Oct 6 - SUMI - Software Usability Measurement Inventory

I found a sample SUMI form...........year 1993, 2000. There are 50 questions. Answers are: Agree, Undecided, Disagree.
http://sumi.ucc.ie/uksample.pdf

A good resource for SUMI.
http://sumi.ucc.ie/

http://www2.hf.faa.gov/workbenchtools/default.aspx?rPage=Tooldetails&subCatId=13&toolID=245
FAA website has info on the various Usability Questionnaires.

About SUMI

SUMI was developed on the project by the Human Factors Research Group (HFRG), University College, Cork.
This generic usability tool comprises a validated 50-item paper-based questionnaire in which respondents score each item on a three-point scale (i.e., agree, undecided, disagree).

SUMI measures software quality from the end user's point of view.
The questionnaire is designed to measure scales of:
1) Affect - the respondents emotional feelings towards the software (e.g., warm, happy).
2) Efficiency - the sense of the degree to which the software enables the task to be completed in a timely, effective and economical fashion.
3) Learnability - the feeling that it is relatively straightforward to become familiar with the software.
4) Helpfulness - the perception that the software communicates in a helpful way to assist in the resolution of difficulties.
5) Control - the feeling that the software responds to user inputs in a consistent way and that its workings can easily be internalized. (Source: Porteous, Kirakowski and Corbett, 1993).

Advantages of SUMI

1) SUMI provides an objective way of assessing user satisfaction.
2) Because SUMI scores are based on a standardized questionnaire, SUMI results can be compared across different systems.
3) SUMI is mentioned in the ISO 9241 standard as a recognized method of testing user satisfaction.

Disadvantages of SUMI

1) The results SUMI produces are only valid if the sample used is representative of the user population, if the questionnaire has been administered in the same way to all users sampled, and if the results are carefully interpreted.
2) Experience interpreting the results of SUMI outputs is essential
3) Questionnaires can only provide information of a general nature, they do not identify specific problems which can be related to designers.