Usability heuristics for online virtual
worlds
Viktorija Butkutė, Kristina Lapin
Vilnius University
Content
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife project
About virtual worlds
Motivation for usability heuristics
User needs research
Heuristics for 3D virtual worlds
Conclusions
2 IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for usability heuristics
User needs research
Heuristics for 3D virtual worlds
Conclusions
Objective
to create a safe, democratic and legally
ruled 3D collaborative environment
Novelty
Issues of security and trust
In-world legal framework
Supreme Constitution, a Constitution of
Virtual Nation, a set of contracts
Dispute resolution and voting mechanisms
hybrid peer-to-peer infrastructure
3 IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Vertical application
Virtual University
Extention of Web 2.0
information as a content
asynchronous communication
synchronous communication
interaction as a content
4
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for usability heuristics
Research of user needs
Heuristics for 3D virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Learning materials
Static
searchable for learner’s queries
in 2D environment
Interactive objects in 3D environment
5
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for usability heuristics
User needs research
Heuristics for 3D virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Learning motivation
Learning environment
constantly gratifying
encouraging social interaction
providing playful experiences
6
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Two types of virtual worlds
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas7
fully immersive
virtual reality
environment
non-immersive
desktop web-based
virtual environments
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D virtual worlds
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Usability evaluations of VW
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas8
Formative usability evaluations
expert inspections and usability testing
Heuristic evaluation
existing heuristics: appropriate for 2D GUI
Virtual world usability aspects
Integration of input-output devices
Navigation
Intuitiveness and simplicity of objects
manipulation
Comfort of system design
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for usability heuristics
Research of user needs
Heuristics for 3D virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds (VW)
Usability evaluation
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas9
Socialability aspects
conversation forms
high quality synchronous realistic communication
text and voice chats, videoconferencing ...
coordination
verbal and non-verbal communication
schedules, rules and convention
shared external representations
awareness
supporting distance collaboration
rendering of surrounding activities
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
User needs in virtual worlds
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas10
User – visitor and content creator
Presentation usable graphical user interface
rich photorealistic environment
avatars of both genders, various age and appearance
modest hardware requirements
Activity public and private spaces and communication
realistic interaction and movements flying, teleportation
import of external objects
Rules licensing and intellectual protection
conventions and legal rules
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Socialiability heuristics
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas11
The purpose of virtual community (VC)
VC has a clear and meaningful name
Purpose is stated, defined clearly and briefly
Members and their activities
Member has an account
Ability to form groups and communities
Clearly separated user roles
Attendance of member is properly visualized
Active members - promoted and motivated
Motivation for continuous participation
Supported effective communication and collaboration is supported
Rules
Rules for users’ registration and attendance
Control of the behavior of community members
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Usability heuristics
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas12
U1. Navigation
U1.1. Navigation is intuitive and memorable
U1.2. Minimal use of additional windows
U1.3. Minimal use of deep hierarchical structure
U1.4. The system ensures the consistency between
navigation information
U2. Accessibility
U2.1. Adaptation to user devices and tools
U2.2. For possible problems - a set of predefined solutions
U2.3. Technical requirements are clearly defined
U2.4. A short time for downloading and installing the tool
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Usability heuristics
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas13
U3. Information delivery and presentation
U3.1. The convenience of information transfer, acquirement and
search.
U3.2. The system provides only complete and updated information
U3.3. Redundant usage of colors is avoided
U3.4. Usage of animated and graphical elements is limited
U3.5. Information is delivered consistently and coherently
U3.6. The system provides help for users
U4. Dialog
U4.1. The system ensures that protocol of dialog usage can be
easily learned
U4.2. The user controls the system behavior, not vice versa
U4.3. The system response is predictable
U4.4. The system response is informative
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Usability heuristics
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas14
U5. Security
U5.1. The system provides tools for error managing
U5.2. The system prevents user from making mistakes.
U5.3. The user is able to cancel the last performed actions
U5.4. The security of confidential information and
intellectual property
U6. Consistency
U6.1. Prediction of the result of performed actions
U6.2. Ability to the influence of past actions to present
state
U6.3. Ability to apply an experience from other systems
U6.4. Ability to perform more than several tasks at the
same time
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Not covered user needs
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas15
Multiple interfaces
messaging, maps, inventory, avatar movement
control, search, object editor, etc.
Interaction between avatars is analogous
to people interaction in the real world
Various kinds of communication between
avatars
Extending the functionality of the virtual
world using given tools
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Heuristics from user research
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas16
User forums – a tool for user research
New possibility to do user research
Second Life , Active Worlds and There
Critical flaws with Second Life
Inventory management heuristics
U3.7. Inventory - searched, filtered and sorted
U3.8. An adequate response while attaching
objects to an inventory asset
Balancing GUI with 3D screen
Account transfer
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Conclusions
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas17
Analysed data sources Experience gained from WEB 2.0 tools
3D virtual world user forums
Virtual worlds
socialability aspects
synchronous communication
non-verbal communication
playful experiences
10 groups of heuristics
with operationalisations
EU FP7 ICT VirtualLife
About virtual worlds
Motivation for Usability heuristics
Research of User needs
Heuristics for 3D Virtual world
Conclusions
Usability heuristics
for online virtual
worlds
Usability heuristics for online
virtual worlds
Viktorija Butkutė, Kristina Lapin
Vilnius University
[email protected], [email protected]
IT 2010, 22 April 2010, Kaunas18
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