Study on Requirements of Usability of Web Service-Based Enterprise Information Systems

doi:10.4236/ib.2013.53014

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iBusiness, 2013, 5, 113-117

http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ib.2013.53014 Published Online September 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ib) 113

Study on Requirements of Usability of Web Service-Based

Enterprise Information Systems*

Shuangyuan Shi, Shuqin Cai, Zhonghui Li

Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Email: [email protected], ca[email protected], lz[email protected]

Received September 14th, 2011; revised October 9th, 2011; accepted October 20th, 2011

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

With the trend of economic globalization and localization services, employees are distributed in different regions, the

old enterprise information system in closed environment has been difficult to support all the business in enterprises, also

cannot meet the need of information sharing between upstream and downstream enterprises and partners in the supply

chain. The new business model requires companies to have distributed information systems, remote access and other

characteristics. VPN (virtual private network) is high cost and lack of flexibility, Web services-based information sys-

tem can achieve low-cost real-time collection to process and share distributed information, which is the ideal model o f

enterprise information system. However, there is a big gap in current usability between th e Web services and old desk-

top applications. This paper combines the usage patterns, bu siness needs of enterprise information systems and techni-

cal characteristics of Web services, proposes the usability requirements of enterprise information systems based on Web

services from different views of internal users, external customers and strategic partners.

Keywords: Enterprise Development; Usability; Web Services; Enterprise Information System

1. Introduction

Web information systems can overcome the barriers of

time and space, realize the integration of resour ces across

sectors and achieve cross-regional, cross-enterprise in-

formation delivery, resource sharing. Therefore, enter-

prise information systems should be upgraded from the

desktop-based applications to the Web service model.

Under the support of Web 2.0 technology with the core

of Ajax, the network is no longer confined to corporate

information release, and has been widely used to handle

customer transactions under the B2C model [1], it can

better meet the needs of B2B business processing in sup-

ply chain, the exchange of information and resource

sharing between enterprises. With the expanding scale

and increasing functionality of Web information systems,

the users’ dependence on the Web services is growing

and demands on the availability are increasing [2]. The

usability of management information systems based on

Web services has become the key to successful applica-

tion of information systems [3].

The current research of usability is focused on the

guidelines and evaluation of sites. Nielsen proposed five

evaluations in 1993: interactive efficiency, ease of use,

ease of memory, fault tolerance and user satisfaction [1].

After that, Nielsen further put forward ten usability heu-

ristic evaluations [4]. Sherry Y. Chen and Robert D.

Macredie (2005) studied applied heuristic evaluation to

examine the usability of current electronic sh opping, and

this study is applied to develop a set of usability guide-

lines to support the future design of effective interfaces

for electronic shopping [5]. Jonathan W. Palmer studied

the usability of B2C Web sites from five areas: down-

loading delay, navigation settings, interactivity, respon-

siveness, and information content, proposed that site de-

sign should provide users with personalized services, and

can interact with the site and the site should response to

the users timely [6]. Alistair Sutcliffe considered usabil-

ity from the perspective of aesthetics, which will change

the variables attracting users into the operational vari-

ables and do heuristic evaluation of the sites’ usability

and attractiveness [7]. These a re many analyses of the usa -

bility of the portal and library information systems. In the

usability of enterprise information systems, researchers

carried on a survey on enterprise us ers based on usability

*Humanities and Social Science Research Project of the Ministry o

Education of China (Item Number: 11YJA630098).

ational Natural Science Foundation of China: (Item Number:

71071066).

Study on Requirements of Usability of Web Service-Based Enterprise Information Systems

114

guidelines. Fethi Calisira, Ferah Calisirb [8] and others

studied the usability, effectiveness and ease of use of

user interface to make sure that they affect users’ satis-

faction and influence the factors to ERP/IS systems.

