UNSCALE: Multi-criteria Usability Evaluation Framework for Library Websites in a Fuzzy Environment

In line with growing pace of advancement of internet technology, the World Wide Web dramatically changed the traditional ways of information collecting, evaluating, storing and disseminating strategies used by information centers together with saving money and time, and created new opportunities and achievements for promoting social and cultural interactions with updated information. Therefore, accordingly to the fast changing environment of the technology, organizations need to develop instructive and well content websites as well as continuously monitor and update their websites performance up-to-date. This research, therefore, investigates the issues of web usability and proposes a fuzzy-based framework for measuring and evaluating the usability of websites particularly library websites. The findings from the usability criteria elicitation, expert reviews, survey and statistical analysis resulted in a comprehensive list of seven web usability dimensions along with 20 measuring items which formed the basis of the evaluation framework called UNSCALE. Further exploration was conducted to elicit weights of the key dimensions and measuring items in order to reveal the level of each dimension and measuring items' contribution to the usability index system through the extent analysis fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method. The framework was developed including with eight cyclical steps for measuring and evaluating web usability by employing the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. It can be used to evaluate the overall usability score and also scores regarding each evaluation dimension of any types of websites but is particularly suitable for library websites. The model was tested for its applicability and practicality on a university library website in Sri Lanka, a developing country with a fast growth in terms of internet access.