The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University A CROSS-PLATFORM USABILITY EVALUATION OF 2D VISUAL TAGGING SYSTEMS ;It DL<;S£~TATIOS Sl:BMITfED TO THE DEPARTMENT Of COMPljTEI{ SCIENCE, FACULTY OF SCIENCE AT THE UNiV'EflSIT'f OF CAPE TOWN IN' PARTIAL FljLflLMEJH Of THE REQUll~£..I;!E.i"TS fOl( THE DEfil(EE OF Town MASTER OF SCIENCE " INI<\)RMA TJON TECHNOLOGYCape of By SAMUEL OLUGBENGA KING UniversityMarCh,2007 SUPEQVIsED BY DR . AUDEE\' J.vI. MBOGHQ UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN © COP1(RIGHT 2007 Town Cape SAMUELof O. KING University ABSTRACT By encoding 2D bar codes that store URL links, SMS or plain text, 2D visual tags link infonnation about objects in the physical world to online or offline content. The existence of physical world hyperlinks in the fonn of 2D visual tags that are placed in the natural environment therefore makes new social and cultural interaction modes possible. Although 2D visual tagging systems have much potential to positively influence the way people, and Africans in particular, interact with the physical world, there has been no in­ depth evaluation or cross-platfonn usability assessment of available 2D visual tagging systems. Research in the field has primarily focused on the description and evaluation of prototype visual tagging applications. The deployment and use of 2D visual tagging systems have also not been comprehensively tested in Africa. Town To evaluate the 2D visual tagging paradigm, five 2D visual tagging systems were selected for this study. These 2D visual tagging systems were selected because of their robustness and high visibility in the field of physicalCape world hyperlinks; and also because a Nokia 6280 handset (which was the cameraof phone that was used for this study) can be used to interact with any of these systems. A hybrid methodology that consisted of three discrete sets of questionnaires, observations, interviews and the application of the Real Access criteria as well as the actual scenario-based usability testing sessions was adopted. This hybrid approach was adopted because it is a guaranteed and viable pathway for the provision of comprehensive illumination and feedback on the key usability issues that were investigated duringUniversity this study. The evaluation results showed that participants were generally satisfied with the perfonnance of the 2D visual tagging systems with low decoding latency, intuitive interface and feedback mechanism. Most participants also indicated a willingness to use visual tagging systems on a regular basis, in spite of perceived limitations. Furthennore, test results showed that the single most important attribute of a visual tagging system, from a user perspective, is its decoding latency. Similarly, it was found that the most important factor that could influence the adoption of the 2D visual tagging paradigm is 11 mobile Web browsing costs. An evaluation of the 2D visual tagging paradigm against the Real Access criteria framework indicates that 2D visual tagging systems surpass the minimal criteria threshold for effective and efficient deployment within an African context. The study concludes with a list of twenty recommendations that 2D visual tagging system providers may adopt to make their systems and by extension, the 2D visual tagging paradigm, more efficient, attractive and accessible to users. Town Cape of University 111 DEDICATION Town This research project is dedicated to the Almighty God, the Creator of our vast and magnificent planet who is yet to initiate a project He could not bring to completion, for enabling me to start and complete the MIT programCape as well as this dissertation. of University IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I am deeply grateful for the attention, guidance and input I received from my supervisor, Dr. Audrey Mbogho. This is to say a big thank you to Francoise Gaarlandt­ Kist of Pluspunt Individu, Netherlands for sponsoring the second half of my MIT studies. I also appreciate the contributions of Drs. Kuttel, Hussein, Marsden, Gain and Gamba to my professional and academic life during my time on the MIT program. I am grateful to CS Departmental staff, notably Eve, Freda and Bernie as well as Nuroo Ismail of UCT Knowledge Commons for input on typesetting. I thank my colleagues (particularly Victor, Mpho, Lauren, Hubert, Mogomotsi and Bojelo) in the MIT Lab for their friendship and support. And thanks to all the friends, acquaintances and associates I have been fortunate to meet both physically and virtually in South TownAfrica, the US, UK and elsewhere around the world. My life has been tremendously enriched by you all. Last, I want to thank my family - my Mom, Florence, Brother, Danne (as well as his wife, Bunmi) , Sister, Deremi and Dad for their moral, financialCape and spiritual support. You are one of the main reasons I am who I am today. of University v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. 11 DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................ IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... V CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH ................................................................................................................ .4 1.4 RESEARCH PREMISE AND MOTIVATION ................................................................................................. 6 1.5 EXISTING RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................Town 7 1.6METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................... 8 1.7 USABILITY Focus ................................................................................................................................. 8 1.8 ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.9 DISSERTATION OUTLINE ........................................................................................................................Cape 9 of CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................................ 11 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 EARLIEST WORK ................................................................................................................................. 12 2.3 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT.. ...................................... 15 2.4 RELATED WORK ..................................................................................................................................University 16 2.5 MOST RELEVANT WORK ..................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................................... 26 THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND THE VISUAL TAGGING PARADIGM ........................................... 26 3.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 26 3.2 TWO-DIMENSIONAL (2D) SYMBOLOGIES ............................................................................................ 27 3.2.1 DataMatrix ................................................................................................................................. 28 3.2.2 QR Code ..................................................................................................................................... 29 VI 3.3 CAMERA PHONES ................................................................................................................................ 30 3.3.1 Basic Phones ............................................................................................................................... 31 3.3.2 Smart Phones .............................................................................................................................