Abstract

This report presents and documents an evaluation of the mobile platform for Intelligent Material Management System (IMS).
IMS is a development project with the aim to support a more effective way to significantly improve the distribution of items at libraries. The project is lead by Copenhagen Libraries and Aarhus Public Libraries. Lyngsoe Systems A/S is developing the system.
IMS consists of two parts (1) a web client and (2) a mobile app. The web client is installed at the libraries stationary computers and is designed for super users to perform configuration in IMS. The web client is not covered in this thesis.
The mobile platform, app, is accessed from a smartphone which all of the employees will be using in their daily routines. Every time a material is handled, it has to be scanned with the mobile device. This makes it possible to track the material whether it is on a shelf, in a transport box, sorting machine, or even on a trolley on the move.
Consequently the project is very dependent on the employees’ ability and motivation to take the app into use. This sets high demands when it comes to the usability of the app. But is a focus on usability sufficient when it comes to motivating the employees to change all of their daily routines? Based on these thoughts the evaluating seeks not only to improve the usability in the app but also to investigate the user experience hereof.
The interpretive foundation of the evaluating is based in a Hermeneutic approach to science. The theories used for structuring the evaluation and understanding the conducted data is theories about usability goals (Preece et al. 2007) and theories about mobile usability (Nielsen & Budiu 2013; Weiss 2002). Theories about user experience (Jantzen et al. 2011) will also be presented during the evaluation.
The evaluation follows two iterations. The first iteration consists of a user test of an already designed but not released version of the IMS app. The method for testing is walk-along conducted at Risskov library with six employees. The goal of the walk-along method is to test the system in the context, for which it is designed. And during the test to find usability problems and get an understanding of the user experience. Data from walk-along is supplemented with data from a usability test conducted in Copenhagen by user experience designer, Søren Øbro. This sets the basis for the redesign of the app. The redesign is illustrated in a low fidelity prototype and leads to the second iteration.
The second iteration consists of a usability workshop with the goal of getting the users’ feedback on the redesign and through this approach validating the chosen solutions.
The last part of the report presents a validation of the evaluation, based on a set of principles for evaluating interpretive field studies in information systems (Klein & Myers 1999). This leads on to reflections about walk-along as a method for mobile app testing.