WebRemUSINE: a tool for usability evaluation of web applications

We have developed a method and an associated tool to detect usability problems in Web interfaces through a remote evaluation where users and evaluators can be separated in time and space. Our approach combines two techniques that are usually applied separately: empirical testing and model-based evaluation. The reason for this integration is that models can be useful to detect usability problems but their use can be much more effective if they can be related to the actual use of a system. Our tool is able to analyse the possible inconsistency between the actual user interactions and the task model of the Web site that describes how its concrete design assumes that activities should be performed. To support remote evaluation, we have developed a technique that makes it possible to record user actions during a site visit. The analysis of the log data is based on a comparison of the traces of actions performed with the structure of the task model. This analysis provides evaluators with a number of results that are related to the tasks that users intend to perform and the Web pages and their mutual relationships.