A Glowworm Optimization Method for the Design of Web Services

Full Text (PDF, 600KB), PP.89-102

Views: 0 Downloads: 0

Author(s)

Koffka Khan 1,* Ashok Sahai 2

1. Department of Computing and Information Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus @ TRINIDAD

2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus @ TRINIDAD

* Corresponding author.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijisa.2012.10.10

Received: 17 Jan. 2012 / Revised: 3 May 2012 / Accepted: 11 Jul. 2012 / Published: 8 Sep. 2012

Index Terms

eCommerce, Usability, Glowworm swarm optimization, Neural Networks

Abstract

A method for adaptive usability evaluation of B2C eCommerce web services is proposed. For measuring eCommerce usability a checklist integrating eCommerce quality and usability is developed. By a Glowworm swarm optimization (GSO) neural networks-based model the usability dimensions and their checklist items are adaptively selected. A case study for usability evaluation of an eCommerce anthurium retail website is carried out. The experimental results show that GSO with neural networks supports the allocation of usability problems and the defining of relevant improvement measures. The main advantage of the approach is the adaptive selection of most significant checklist dimensions and items and thus significant reduction of the time for usability evaluation and design.

Cite This Paper

Koffka Khan, Ashok Sahai, "A Glowworm Optimization Method for the Design of Web Services", International Journal of Intelligent Systems and Applications(IJISA), vol.4, no.10, pp.89-102, 2012. DOI:10.5815/ijisa.2012.10.10

Reference

[1]Barnes, S. J., and Vidgen R. “WebQual: an exploration of Web site quality.” European Conference in Information Systems, Vienna, 2000.

[2]Bauer, H, Falk, T, and Hammerschmidt, M. eTransQual: A transaction process-based approach for capturing service quality in online shopping. University of Mannheim, Business School, Mannheim Germany, 2006.

[3]Bevan, N. and Macleod, M. Usability measurement in context, Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Ltd., Basingstoke, UK, 1(2), 1994.

[4]Krishnanand, K.N., Ghose, D. Glowworm swarm optimization for simultaneous capture of multiple local optima of multimodal functions. Swarm Intellignence, SpringerLink. 3(2):87-124, 2009.

[5]Boshoff, C. A Psychometric assessment of E-S-QUAL: A scale to measure electronic service quality. Department of Business Management, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2007.

[6]Charitou, A., Georgiou I., Soteriou, A. Online Quality and Internet Stock Performance. Department of Public and Business Administration, University of Cyprus, WSSQ, 2005.

[7]Chen, Q., and Wells, D., W. “Attitude Toward the Site.” Journal of Advertising Research, 39: 27-37, 1999.

[8]Chiew, T., Salim, S. WEBUSE: Web site Usability Evaluation Tool. Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya. Malaysian Journal of Computer Science Vol. 10(1): 47-57, 2003.

[9]Christophersen, T., Balazs, B. Usability Questionnaire for On-line Stores. University Kiel, Department of Psychology, Germany and University of Berlin, Department of Psychology, Germany, UFOS, 2003.

[10]Cole, M., O’Keefe, R. M., Siala, H. From the user interface to the consumer interface. Information Systems Frontiers, 4(1): 349-361, 2000.

[11]Comrey, A. A First Course in Factor Analysis. Academic Press, New York, 1973.

[12]Dumas, J.S., & Redish, J.C. A Practical Guide to Usability Testing. Bristol, UK: Intellect Books, 1999.

[13]Dumas, J.S., Molich, R., & Jeffries, R. Describing Usability Problems: Are We Sending the Right Message? Interactions, 11(4): 24-29, 2004.

[14]Dzida, W., Hofmann B., Freitag R., Redtenbacher W., Baggen R., Zurheiden C., Beimel J., Hartwig R., Hampe-Neteler W., Peters H. GMD German National Research Center for Information Technology, Institute for Autonomous Intelligent Systems, Dortmund, Germany, 2000.

[15]Grönroos, C. Strategic Management and Marketing in the Service Sector. Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsingfors, 1982.

[16]Hair, J. F. Jr., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., Black, W. C. Multivariate Data Analysis, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1998.

[17]Hornbaek, K, Current Practice in Measuring Usability: Challenges to Studies and Research, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64: 79-102, 2006.

[18]ISO 9241-11, Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work With Visual Display Terminals (VDTs) - Part 11: Guidance on Usability, Geneva, Switzerland, 1998.

[19]J. Kirakowski, J., and Cierlik, B. Measuring the usability of web sites. Proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 42nd Annual Meeting, Santa Monica, CA, 1998.

