A method for identifying communication breakdowns in user-interfaces

Abstract

Businesses are increasingly communicating with their customers via web-based interfaces. However, users are experiencing a lack of guidance and support in the communication of these often complex services. This paper proposes a method for identifying where and why there is a breakdown in communication between the interface and the user. In creating the method, the importance and value of having such a method are considered and discussed, particularly for communication rich interfaces. The method is developed based on the results from user trials with a mortgage application interface using the existing evaluation method. Although the results from piloting the method suggest that it is useful for identifying communication breakdowns within the user-interfaces, more work is required before a definitive method can be produced. As a result of this study it appears that communication breakdowns are related either to the information within an interface or to the process.