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Evaluating Usability of Academic Websites through a Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process

Author

Listed:
  • AbdulHafeez Muhammad

    (Department of Computer Sciences, Bahria University Lahore Campus, Islamabad 54600, Pakistan)

  • Ansar Siddique

    (Department of Software Engineering, University of Gujrat, Punjab 50700, Pakistan)

  • Quadri Noorulhasan Naveed

    (College of Computer Science, King Khalid University, Abha 62529, Saudi Arabia)

  • Uzma Khaliq

    (Department of Computer Sciences, Bahria University Lahore Campus, Islamabad 54600, Pakistan)

  • Ali M. Aseere

    (College of Computer Science, King Khalid University, Abha 62529, Saudi Arabia)

  • Mohd Abul Hasan

    (College of Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia)

  • Mohamed Rafik N. Qureshi

    (College of Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia)

  • Basit Shahzad

    (Department of Software Engineering, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan)

Abstract

In the higher education sector, there is a growing trend to offer academic information to users through websites. Contemporarily, the users (i.e., students/teachers, parents, and administrative staff) greatly rely on these websites to perform various academic tasks, including admission, access to learning management systems (LMS), and links to other relevant resources. These users vary from each other in terms of their technological competence, objectives, and frequency of use. Therefore, academic websites should be designed considering different dimensions, so that everybody can be accommodated. Knowing the different dimensions with respect to the usability of academic websites is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach has been considered to be a significant method to deal with the uncertainty that is involved in subjective judgment. Although a wide range of usability factors for academic websites have already been identified, most of them are based on the judgment of experts who have never used these websites. This study identified important factors through a detailed literature review, classified them, and prioritized the most critical among them through the FAHP methodology, involving relevant users to propose a usability evaluation framework for academic websites. To validate the proposed framework, five websites of renowned higher educational institutes (HEIs) were evaluated and ranked according to the usability criteria. As the proposed framework was created methodically, the authors believe that it would be helpful for detecting real usability issues that currently exist in academic websites.

Suggested Citation

  • AbdulHafeez Muhammad & Ansar Siddique & Quadri Noorulhasan Naveed & Uzma Khaliq & Ali M. Aseere & Mohd Abul Hasan & Mohamed Rafik N. Qureshi & Basit Shahzad, 2021. "Evaluating Usability of Academic Websites through a Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2040-:d:499124
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Renuka Nagpal & Deepti Mehrotra & Pradeep Kr. Bhatia, 2016. "Usability evaluation of website using combined weighted method: fuzzy AHP and entropy approach," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 7(4), pages 408-417, December.
    2. Kem Saichaie & Christopher C. Morphew, 2014. "What College and University Websites Reveal about the Purposes of Higher Education," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 85(4), pages 499-530, July.
    3. Emanuele Salerno, 2020. "Identifying Value-Increasing Actions for Cultural Heritage Assets through Sensitivity Analysis of Multicriteria Evaluation Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-13, November.
    4. Michele Bernasconi & Christine Choirat & Raffaello Seri, 2010. "The Analytic Hierarchy Process and the Theory of Measurement," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(4), pages 699-711, April.
    5. Ersin Caglar & S. Ahmet Mentes, 2012. "The usability of university websites - a study on European University of Lefke," International Journal of Business Information Systems, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 11(1), pages 22-40.
    6. Sharmistha Roy & Prasant Kumar Pattnaik & Rajib Mall, 2017. "Quality assurance of academic websites using usability testing: an experimental study with AHP," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, March.
    7. Chang, Da-Yong, 1996. "Applications of the extent analysis method on fuzzy AHP," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 649-655, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Quadri Noorulhasan Naveed & Adel Ibrahim Qahmash & Mohamed Rafik N. Qureshi & Naim Ahmad & Mohammed Aref Abdul Rasheed & Md Akhtaruzzaman, 2023. "Analyzing Critical Success Factors for Sustainable Cloud-Based Mobile Learning (CBML) in Crisp and Fuzzy Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Mei-Hui Peng & Bireswar Dutta, 2023. "The Mediating Effects of Innovativeness and System Usability on Students’ Personality Differences: Recommendations for E-Learning Platforms in the Post-Pandemic Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Majid H. Alsulami & Mashael M. Khayyat & Omar I. Aboulola & Mohammed S. Alsaqer, 2021. "Development of an Approach to Evaluate Website Effectiveness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Ertugrul Ayyildiz & Mirac Murat & Gul Imamoglu & Yildiz Kose, 2023. "A novel hybrid MCDM approach to evaluate universities based on student perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(1), pages 55-86, January.

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