User Evaluation of Interactive COVID-19 Dashboards

Anna PORTI SUÁREZ

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought dashboards to the fore and they became widely used by the public. Nevertheless, dashboard interfaces are related to business intelligence since their origins and the seek for the improvement of their design is not new. This thesis' objective is to conduct user evaluation of COVID-19 dashboards containing geospatial information through a formative study to identify problematic user interaction aspects. This is enhanced by comparing two self-developed dashboards with different appearances of their functionalities according to the results of the user testing performed previously. The development of two dashboards is part of the goal of familiarising with technologies to create dashboard interfaces building a spatial data infrastructure. The user evaluation is performed with mixed research combining objective (eye-tracking technologies) and subjective (a questionnaire and an interview) methods. The results formulate recommendations for better design of the elements and how the layout and content transfer the information correctly: the interactivity and availability to choose the metrics for the user are key elements to achieve this. Regarding the distribution of the elements in the interface, their size and position play a role in a more user-friendly and intuitive interaction with the user to transfer the content appropriately.

Abstract:

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought dashboards to the fore and they became widely used by the public. Nevertheless, dashboard interfaces are related to business intelligence since their origins and the seek for the improvement of their design is not new. This thesis' objective is to conduct user evaluation of COVID-19 dashboards containing geospatial information through a formative study to identify problematic user interaction aspects. This is enhanced by comparing two self-developed dashboards with different appearances of their functionalities according to the results of the user testing performed previously. The development of two dashboards is part of the goal of familiarising with technologies to create dashboard interfaces building a spatial data infrastructure. The user evaluation is performed with mixed research combining objective (eye-tracking technologies) and subjective (a questionnaire and an interview) methods. The results formulate recommendations for better design of the elements and how the layout and content transfer the information correctly: the interactivity and availability to choose the metrics for the user are key elements to achieve this. Regarding the distribution of the elements in the interface, their size and position play a role in a more user-friendly and intuitive interaction with the user to transfer the content appropriately.

Keywords

Eye-tracking, Qualitative Methods, Spatial Data Infrastructure, Usability Testing, User Interface

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 16. 5. 2022

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: RNDr. Stanislav Popelka, Ph.D.

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Science

Master programme / field:
Geoinformatics and Cartography / Geoinformatics and Cartography