Ontology-based usability testing: Fully autonomous remote asynchronous usability testing for product development

拟议的研究计划侧重于开发方法，以实现基于vr的自主可用性测试技术，解决异步可用性测试中的三个突出问题：i)缺乏在线监督支持；Ii)缺乏有声思考协议；iii)依赖于专家的认知思维和专家的专业知识。现有可用性测试方法的缺点之一是需要专家对可用性测试进行监督和分析。结果的质量直接关系到专家的资格。今天，一个产品的成功不仅取决于它在工程上的完整性，还取决于它对潜在用户的社会、环境和心理需求的影响。可用性测试主管不可能是影响产品生命周期中成功的所有领域的专家。另一方面，理论上取代可用性测试主管的专家系统具有提供工程、认知心理学、社会和环境专业知识的潜力。本体和语义web研究的进步以及VR的实时跟踪能力为我们提供了开发成功的异步远程可用性测试技术的机会，这些技术可以模仿测试主管的认知思维并完成测试主管的任务。因此，本研究计划的目标是为开发异步、基于VR的远程可用性测试方法提供必要的知识。

The proposed research program focuses on developing methodologies to realize VR-based, autonomous usability test technologies that address three outstanding problems in asynchronous usability testing: i) lack of online supervisory support; ii) lack of think-aloud protocol; and iii) dependency on expert's cognitive thinking and his/her expertise. One of the drawbacks of current usability testing approaches is the requirement for the experts to supervise and analyze the usability test. The quality of results directly linked to the qualifications of the experts. Today, the success of a product is not only depends on its completeness from engineering perspective but also its effects on social, environmental and psychological needs of its potential users. Usability test supervisors cannot be an expert on all these areas that affect the success of a product in its life-cycle. On the other hand an expert system that replaces the usability-test-supervisor in theory has potentials to provide engineering, cognitive psychology, social and environmental expertise. Advancements in ontology and SemanticWeb researches and the real-time tracking capabilities of VR give us the opportunity to develop successful asynchronous remote usability testing technologies that can mimic the cognitive thinking of the test supervisor and accomplishes the test supervisor's tasks. Thus, the goal in this research program is to contribute to the knowledge that is essential to develop asynchronous, VR based remote usability testing methodologies.