Honors Projects in Computer Information Systems

The Effect of Web Usability on Users’ Web Experience

Molly Herring — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:17:05 PDT

The ease with which a website visitor can find what they need is positively correlated with visitor satisfaction(Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement, 2008). Web usability is a field that studies what factors affect the visitor’s ability to navigate through a website. Although there are publications outlining specific usability guidelines, many of them have little or no academic research to support the claim. HHS developed a list of 209 guidelines and rated each according to their strength of evidence (research-based support, 5 – high, 1 – low). Using heuristic evaluation and usability testing, this study provides additional research-based knowledge for those guidelines rated with a low strength of evidence. Results indicate that users desire printer-friendly webpages, require feedback on their location within the website, find linking to related content helpful, and expect a search option to be provided on every page. Additional research is necessary to determine if providing descriptive page titles or labeling pushbuttons clearly is important to web usability.

A Better Understanding of College Students' YouTube Behaviors

Michael Pickowicz — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:49:37 PDT

The purpose of this research study is to get a closer look into the behavior of college students towards the video streaming website YouTube. The objective is to understand whether the benefits of publishing videos on the site are positive for business organizations. The study looks at many variables that would help companies better understand what exactly publishing a video on YouTube would do for them. These variables include gender, hours of television watched, hours of Internet used, hours spent reading and whether a video is made by a regular user or a professional company. It was found that males are more likely to use YouTube then females, despite using the Internet much less. It was also shown that there are both pros and cons for implementing user and corporate developed videos.

The Age of Globalization: Impact of Information Technology on Global Business Strategies

Benjamin Lawlor — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 05:42:32 PDT

Globalization has completely altered the way in which the world operates. The barriers that once hindered our ability to communicate and interact with people across the world have diminished. Globalization has become ingrained in all fields: business, government, economic, social. In this paper the role of globalization on society will be discussed and in particular, the impact of globalization on the business environment. Also, over the past few decades advancements in information technology have had a profound on the global landscape as well as on the progression of globalization. The argument will be presented, that innovation in information technology has been a major driving force behind globalization and that information technology has now become a key component of a corporation’s global business strategy