Description

The Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks has rich experience in research of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) by exploring and validating usability evaluation methods (UEM) for research and practice in user interface design, implementation and evaluation. This research includes: Eye tracking together with a variety of usability evaluation methods, including observations, interviews, retrospective think aloud, etc.; measuring navigational consistency in applications; identification of usability problems (UPs) as well as user experience (UX) profiles from which we can prepare redesign proposals for the prototype improvement.

Usability Lab equipment:

Laboratory equipment illustrates the experimental environment for the evaluation of interaction designs and visualization techniques. It is equipped with modern ICT-supported technologies form a general purpose workstations, laptops, servers, heterogenic network access and high-end testing equipment including a Tobii T60 eye-tracking system and Tobii Studio software. Tobii T60 Eye Tracker (www.tobii.com) is integrated in a high-resolution 15-inch TFT wide screen monitor, and designed for on-screen eye tracking studies that require a large stimulus display. It offers high-quality tracking over wide-screen gaze angles and allows for eye tracking studies of detailed stimuli. The high accuracy and precision of the eye tracking technology ensures that the research results are reliable.

Research activities

The Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks, has participated so far as coordinator or partner in 16 projects from the Framework Programme of EU (4 FP7, 7 FP6, 3 FP5 and 2 FP4), and in a number of research projects from other EU programmes. From 2005-2009 we were involved in a usability evaluation focused EU project COST294-MAUSE: Towards the MAturation of IT USability Evaluation (www.cost294.org), where the ultimate goal was to bring more science to bear on Usability Evaluation Methods (UEM) development, evaluation, and comparison, aiming for results that can be transferred to industry and educators. Gained knowledge and experience was used in a usability evaluation of different ICT applications, developed within other EU projects, where we were responsible for project results evaluation, such as:

• Usability evaluation of Virtual Learning Environment Merlab / EU LdV project Merlab / www.merlab.eu
• Usability and behavior evaluation of Virtual conference centre Global PLAZA/ EU FP7 project GLOBAL / www.global-project.eu
• Usability evaluation of OpenScout portal /EU eContentPlus project OpenScout / www.openscout.net
• Usability and user-experience evaluation of the eLearning Environment SELPRAF/EU LdV project SELPRAF/ www.selpraf.eu

Currently we are partners of another EU COST project from the usability domain: TwinTide – Towards the Integration of Transectioral IT Design and Evaluation (http://twintide.org) where the main objective of the action is to harmonize research and practice on design and evaluation methodologies for computing artifacts, across sectors and disciplines.

JOURNAL PAPERS

1. PIPAN, Matija, ARH, Tanja, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. Evaluation cycle management – model for selection of the most applicable learning management system. WSEAS transactions on advances in engineering education, 2008, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 129-136.
2. ARH, Tanja, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. A case study of usability testing – the SUMI evaluation approach of the EducaNext Portal. WSEAS transactions on information science and applications, 2008, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 175-181.
3. LAI-CHONG LAW, Effie, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka, PIPAN, Matija. Analysis of user rationality and system learnability: performing task variants in user tests. Behav. inf. technol.. [Print ed.], 2007, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 421-436.
4. JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka, LAI-CHONG LAW, Effie, ARH, Tanja. An assessment of the usability of internet based education system in a cross-cultural environment: the case of interreg cross-border program in Central Europe. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. [Print ed.], 2007, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 66-75.
5. ARH, Tanja, DEBEVC, Matjaž, KOCJAN-STJEPANOVIČ, Tanja, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. Testiranje uporabniške prijaznosti na primeru izobraževalnega portala EducaNext. Organizacija (Kranj), 2005, letn. 38, št. 4, pp. 183-189.

SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE PAPERS

1. PIPAN, Matija, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. Systematic usability and user experience evaluation as a basis for the redesign of an e-learning platform. V: GURALNICK, David (ur.). ICELW 2012 : Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on E-Learning in the Workplace, June 13-15, 2012, New York, USA. [S. l.: s. n.], 2012, 5 str.
2. ARH, Tanja, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. An assessment of the usability of the Virtual Conference Centre Global Plaza and the associated social network. V: ED-MEDIA 2010 : world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia & telecommunications June 27, 2011, Lisbon, Portugal, (EMEDIA, vol. 2011, no. 1, 2011). Chesapeake: AACE, 2011, pp. 1486-1494.
3. JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka, ARH, Tanja. Usability evaluation and study of a video-conference service provided via the virtual conference centre. V: GlobeNet 2011 : January 23-28, 2011 – St. Maarten, The Netherlands Antilles. [S. l.]: IARIA, cop. 2011, pp. 436-440
4. PIPAN, Matija. Designing usability evaluation methodology in the case of openscout portal. V: MILOŠEVIĆ, Danijela (ur.). Proceedings. Belgrade: Belgrade Metropolitan University, 2011, pp. 38-42.
5. BALABAN, Igor, BUBAS, Goran, PIPAN, Matija. Key elements of an e-learning course evaluation survey: an empirical validation. V: 14th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL2011) [and] 11th International Conference Virtual University (vu’11), 21-23 September 2011, Piešt’any, Slovakia. Proceedings. Bratislava: Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, 2011, pp. 336-343
6. PIPAN, Matija. Uporaba tehnologije sledenja oči pri ocenjevanju uporabnosti e-učnega okolja = Use of eye tracking in the usability evaluation of the eLearning environment. V: KERN, Tomaž (ur.), RAJKOVIČ, Vladislav (ur.), PAAPE, Björn (ur.), FERJAN, Marko (ur.). 29. mednarodna konferenca o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, 24.-26. marec 2010, Portorož , Slovenija = 29th International Conference on Organizational Science Development, 24-26 March 2010, Portorož , Slovenia. Človek in organizacija : zbornik 29. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti : proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Organizational Science Development. Kranj: Moderna organizacija, 2010, pp. 1119-1127.
7. PIPAN, Matija, LAI-CHONG LAW, Effie, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. Use of eye tracking in the usability evaluation of the eLearning environment. V: ED-MEDIA 2010 : world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia & telecommunications June 29 – July 2, 2010, Toronto, Canada. Chesapeake: AACE, 2010, pp. 832-839
8. ARH, Tanja, DEBEVC, Matjaž, PIPAN, Matija, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. SUMI evaluation of the EducaNext educational portal. V: 7th WSEAS International Conference on Applied Informatics nad Communications (AIC’07), 7th WSEAS International Conference on Signal Processing, Computational Geometry and Artificial Vision (ISCGAV7), 7th WSEAS International Conference on Systems Theory and Scientific Computation (ISTASC’07), Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, August 24-26,2007. Proceedings. Athens: World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society, 2007.
9. PIPAN, Matija, ARH, Tanja. Evaluation and selection of learning management systems. V: RAJKOVIČ, Vladislav (ur.), KERN, Tomaž (ur.), KLJAJIĆ, Miroljub (ur.), LESKOVAR, Robert (ur.), MAYER, Janez (ur.), VUKOVIČ, Goran (ur.). Ustvarjalna organizacija : zbornik 26. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, Slovenija, Portorož, 28.-30. marec 2007 = proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Organizational Science Development, Slovenia, Portorož, March, 28th-30th, 2007. Kranj: Moderna organizacija, 2007, pp. 1478-1486.
10. LAI-CHONG LAW, Effie, KLOBUČAR, Tomaž, PIPAN, Matija. User effect in evaluating personalized information retrieval systems. V: NEJDL, Wolfgang (ur.), TOCHTERMANN, Klaus (ed.). Innovative approaches for learning and knowledge sharing : first European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2006, Crete, Greece, October 1-4, 2006 : proceedings, (Lecture notes in artificial intelligence, Lecture notes in computer science, vol. 4227). Berlin; Heidelberg; New York: Springer, 2006, pp. 257-271.
11. PIPAN, Matija, ARH, Tanja, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. The development cycle management – model for the assessment of the usability and applicability of learning management systems. V: LILLEMAA, Tiia (ur.). Is information technology shaping the future of higher education? : proceedings of the 12th International Conference of European University Information Systems, EUNIS 2006, 28-30 June 2006, Tartu, Estonia. Tartu: University of Tartu, cop. 2006, pp. 325-332.
12. LAI-CHONG LAW, Effie, KLOBUČAR, Tomaž, PIPAN, Matija. Analysis of user attitude and behavior in evaluating a personalized search engine. V: ECCE 13, 13th European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics, September 20-22, 2006, Zurich. Trust and control in complex socio-technical systems. Zurich: ETH, 2006, pp. 1-9.
13. LAI-CHONG LAW, Effie, KLOBUČAR, Tomaž, PIPAN, Matija. Relevance of trust in evaluating personalized search engine. V: The 2nd COST294-MAUSE International Open Workshop, October 14 2006, Oslo, Norway. User experience : towards a unified view. [S. l.: s. n.], 2006, 6 pp.
14. PIPAN, Matija. Methodologija testiranja uporabnosti izobraževalnega portala EducaNext. V: KALUŽA, Jindřich (ur.). Sinergija metodologij : zbornik 24. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, Slovenija, Portorož, 16.-18. marec 2005 : proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Organizational Science Development, Slovenia, Portorož, March 16-18, 2005. Kranj: Moderna organizacija, 2005, pp. 340-346.

BOOK CHAPTER

1. PIPAN, Matija, ARH, Tanja, JERMAN-BLAŽIČ, Borka. The evaluation cycle management – method applied to the evaluation of learning management systems. V: SPILIOTOPOULOS, Tasos (ed.). Integrating usability engineering for designing the web experience: Methodologies and principles. Hershey: Information Science Reference, 2010, pp. 58-80.