A user-centred evaluation framework for the Sealife semantic web browsers

Robert Stevens, Oliver Helen, Diallo Gayo, De, Alexopoulou Dimitra, Bianca Habermann, Kostkova Patty, Schroeder Michael, Jupp Simon, Khelif Khaled, Jawaheer Gawesh, Madle Gemma

Description

Semantically-enriched browsing has enhanced the browsing experience by providing contextualised dynamically generated Web content, and quicker access to searched-for information. However, adoption of Semantic Web technologies is limited and user perception from the non-IT domain sceptical. Furthermore, little attention has been given to evaluating semantic browsers with real users to demonstrate the enhancements and obtain valuable feedback. The Sealife project investigates semantic browsing and its application to the life science domain. Sealife's main objective is to develop the notion of context-based information integration by extending three existing Semantic Web browsers (SWBs) to link the existing Web to the eScience infrastructure. Methods This paper describes a user-centred evaluation framework that was developed to evaluate the Sealife SWBs that elicited feedback on users' perceptions on ease of use and information findability. Three sources of data: i) web server logs; ii) user questionnaires; and iii) semi-structured interviews were analysed and comparisons made between each browser and a control system. Results It was found that the evaluation framework used successfully elicited users' perceptions of the three distinct SWBs. The results indicate that the browser with the most mature and polished interface was rated higher for usability, and semantic links were used by the users of all three browsers. Conclusion Confirmation or contradiction of our original hypotheses with relation to SWBs is detailed along with observations of implementation issues.

Informations

• Publié par: biomed
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

BMC Bioinformatics

BioMedCentral

Research Open Access A usercentred evaluation framework for the Sealife semantic web browsers 1 21 3 Helen Oliver*, Gayo Diallo, Ed de Quincey, Dimitra Alexopoulou, 4 13 5 Bianca Habermann, Patty Kostkova, Michael Schroeder, Simon Jupp, 6 51 1 Khaled Khelif, Robert Stevens, Gawesh Jawaheerand Gemma Madle

1 2 Address: CityeHealth Research Centre, City University, London, EC1V 0HB, UK,Laboratory of Applied Computer Science–LISI/ENSMA, 3 4 Chasseneuil, 86961, France,Bioinformatics Group, Biotechnological Centre TU Dresden, Dresden, 01062, Germany,Scionics Computer 5 6 Innovation gmbh, Dresden, 01307, Germany,School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK andProjet Edelweiss, INRIA Sophia Antipolis Méditerranée, Sophia Antipolis, 06902, France

Email: Helen Oliver*  [e-mail]; Gayo Diallo  [e-mail]; Ed de Quincey  [e-mail]; Dimitra Alexopoulou  [e-mail]dresden.de; Bianca Habermann  habermann@mpicbg.de; Patty Kostkova  [e-mail]; Michael Schroeder  [e-mail]dresden.de; Simon Jupp  [e-mail]; Khaled Khelif  [e-mail]; Robert Stevens  [e-mail]; Gawesh Jawaheer  [e-mail]; Gemma Madle  [e-mail] *Corresponding author

fromSemantic Web Applications and Tools for Life Sciences, 2008 Edinburgh, UK 28 November 2008

Published: 01 October 2009 BMC Bioinformatics2009,10(Suppl 10):S14

doi: 10.1186/1471210510S10S14

This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/14712105/10/S10/S14 ©2009 Oliver et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract Background:Semanticallyenriched browsing has enhanced the browsing experience by providing contextualised dynamically generated Web content, and quicker access to searched for information. However, adoption of Semantic Web technologies is limited and user perception from the nonIT domain sceptical. Furthermore, little attention has been given to evaluating semantic browsers with real users to demonstrate the enhancements and obtain valuable feedback. The Sealife project investigates semantic browsing and its application to the life science domain. Sealife’s main objective is to develop the notion of contextbased information integration by extending three existing Semantic Web browsers (SWBs) to link the existing Web to the eScience infrastructure. Methods:This paper describes a usercentred evaluation framework that was developed to evaluate the Sealife SWBs that elicited feedback on users’perceptions on ease of use and information findability. Three sources of data: i) web server logs; ii) user questionnaires; and iii) semistructured interviews were analysed and comparisons made between each browser and a control system. Results:It was found that the evaluation framework used successfully elicited users’perceptions of the three distinct SWBs. The results indicate that the browser with the most mature and

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