"Thinking About Thinking Aloud": An Investigation of Think-Aloud Methods in Usability Testing

.................................................................................................................................. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................ III DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................ VI LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... XIII LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ XVII CHAPTER 1. RESEARCH INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Background ........................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 Types of Think-Aloud Methods ..................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Problem ................................................................................................................. 6 1.4 Research Aim and Objectives ............................................................................................... 8 1.5 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Research Significance ......................................................................................................... 10 1.7 Research Phases .................................................................................................................. 11 1.8 Structure of the Thesis ........................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 15 2.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 16 2.2 Website Usability .............................................................................................................. 16 2.2.1 Defining Usability ........................................................................................................ 17 2.2.2 Designing Usability...................................................................................................... 19 2.3 Usability Evaluation ............................................................................................................ 19 2.3.1 Expert-Based Methods ................................................................................................. 20 2.3.2 Model-Based Methods ................................................................................................. 20 2.3.3 User-Based Methods .................................................................................................... 21 2.4 How to Conduct a Usability Test ........................................................................................ 21 2.5 Factors Affecting Usability Testing .................................................................................... 23 2.5.1 Tasks ............................................................................................................................ 24 2.5.2 Participant Effect.......................................................................................................... 24 2.5.3 Evaluator Effect ........................................................................................................... 26 2.5.4 System Prototypes ........................................................................................................ 27