Using fNIRS in usability testing: understanding the effect of web form layout on mental workload

Lukanov, Kristiyan Emilov, Maior, Horia A. and Wilson, Max L. (2016) Using fNIRS in usability testing: understanding the effect of web form layout on mental workload. In: Proceedings of the 34th Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 7th-13th May 2016, San Jose, USA.

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Abstract

Amongst the many tasks in our lives, we encounter web forms on a regular basis, whether they are mundane like registering for a website, or complex and important like tax returns. There are many aspects of Usability, but one concern for user interfaces is to reduce mental workload and error rates. Whilst most assessment of mental workload is subjective and retrospective reporting by users, we examine the potential of functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a tool for objectively and concurrently measuring mental workload during usability testing. We use this technology to evaluate the design of three different form layouts for a car insurance claim process, and show that a form divided into subforms increases mental workload, contrary to our expectations. We conclude that fNIRS is highly suitable for objectively examining mental workload during usability testing, and will therefore be able to provide more detailed insight than summative retrospective assessments. Further, for the fNIRS community, we show that the technology can easily move beyond typical psychology tasks, and be used for more natural study tasks.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
RIS ID: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/980178
Additional Information: © ACM 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in Proceedings of the 34th Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'16), http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858236 ISBN 9781450333627
Keywords: Mental workload; web forms; usability; functional near-infrared spectroscopy; fNIRS
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Science > School of Computer Science
Depositing User: Wilson, Max
Date Deposited: 22 Jan 2016 09:28
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 20:05
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/31334

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