End-User Composition Interfaces for Smart Environments: A Preliminary Study of Usability Factors

This paper describes a preliminary study of factors that influence the usability of end-user composition interfaces for smart environments. Three early GUI prototypes were tested in a usability laboratory, and transcriptions from the test subjects’ comments during the experiment were analyzed in search of recurring areas of concern. Four usability factors were identified: (1) predictability of composition model, (2) readability of composition representation, (3) overview and means for planning compositions, and (4) attractiveness and