Abstract
This paper presents initial research on a new learnability assessment methodology. We propose the use of electroencephalography (EEG) to further improve usability testing. We discovered whether and to what extend there is a correlation between brainwave patterns and the learnability of the software used. Our central hypothesis is that learnability can be assessed by analyzing the rise and fall of specific frequency bands in electroencephalographic recordings. In order to collect empirical evidence for our hypothesis, we conducted an experiment with N=32 participants. We developed a test environment comprising a low-cost EEG system and developed software for analysis and testing. Based on our findings, we consider our EEG-based learnability test applicable, either as a pre-test – in order to determine whether further testing is necessary – or as an augmenting method during standard usability testing. The users’ emotions, registered on the EEG, can be applied as a baseline for detecting possible usability difficulties and employed in the development of a biological rapid-usability method for accessibility assessment.
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Stickel, C., Fink, J., Holzinger, A. (2007). Enhancing Universal Access – EEG Based Learnability Assessment. In: Stephanidis, C. (eds) Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Applications and Services. UAHCI 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4556. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73283-9_88
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