Abstract
With ubiquitous mobile computing the need for user studies in real life
environments instead of artificial laboratory settings has grown. This article reports on a psychological experiment in which participants had to conduct tasks in several digital libraries. The experiment examined if there is a difference in the test data between a laboratory and a natural environment test setting and if yes, in how far distraction is the cause of that difference. Results show that there is a statistically significant difference between the two settings in the time to complete a test, but that there was no evidence of a difference for other test variables such as task completion or clicks.
environments instead of artificial laboratory settings has grown. This article reports on a psychological experiment in which participants had to conduct tasks in several digital libraries. The experiment examined if there is a difference in the test data between a laboratory and a natural environment test setting and if yes, in how far distraction is the cause of that difference. Results show that there is a statistically significant difference between the two settings in the time to complete a test, but that there was no evidence of a difference for other test variables such as task completion or clicks.
| Translated title of the contribution | User studies in natural environments |
|---|---|
| Original language | German |
| Journal | Vereinigung Oesterreichischer Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare. Mitteilungen |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue number | 1/2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 233 |
| Number of pages | 243 |
| ISSN | 1022-2588 |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- user studies
- real life environment
- online
- validation
- distraction