Usability in Government Systems

Chapter 20

Evaluation in Government Environments

Whitney Quesenbery*

*WQusability, High Bridge NJ, USA

“Everything gets tested for usability in the end. The only question is whether we are there to observe or whether we wait to learn from the real experience of real users.”

— Anonymous

Introduction

One premise of this book is that it is important for government systems to be easy to use, whether the users are members of the general public, people within the government, or specialists in the system’s domain. Earlier chapters have looked at different aspects of a user-centered design process and ways to approach the design to reach that goal.

Now we turn to evaluation. This chapter looks at the best way to check and measure progress toward the ...