Title: WAW: an activity theory based tool for early website usability assessment

Authors: Olav W. Bertelsen, Mikkel Godsk

Addresses: Department of Computer Science & IT-University West,University of Aarhus, Aabogade 34, DK-8200, Aarhus N, Denmark. ' Department of Computer Science & IT-University West,University of Aarhus, Aabogade 34, DK-8200, Aarhus N, Denmark

Abstract: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in ways to use activity theory as a tool for understanding computer applications in context. The work in this field has primarily focused on how to understand computer applications in current work practices and how to improve existing computer applications. At the same time, methods for website inspection have been very pragmatic and theoretic. In this paper, we present an activity theory based tool for early website usability assessment called Website Activity Walkthrough (WAW). WAW is an attempt to build a cheap and effective tool for early, formative usability inspection based on activity theory.

Keywords: website activity walkthrough; activity theory; web usability inspection; WAW.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2004.004494

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2004 Vol.4 No.1, pp.73 - 93

Published online: 10 May 2004 *

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