Through surveying the users’ background, the host or-

ganization and the ERP system coverage the respon-

dents’ satisfaction to systematically survey, including th e

six characteristics of interface usability: system capabili-

ties, compatibility, adaptability, user guide, ease of learn-

in g, memor y minimu m load, a lso the effectiveness of eva-

luation and the ease of use. Ritu Agarwal and Viswanath

Venkatesh [3] did a heuristic evaluation to the content,

ease of use, promotional marketing, personalization, emo-

tional factors of corporate Web sites in 4 different sectors

with task-driven approach. In the evaluation, they use an

expert evaluation method and a user survey to analyze

the relative importance of all the content of usability

guide to guide the interaction design of information sys-

tems. Michael Pearson and Ann Pearson used a user sur-

vey to do their research, they think th at ease of use is the

most important factor for users [9]. Fethi Calisir and

Ferah Calisir’s research results show that the effective-

ness and ease of learning are the determinants of end-

user’s satisfaction with the ERP systems, while noting

that a good user guide affects on the usefulness and ease

of learning [8]. Michael Pearson and Ann Pearson be-

lieve that ease of use is the most important factor for us-

er s [9]. But Ritu Agarwal and Viswanath Venkatesh’s sur-

vey show that content is most important to information

system users, ease of use followed, emotional factors will

be subject to the mutual influence of the task and prod-

ucts [3]. As the survey methods and objects differ, the

evaluation of the usability of information system does have

some differences, indicating that the studies on usability

of enterprise information system not only analyze site, or

only study the users of enterprise websites, we need to

analyze it from a more comprehensive perspective, to

guide the design of Enterprises Web Information System.

On the other hand, although the companies understand

the relevant knowledge of usability, in the process of

designing information systems, the degree of related

personnel’s attention to usability and the usability guide

is not ideal. The reasons are: 1) The usability is not sub-

ject to information system owners and developers’ atten-

tion. 2) Neglecting the differences between information

systems and websites, the existing usab ility guide of Web

sites has its limitations, the guiding role to information

systems is not enough. This paper argues that the usabil-

ity of Web information systems is different from general

Websites, the user community is more wide. Enterprise

Web information systems not only need to meet the indi-

vidual customers outside the enterprise and internal em-

ployees, but also investors. Even strategic business part-

ners (suppliers, distributors and other upstream and

downstream enterprises) need to do the informatio n tran-

sfer and business processes between enterprises through

Web information systems. The different users’ usability

requirements of Web information system are different.

The study of its usability should be adjusted accordingly.

This article considers different objectives of different

enterprise information system user groups, analyzes the

requirements for usability, and studies the differences

and contacts in usability between desktop information

systems and Web-based information systems. We want

to provide guidance for the usability design from a more

comprehensive perspective, and to make Web informa-

tion systems meet the needs of all users.

2. The Usability and Content of Web

Services

The usability in International Standard ISO9241-11 is

defined as the effectiveness, efficiency and subjective

satisfaction when a particular user using a particular

product with a specific task to complete in certain cir-

cumstances. For Websites, usability refers to whether the

users are easy to understand how to interact with the sites,

whether they can more easily find the information they

need or complete the task th ey want to do and get an en-

joyable experience from it. Currently, the studies of Web

services usability are mainly abou t websites and person al

computing, Web service usability can be divided into 7

categories, which involves the following issues:

1) Content, including related degree of the information,

the depth and breadth of the content, the multimedia and

timeliness of using the content.

2) Ease of use, including the site’s organizational

structure, as the navigation structure is easy to understand,

the page-level is clear. Operation prompt is clear and

convenient. Contribute to the completion of users’ goals.

3) Interaction, the two-way transmission of informa-

tion between the Web and the browsers, including users’

feedback in usability (Feedback) and sites’ response to

users’ questions (FAQ).

4) Personalized, the ability of meeting the needs of in-

dividual users .

5) Fault tolerance, including error prevention and re-

covery. Warning of error message before the IS release,

as well as removing the impact caused by wrong opera-

tion.

6) User’s guide, refer to whether the document can

help the users and easy to find and use for users.

7) Emotional factors and the brand, which is a result of

the usability design’ comprehensive affect, but it is an

important factor of the usability of IS.

