CCE Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Information Systems (DISS)

Department

College of Engineering and Computing

Advisor

Maxine S. Cohen

Committee Member

Steven R. Terrell

Committee Member

Souren Paul

Keywords

Adoption, Document Management, Efficiency, Electronic Content Management, Usability Heuristics, Workflow

Abstract

Usability heuristics have been established for different uses and applications as general guidelines for user interfaces. These can affect the implementation of industry solutions and play a significant role regarding cost reduction and process efficiency. The area of electronic workflow document management (EWDM) solutions, also known as workflow, lacks a formal definition of usability heuristics. With the advent of new technologies such as mobile devices, defining a set of usability heuristics contributes to the adoption and efficiency of an EWDM system. Workflow usability has been evaluated for various industries. Most significantly research has been done for electronic healthcare records (EHR). In other areas such as the financial sector and educational institutions there is also some literature available but not as abundant as for EHR. This was identified as a possible research limitation. The general purpose of this research was to establish and validate an overarching set of usability heuristics for EWDM in general. This was approached by conducting a literature review and a survey on 32 workflow consultants from Hyland Software, Inc. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected focusing on the study’s main research question: “what usability heuristics should be defined to ensure the adoption and efficiency of a workflow implementation?" Findings based on regression testing and expert opinions have suggested a proposed set of usability heuristics. The final list consists of: adaptability to diverse platforms, user control, system feedback, intuitive interfaces, visibility on mobile devices, error management, help, and documentation.

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