A Framework for Improving Web Application User Interfaces Through Immediate Evaluation

More and more web applications are being migrated from desktop platforms to platforms for smartphones and tablets. Usability and User experience are highly different on desktop and portable devices. Every minor modification of user interface (UI) could lead to violations of usability guidelines, e.g. changing the link color or font size could lead to lower usability for people with disabilities. Empirical usability evaluation methods are the approaches that help to verify the usability conformance to guidelines. Nevertheless, there are number of obstacles preventing from using such methods widely. The purpose of our study is to propose a conceptual model and corresponding framework with methodology including category specific metrics for immediate automatic usability evaluation of web application user interfaces during design and implementation phase. We address the gap between usability evaluation and development stage of UI by providing immediate feedback to developers.