Geoportal Usability Evaluation

GeoTest is a project initiated by Future Position X (a GIS cluster organization in Gävle, Sweden), the National Land Survey of Sweden (NLS) and the University of Gävle. The project aims to test Swedish geodata, services and geoportals and make sure they comply with the INSPIRE the other specifications. GeoTest has developed a method for testing the usability of geoportals. The method is based on the ISO 9241-11 framework, which splits the usability evaluation into three sub-parts consisting the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. By providing feedbacks from users in an organized way, the usability test provides geoportal developers with tools to validate the functions and the layout and to find possible problematic parts to be able to make better applications to meet both the organization and the end users’ needs. As a pilot test, the Swedish national geoportal, Geodataportalen, was tested for the usability. It validated the suggested method for testing the usability of geoportals.