Evaluating the Usability of Interactive Digital Television Applications

Applications for Interactive Digital Television (IDTV) are becoming increasingly popular. Users no longer interact only with software applications on computers or srnartphones, but also through a television set. Therefore, developers must address efficiency and effectiveness aspects when creating those applications to provide the user with a satisfying interaction experience. Thus, this paper proposes an Application Usability Model for IDTV based on two approaches: the quality of the software product and the quality in the use of the software product. Additionally, the model mainly draws upon the ISO/IEC 25010 standard in which a set of usability characteristics are defined. These characteristics have been divided into subcharacteristics of the IDTV to quantify each of their attributes according to several metrics, and with the obtained values, identify the usability problems that might exist in software applications. For instance, to have a better idea of how the evaluation should be performed, two examples are presented that employ the proposed usability model on applications designed for IDTV from different domains.