Title: A fuzzy cognitive map approach for analysis of electronic consumer products in terms of usability among different age groups

Authors: Gulcin Yucel, Ayse Elvan Bayraktaroglu, Murat Engin Unal

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Macka, Istanbul 34367, Turkey. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Macka, Istanbul 34367, Turkey. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Macka, Istanbul 34367, Turkey

Abstract: As a result of widespread use of mobile devices, the role of electronic consumer products (ECPs) in education (mobile learning) is getting important day by day. As ECPs are made up of both hardware and software, both aspects should be considered when evaluating their usability. In this paper, a methodology is proposed to explore the importance of usability dimensions of ECPs among old, middle-aged and young people using FCM. In the case study, mobile phones were chosen as the target product. According to the findings, learnability and efficiency are the most important factors for all age groups. Screen size is found to be the third most important factor for the old user groups. Moreover, the number and function of the button sizes come are found to be important factors for young users.

Keywords: age groups; electronic consumer products; fuzzy cognitive maps; mobile learning; m-learning; mobile phones; usability; cell phones; learnability; efficiency; screen size; button sizes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMLO.2009.026316

International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 2009 Vol.3 No.3, pp.322 - 335

Published online: 06 Jun 2009 *

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