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Introducing the Interactive Usability Toolbox by RELab of ETH Zürich

Interactive Usability Toolbox

The Interactive Usability Toolbox is an open-access website hosted by the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory (RELab) at ETH Zürich. The toolbox aims to support the user-centric design of wearable robotics and exoskeletons through improved usability evaluation practice. The website includes an interactive toolbox, a database with 150+ methods/measures, and a wiki page with links to more information for all evaluation practices. Users can select and directly compare evaluation methods based on their context, recorded prior uses, and if the measurements are standardized or not. The Interactive Usability Toolbox website can be accessed (optimized for desktop application) at: https://lnkd.in/erh4PUQC

The Interactive Usability Toolbox helps organizations like exoskeleton developers and evaluators find measurements that fit their needs and context. Twelve wearable robotics developers participated in an evaluation study of the toolbox. The developers were asked to derive evaluation protocols for two hypothetical cases. Half of the developers had access to the toolbox, and half of them didn’t. External reviewers then rated the quality and composition of the evaluation protocols generated by the two groups. A full paper on the conducted study is in preparation.

The main benefit that the toolbox provides is an educational purpose, showing the value and extent of usability measurements that are context-specific to wearable robotics. At the end of the day, the selection of these methods is still up to the researcher or the developer. The toolbox should help facilitate an informed decision based on the state of the art information.

Sign up as a Contributor:

The database and toolkit are meant to grow and improve. Users are encouraged to sign up as a contributor, which will enable them to submit change requests, additional data, or suggestions. All contributors should aim to tackle the prevalent usability and technology acceptance limitations of wearable robotics and exoskeletons.

The Interactive Usability Toolbox for wearable robotics is one of the main outputs of Jan Thomas Meyer’s (LinkedIn) doctoral thesis at ETH Zürich (link). The toolbox builds upon the collected information and conclusions from the Survey Results and Analysis of Usability Evaluation Practices of Use in Wearable Robotics.

Reference:

The Interactive Usability Toolbox, as accessed on April 2022, https://www.usabilitytoolbox.ch/

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