Mapping the Expanding Landscape of Usability: The Case of Distributed Education    

As the environments in which we use technology become more complex and more diverse, we need to extend and expand our notion of usability to include a broad spectrum of users and user activities. We take as an example the case of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's distributed education program for human-computer interaction (HCI). While HCI is the subject matter for the courses, the courses themselves present a challenging case study in HCI usability.

Grice, Roger A. and William Hart-Davidson. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Usability>Education>Online

Usability of Online Education in a Diverse Community  

This study explored the usability of an online tutorial in a diverse community of users at a major Midwestern university. The analysis of data revealed a significant difference between American and international users in such usability components as learnability, memorability, and number errors; however, no difference was found in the users' satisfaction rate. The difference in usability may suggest that the online product's effectiveness is largely dependent on background of the audience; therefore, online education may require additional adjustments to fit the needs of a diverse community.

Rybas, Sergey. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>Online>Usability

Why People Can't Use eLearning

Unusable interfaces will cost eLearning companies billions of dollars in lost revenues because many people won’t be able to use their products. The US eLearning market has a projected value of $11.5 billion by 2003 while the European market is expected to be worth $4 billion by 2004. However, poor usability will contribute to disappointing results for many eLearning companies, for the following reasons.

Quinn, Anthony. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Articles>Education>Online>Usability