USABILITY TESTING OF REFERENCING TOOLS

ABSTRACT

This project is a research into the usability testing of referencing tools. The research is aimed at testing and analyzing reference tools adopted by writers, students, authors and evaluating the usability of these tools. A wide range of referencing tools exists out there. These tools are automatically deployed to assist in research writings to generate a bibliography, collect references, save references and notes, organize references, arrange references in a needed referencing style, and integrate in-text citations into a document as desired. To achieve the aim of this research, a qualitative and quantitative usability testing methodology is utilized. The quantitative phase employs the use of inductive reasoning. Here, a hypothesis is created, data about the issue is gathered, and the data is used to examine and draw up conclusions. Methods such as statistics of use, close-ended discussions using surveys and questionnaires, and moderated tests are carried out. This is followed by a conclusion that proves whether or not the hypothesis about the usability of referencing tools is correct based on the results obtained. The second phase of the usability testing utilizes qualitative research methods. This involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences with the use of referencing tools. It is used in this research to gather in-depth insights from participants about the referencing tools. Qualitative research method focuses on obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication.