Linking graphical user interface testing tools and human performance modeling to enable usability assessment

• US 8,903,691 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2012
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bellamy, Rachel K. E., Cohen, Myra B., John, Bonnie E., Santhanam, Padmanabhan, Swearngin, Amanda M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rivas, Omar Fernandez
• Assistant Examiner(s): MOLL, NITHYA JANAKIRAMAN
• Application Number:
  US13/672,237
• Publication Number:
  US 20140122043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 754 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 703/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3664 Environments for testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Systems and computer program products for providing usability predictions are set forth herein. A system includes a test case collector for obtaining test cases for analyzing usability of a graphical user interface of a given software application, the test case collector having at least a memory storing the test cases. The system further includes a human performance model generator for automatically generating a human performance model based on the test cases. The system also includes a usability predictor for generating the usability predictions based on the human performance model. The test case collector automatically generates at least some of the test cases from an analysis of the given software application.

Claims

1. A system for providing usability predictions, comprising:

a test case collector for obtaining test cases for analyzing usability of a graphical user interface of a given software application, the test case collector having at least a memory storing the test cases;

a human performance model generator for automatically generating a human performance model based on the test cases;

a usability predictor for generating the usability predictions based on the human performance model; and

a rule generator for generating a set of rules that semantically refines one or more tasks applicable to the graphical user interface,

wherein said test case collector automatically generates at least some of the test cases from an analysis of the given software application.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the test cases are executed to generate test case execution data, and the human performance model is automatically generated based on the test case execution data.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the test cases are generated from a demonstration by a human, and the system further comprises a human demonstration capture device for capturing the demonstration.

4. The system of claim 1, where the human performance model includes a graphical user interface model and task models.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said test case generator infers additional possible methods for tasks not defined in the test cases.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the usability prediction comprises a skilled execution time.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the usability prediction comprises a navigation path for a given task.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the usability prediction comprises user errors.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a semantic evaluator for semantically evaluating the test cases to generate semantic data therefor; and

a test case pruner for pruning test cases from being executed responsive to the semantic data.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of rules comprise global rules and task specific rules, the global rules usable for all tasks, and the task specific rules being to a particular task.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the global rules comprise a particular rule mandating that each of the test cases end with a system interaction event in a main window of the graphical user interface or each of the test cases end with a terminal event resulting in only the main window being opened.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the global rules comprise a particular rule mandating that an event that expands a menu or a list must be immediately followed by an event that is executed on a child of the menu or the list.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the global rules comprise a particular rule mandating that a window in the graphical user interface cannot be opened and immediately closed without an intervening event occurring.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the global rules is used together with a particular one of the task specific rules such that an event is restricted from appearing more than once in any of the test cases according to the at least one of the global rules, unless the event is allowed to appear more than once according to the particular one of the task specific rules.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the particular one of the task specific rules mandates that events in a repeat list of events are permitted to be used more than once in a particular one or more of the test cases.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the task specific rules comprise a particular rule mandating that exactly one of the events in an exclusion set of events must be included in each of the test cases.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the task specific rules comprise a particular rule mandating a partial order on system interaction events.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the partial order is determined by grouping the system interaction events into a plurality of order groups, and then placing the plurality of order groups into a corresponding order, where each of the system interaction events in a respective one of the plurality of order groups are in a same respective ordering equivalence class.

19. The system of claim 10, wherein the task specific rules comprise a particular rule mandating that events in a required list of events must appear in each of the test cases.

20. A system for providing usability predictions, comprising:

a test case generator for obtaining test cases for analyzing usability of a graphical user interface of a given software application;

a semantic evaluator for semantically evaluating the test cases to generate test case semantic data;

a test case pruner for pruning test cases responsive to one or more predefined criterion relating to the test case semantic data;

a rule generator for generating a set of rules that semantically refines one or more tasks applicable to the graphical user interface responsive to the test case semantic data;

a test case executor, having a processor, for executing the test cases to generate test case execution data;

a human performance model generator for automatically generating a human performance model based on the test case execution data; and

a usability predictor for generating the usability predictions based on the human performance mode.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said test case generator automatically generates at least some of the test cases from an analysis of the given software application.

22. The system of claim 20, where the human performance model includes a graphical user interface model and task models.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the set of rules comprise global rules and task specific rules, the global rules usable for all tasks, and the task specific rules being to a particular task.

24. A non-transitory computer program product for providing usability predictions, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by a computer to perform a method comprising:

obtaining test cases for analyzing usability of a graphical user interface of a given software application;

executing the test cases to generate test case execution data;

automatically generating a human performance model based on the test case execution data;

generating the usability predictions based on the human performance model; and

generating a set of rules that semantically refines one or more tasks applicable to the graphical user interface,

wherein at least some of the test cases are generated automatically from an analysis of the given software application.