3. Usability Requirements of Enterprise Web

Services

Usability is based on three unstable variables: users, us-

ers’ needs (objectives) and users’ background [10]. The

Study on Requirements of Usability of Web Service-Based Enterprise Information Systems

115

direct effect of different user groups is the different de-

signs of system. Enterprise information system users can

be divided into external users, internal employees, strate-

gic partners and system owner.

Web information system users with different purposes

have different needs in availab ility, as shown in Table 1.

Facing heterogeneous users, companies need to learn the

behaviors of consumers by investigating and designing

attractive websites [11]. In the personalized service, use

the Web service to provide better service. IS’s internal

users are corporate employees that growing under the

same corporate culture and regulation. In the premise of

meeting the functional requirements, it’s more conducive

to the improvement of employees’ productivity. Investors

will ignore emotiona l factors, looking fo rward to revenue

from this investment. For the strategic partners, informa-

tion transmission capacity between IS can bring the best

interest to them.

3.1. Users outside the Enterprise

There are heterogeneous users with different life and

cultural backgrounds outside the enterprises. What kinds

of corporate Websites features are attractive to new users

and how to maintain old customers by effective function s

are the points of usability research.

Content is first noticed by users, it is the key factor to

attract users in a short period of view. Content usability

include: the relevance of the information, timeliness,

layout, readability, use of media and so on.

Interactivity here refers to the interactive network, the

feature of the direct two-way communication between

the audience and the communicator or the audience and

the audience in a certain extent called network interactiv-

ity, including the timely feedback on user information,

meeting the needs of individual users.

Ease of use. For ordinary users, they are not familiar

with the operating specifications of corporate website, so

designing clear navigation systems, specific language

tips, simple operation and readab le error pages all reflect

the usability of websites.

Personalization, Google has done very well in meeting

the individual needs, as providing users with lots of cus-

tomized services, greatly enhan cing the usab ility and user

experience. In corporate websites, the same should be

done as an important means to attract and micro clients.

3.2. Internal Staff

Network makes enterprises get rid of the restrictions of

time and space, and brings changes to the staff work, for

example, the change of orders. Receiving orders real-

time from manufacturers’ collection to distributed ones

in the network, staff also need to adapt to some new

changes to face information systems in new model. Em-

ployees are the recipients of information systems, they

differ from consumers because consumers can choose

any more attractive websites for different aesthetics. But

there is sufficient evidence that computers in the work-

place tend to increase the number of risk factors, such as

repetitive stress injuries, stress-related physical and

mental disorders, the negative impact of software tech-

nology can not be ignored [10]. Therefore, high usability

design of IS products is particularly important to staff.

In information system, the traditional desktop manage-

ment information system based on C/S (Client/Server)

mode has the advantages as system stability, rapid re-

sponse business processing, data security and so on. B/S

(Browser/Server) mode needn’t to install the terminal

software, and can support remote application and multi-

branch cross-platform application, database security is

also considerably ensured. Especially in supply chain,

such as procurement management, dynamic inventory

management, customer relationship management, mar-

keting systems, etc., the application of B/S mode can

improve the information transmission, information shar-

ing and the efficiency of transaction processing.

The internal staff’s requirements of usability can ex-

clude some of the external and internal factors though

optimizing business processes, training employees to

understand the process of Web information systems op-

erations, which means that major obstacles in employees

operating IS do not exist. Table 2 Compares the advan-

tages and disadvantages between desktop information

systems and Web information systems in usability, hop-

ing to provide guidance for the design in system devel-

opment phase, make the usability of Web information

systems better than desktop system.

The representation of staff’s usability requirements is

mission driven, they are more concerned about the sys-

tem’s ease of use, the degree of difficulty accessing to

information and the transaction efficiency. With the de-

velopment of Ajax, Web-based IS has been greatly en-

Table 1. Web service usability requirements.

Role Demand (target)

Internal staff Information technology to improve efficiency, reduce errors, reduce the burden.

