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Usability of Web Services

Usability of Web Services. Scott Isensee BMC Software November 4, 2002. Guidelines Needed. Style guides have improved consistency and usability for Macintosh, Windows, UNIX, etc. Websites and web applications vary greatly in UI

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Usability of Web Services

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  1. Usability of Web Services Scott Isensee BMC Software November 4, 2002

  2. Guidelines Needed • Style guides have improved consistency and usability for Macintosh, Windows, UNIX, etc. • Websites and web applications vary greatly in UI • Many sets of web guidelines exist, but none are widely accepted. • For acceptance, need guidelines endorsed by an organization with authority and credibility like W3C • One new area where usability guidelines are needed is web services

  3. What are Web Services? • A new breed of web application based on components. • Utilize the standards: • XML (structured data) • SOAP (access protocol) • UDDI (directory) • WSDL (describes the component) • Enabled by technologies like .NET and J2EE

  4. Classes of Web Services

  5. Benefits of Web Services? • Reusable components increase development efficiency • Provides mechanisms for integrating applications • Facilitates improved communication between companies • IT departments spend less time writing code and more time solving business problems.

  6. Examples • E-business website provides package tracking supplied by Fedex • GUI added to a mainframe application • Computer manufacturer links their inventory system to parts ordering to the supplier’s

  7. Example

  8. Potential Usability Problems • Internal inconsistency in applications built from components developed by different suppliers • What happens if a component is slow or unavailable? • How to accommodate working offline? • It is feasible to implement features like drag and drop across multiple web services? • How can an application best be displayed on widely varying devices? • What are the standards for menus, icons, etc. in the web services environment?

  9. What Needs to be Done? • Research and testing to determine best recommendations • Write guidelines • Determine best way to deliver these guidelines: • Make part of programming specs? • Write separate usability spec? • Should web services usability guidelines be part of website usability guidelines?

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