Typical usability evaluation methods tend to focus
more on “ªrst-time” experiences with products
that may arise within the ªrst hour or two, which
trends the results more towards “discoverability”
or “learnability” problems . . . longer term usability
issues are more difªcult to evaluate, but they
are of great importance. (p. 2149)
When development is added to the picture, longer
time scales become even more attractive, since development
outcomes are, of course, not likely to become
evident in “the ªrst hour or two.” However,
by our count, only two of the papers reviewed in
this article feature evaluations longer than six
months, and the approximate median duration of
evaluations was two weeks. This may simply be due
to the newness of the discipline, although it is likely
that the tight publication schedules of the largely
conference-based HCI and ICTD communities are a
factor. In any case, we suggest that strategies to
promote more long-term evaluations should be explored
in earnest by our community