Strategic Partners Effective communication and resource sharing to reduce risk.

System Investors Attract the target groups, service users and maintain good customer relations. Establish a good corporate image.

External users Information search, FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), requiring simple operation, to meet individual needs.

Study on Requirements of Usability of Web Service-Based Enterprise Information Systems

116

Table 2. The comparison in usability between desktop application and Web application.

Desktop Information System (C/S) Web Information Systems (B/S)

System Features

usability Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages

Loading speed Fast the server in heavy load under

C/S mode, the event delay

Ajax asynchronous transfer

technology to reduce the

burden on the server

Interactive speed is

limited by the server,

network bandwidth

Navigation

and Links Clear navigation Only global navigation,

no choices in links, is

difficult to switch

Multi-link options, to

provide global navigation,

local navigation, contextual

navigation, secondary

navigation

Irreversible process

undo problem

Page Structure Jump page frequently,

visual fatigue, and only

one active interface

Multi-interface can be

achieved simultaneously,

switch freely

Operability Strong operational

Poor user experience,

data editing, keyboard

operability need to

be improved

Ease of

Use

Page refresh Fast, without delay Refresh overall, low

efficiency, lead to

form Information loss

Memo ability No memo ability Strong memo ability

with prompts

Error

prevention

Verify the

information before

sending Verify the information

before sending

Fault

tolerance

Error recovery Error message,

error rollback Error screen, explain the

reasons for the error and

prompt solutions.

Interactivity

FAQ/Feedback With online help

can achieve real-time

feedback, and respond

quickly under network

environment

Content Content is stable The new information

transfer delay Richer, information updates,

released in a timely manner

Personalized

Difficult to achieve

personalized Personalized settings

hanced in usability. Asynchronous transfer technology

reduced the burden of the server and user s’ waiting time,

and improved the user experience. They make Web-

based information system achieve the same effect as the

desktop system.

3.3. Strategic Partners

Under supply chain environment, the information will

inevitably be shared between enterprises, and JIT re-

quires enterprises to keep delivering information timely

and effectively. In the eyes of strategic business partners,

IS standards, timely and effectively information transfer

are important indicators reflecting the usability. There-

fore, the users will concern about the quality and effec-

tiveness of the content. Here, we put forward several

proposals:

1) Use common industry terms and abbreviations in IS,

help reduce barriers to information exchange, avoid am-

biguity.

2) Provide effective interfaces, even the parties are

using inconsistent data specification, can realize the

automatic data entry and storage.

3) Strictly control the permissions, make users under-

stand the security of system.

3.4. System Investors

System investors are the shareholders of enterprises, as

investors are more concerned about the interest generated

by capital. Putting the realization of management func-

tions aside, IS usability will br ing what kind of contribu-

tion to corporate earnings. Web information systems’

contribution to the business benefits is reflected in the

usability advantage of the advocacy role in the enterprise

network compared with traditional desktop information

system. As rational investors emotional factors have little

effect on the usability, they are not satisfied with the ba-

sic functions of IS, and they also care about the role of IS

to promote the corporate brand and potential business

Study on Requirements of Usability of Web Service-Based Enterprise Information Systems 117

gains obtained from it [3]. Web is not ju st attraction, it is

their own best advertisement, and should be able to de-

liver the brand culture to the users effectively in seconds

and result in resonance.

4. Summary

An information system is defined as an organization,

users achieve their goals by interacting with the IS. High

usability brings pleasure to general users, makes em-

ployees work smoothly and enables investors to obtain

the satisfying potential benefits. On the basis of the

scholars’ studies about the usability guide and usability

evaluation, this article starts from the desired goal of u ser

groups, and IS usability o f different models is compared,

but still lack the results of data supporting analysis from

enterprises. Overall, this article provides comprehensive

assist in usability design from multiple perspectives for

usability experts and developers in the life cycle of sys-

tems development, and can meet the usability needs of

all users and lay the foundation for usability evaluation

model in the next step.

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