Systematic Usability Inspection Approach for Sonification Applications

Abstract

In previously reported research, most sonification designers have needed to develop at least a working prototype for user testing. The results are interpreted and analysed to look for possible problems and solutions to further improve the design. This paper introduces a new systematic usability inspection approach for the design of sonification applications design before they go to the initial development phase. This process gives an alternative for designers to evaluate their design, detect possible problems and improve the design before they start developing it. It uses two of our models - the Sonification Application (SA) model and the User Interpretation Construction (UIC) model. In this paper we discuss the steps of this process, which include preparing inspection materials, implementing inspection and managing the results.