JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

Abstract

Usability is described as follows “The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use”. Usability plays a crucial role in the success of interactive products and services. With good usability can be achieved an important competitive advantage in an ever-growing market if it is involved in software products development life cycle. User experience (UX) is based on people’s expectations and the following emotions and it involves extensively everything that happens outside the screen. UX design aims to emphasize features that are bringing pleasure in addition to practicality. Usability evaluation is easy and very cost-effective way to analyze user interface and find possible usability problems. In general, the empirical methods like heuristic evaluation and usability testing are the most used and principal means to evaluate user interfaces.

This thesis focuses on exploring the usability of Kodinportti Mobile application. The motivation for the study is to improve its user interface (UI) more user-friendly using usability research methods that include heuristic evaluation, usability testing, and user experience research. The practical work in the study is responsible by the University of Oulu usability testing course student group and the group also reports the results of research. The goal of the study is to redesign the app’s UI. Kodinportti Mobile is designed to meet the needs of the residents of the housing association and serves as a supplement to the electronic bulletin board for the residents. Mobile application UI design applies the same basic guidelines as any other UI design process and in mobile application UI design, it is often recommended to keep it simple as possible and cut out as much as possible.

The results of usability research revealed several flaws in the apps usability and user experience. In the final phase of the thesis, the concept plan of new UI was designed based on the research results. There was also a perception during the process that it would be recommendable that designers are involved in all stages of the process. That would improve the process and minimize the possibility of misunderstandings during the process, which will certainly have a positive impact on the result.