[20]Kalakota R., and Whinston, A. Electronic Commerce: A Manager's Guide, Addison-Wesley, 1997.

[21]Kaynama S., and Black, C. I. “A proposal to access the service quality of online travel agencies.” Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 21(1): 63-88, 2000.

[22]Keevil, B. Measuring the Usability Index of Your Web Site, Keevil & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1998. 

[23]Leung, C., Fung, M.W. "Assessing perceived service quality of casual-wear chain stores", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 1 (1): 26-49, 1996.

[24]Lewis, R. J. IBM Computer Usability Satisfaction Questionnaires: Psychometric Evaluation and Instructions for Use. Technical report 54.786, Human Factors Group, Boca Raton, FL, PSSUQ, 1993.

[25]Loiacono, T. E., Watson T. R., Goodhue L., D. WebQualTM: A Measure of Web Site Quality, 2002.

[26]Madu, N C, Madu. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 19(3): 246-258, 2002.

[27]Mayhew, D. J. The Usability Engineering Lifecycle. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufman, 1999.

[28]Minocha, S., Dawson, L., Roberts, D., Petre, M. E-SEQUAL, A Customer-Centered Approach to Providing Value in ECommerce Environments. Department of Computing, Faculty of Mathematics and Computing, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom, 2004.

[29]Nielsen, J. Usability Engineering. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1993.

[30]Nielsen, J. Cost of User Testing a Website. Alertbox for May 3, 1998.

[31]Nielsen, J., Molich, R., Snyder C., and Farrell, S. ECommerce User Experience, Nielsen Norman Group, Fremont, CA, 2001.

[32]Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L. “SERVQUAL: a multi-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of the service quality.” Journal of Retailing, 64 (1): 12-40, 1998.

[33]Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., Malhotra, A. “E-S-QUAL: a multiple item scale for accessing electronic service quality.” Journal of Service Research, 7(3): 213-233, 2005.

[34]Preece, J., Rogers, Y. & Sharp, H. Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley, 2002.

[35]Preece, J., Rogers, Y., & Sharp, H. Interaction Design. New York, NY: John Wiley, 2002.

[36]Reichheld, F. F. and Schefter, P. “E-loyalty, your secret weapon on the web.” Harvard Business Review, 2000.

[37]Rubin, J. Handbook of Usability Testing. New York, NY: John Wiley, 1994.

[38]Rudie, M.J., Wansley, H. "The Merrill Lynch Quality Program", in Bloch, T., Upah, G. and Zeithaml, V. (Eds), Services Marketing in a Changed Environment, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, 1985.

[39]Rumelhart, D. E., Hinton, G. E., & Williams, R. J. (Eds.). Parallel Distributed Processing: Exploration in the Microstructure of Cognition. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1986.

[40]Shackel, B., 1984. The concept of usability. Visual Display Terminals, pp. 45-48. Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

[41]Shop.org "Statistics: e-business trends", available at: www.shop.org/learn/stats _ebizz_cs.html (accessed November 26, 2007), 2003.

[42]Van den Bergh, F. and Engelbrecht, A. P. Cooperative Learning in Neural Networks using Particle Swarm Optimizers. South African Computer Journal. (26):84-90, 2000.

[43]Wachter, K. "Longitudinal assessment of web retailers: issues from a consumer point of view", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 6(2): 134-45, 2002.

[44]Wolfinbarger, M., and Gilly, M. C. “eTailQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting retail quality.” Journal of Retailing, 79(3): 183-98, 2003.

[45]Wolfinbarger, M., Gilly, M. .comQ: Dimensionalizing, Measuring and Predicting Quality of the E-tail Experience. Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations, 2002.

[46]Yang, Z., Peterson, R. T., Huang, L. Taking the Pulse of Internet Pharmacies. Marketing Health Services, Summer, pp. 5-10, 2001.

[47]Yao, X. A review of evolutionary artificial neural networks. International Journal of Intelligent Systems. 4: 203-222, 1993.

[48]Yoo, B., and Donthu, N. Developing a scale to measure the perceived quality of an internet shopping site (SITEQUAL).” Quarterly Journal of Electronic Commerce, 2(1) 31-46, 2001.

[49]Zeithaml, V. A., Parasuraman, A., Malhorta, A. “E-service quality: definitions, dimensions and conceptual model.” Working Paper, Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, MA, 2000.

[50]Zeithaml, V. A., Parasuraman, A., Malhotra, A. Service Quality Delivery through Web Sites: A Critical Review of Extant Knowledge. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30(4): 362-375, 2002.