Awards Guide for Usability Test of Personal Antiviruses (July 2012)

The users can estimate the software usability by a great number of objective and subjective factors such as controlability, learning capability and ergonomic supportability or effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction rate according to GOST 9241-11. But all these parameters estimate the interface indirectly without referring to the user interface peculiarities due to which a person solves the problems when working on the PC and interaction with the interface.

In our test, we research five software usability factors on the whole and the user interface in particular. They are the user’s work speed, a number of user’s errors, user’s learnability, satisfaction and technical aesthetics. The test and evaluating methods peculiarities are provided in the detailed testing methodology.

The testing results serve the basis for the summary nomination awards for all the motioned factors – “Usability”. The products were evaluated by all the usability factors as compared to the “ideal” product the factor of which makes 100%. It’s considered that the “ideal” product performs all the operations during the shortest time, no errors occur due to its “friendliness” and “intuitive intelligibility”, it contains all the possible teaching and learning means and implements consistent information model, etc.

If the difference between usability rates of the tested product and “ideal” product makes more than 50% such antivirus is not awarded.