Re‐engineering the usability‐testing process for live multimedia systems

Purpose – This paper seeks to present a comparative study of the traditional usability‐testing process and the re‐engineered usability‐testing process for live multimedia systems. Design/methodology/approach – Provides an overview of current usability‐testing techniques and usability laboratory configurations, and identifies some gaps in the traditional usability‐testing approach. Findings – Traditional usability‐testing procedures are suitable for testing systems in the static environment but prove to be sub‐optimal in testing systems for dynamic (real‐time) environments. Originality/value – The traditional set‐up is compared with innovative laboratory configuration, which consists of three computer systems: the test system in the middle augmented by two systems on either side that function as the scenario presenter and the data collection system. The re‐engineered usability‐testing process streamlined usability experiments and reduced the task completion times.