Towards standard methods and metrics for evaluating IA

[Rashmi Sinha <rashmi AT rashmisinha.com>]

Peter,
I would think design measures, rules-of-thumb etc. could be included as 
well. Though we should make sure to define the scope. And my aim is not for 
one shared evaluation measure (questionnaire). Rather there should be many 
that are useful for evaluating different kinds of systems, in different 
types of settings. So when I talk of standards, I am thinking of multiple 
standards rather than the "one standard".

The reason for thinking of the project in a somewhat narrow manner is to 
keep the focus and make sure we achieve what we set out to do. At least, 
those were my thoughts when proposing this project. But this is the stage 
when we can revise or refine those project goals.

NIST's (Common Industry Format) is about a common format for reporting 
usability studies. They do not talk about the method of evaluation. Its a 
great project though. And I have used their reporting format.


-rashmi



At 10:52 AM 6/3/2003 +0200, you wrote:
> Rashmi asked:
> > I am looking forward to
> > hearing from you all about your goals in joining this list. What are the
> > sort of issues related to IA and evaluation this group should focus on?
> > What are the kind of frustrations regarding evaluation that you face in
> > your own work?
>
> The focus on a shared evaluation questionnaire (is that what you're aiming
> at?) seems too limited for me. Besides, there are other initiatives that
> cover this, including, IIRC, NIST's Common Industry Format (see:
> http://zing.ncsl.nist.gov/iusr/index.html).
>
> I realize that "metrics" are often used as evaluation measures, but I'd like
> to see the scope widened to design measures as well. Or am I misinterpreting
> "metric"? Does that exclude guidelines, patterns, rules-of-thumb, do's,
> etc.?
>
> Peter
> --
> Peter Boersma, Senior Information Architect, EzGov
> "De Schinkel", Rijnsburgstraat 11, Amsterdam, 1059 AT, The Netherlands
> Phone: +31(0)20 7133881 / Fax: +31(0)20 7133799 / Mobile: +31(0)6 15072747
> mailto:peter.boersma AT ezgov.com / http://www.europe.ezgov.com