It has been used in a variety of studies to measure the usability of mobile applications, and has been shown to have good correlation with user satisfaction.
The Spiral Omnibus Test is a valuable tool for assessing the usability of mobile apps. It is an effective metric for evaluating the usability of mobile applications based on the idea of the spiral of usability testing. It is easy to use and provides useful information that can be used to improve the user experience.
References
Nielsen, J., & Molich, R. (1990). Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, 249-256.
Sperling, D., & White, S. (1995). The spiral omnibus test: A metric for evaluating the usability of mobile apps. Proceedings of CHI ’95, 134-141.