Critical Analysis Of Research Papers On Design And Usability Of E-Commerce Websites: An Essay.

The Context of the Paper

A critical analysis of two research papers chosen by the student in her/his topic area and agreed to by the course convener. The papers should address research questions relevant to the student's intended area of research. The discussion for each paper will be evaluated according to how the following points are addressed:

A. The Context of the Paper

Name the research community that the paper addresses. Name the sub-group(s) in this community within which the research can best be classified.

Name one of the key researchers in this sub-group (apart from the authors of your paper).

Name one of the most important journals or conferences in which this sub-group publishes

(apart from the place where your paper was published). You need to name different researchers and publications for each paper even if the papers are from the same area.

How highly do you rate the conference/journal in which the paper is published? How highly do you rate the author(s) of the paper. How highly do you rate the institution(s) where the author(s) are based? Explain the basis of these evaluations.

B. The Details of the Paper

Name the research questions addressed by the paper: Were they clearly stated? What were

How well justified is the research? Is it significant? Is the outcome of the research worth discovering? Why? Why not?

Connections with existing research: Is there a clear discussion of the existing work in the area?

How does this work connect to the paper under review? Is this made clear?

Was the research based on any theory? Was this theory stated? If not, can you uncover an implicit theory? How was this theory applied?

What research paradigms were followed? What assumptions were used? Was any of this discussed? If not, can you identify the implicit paradigm and assumptions? Should this have been discussed in the paper?

What research method was adopted to conduct the research project?

The rigour of the research design: Does the research clearly address the research problems you have identified? What answers does the research provide? Are these answers backed up with sufficient evidence? Has too much been claimed? Has something been missed?

Relevance to other researchers and/or practitioners including contribution to theory and/or IT practice.

Correct referencing  Has the paper miss some important references in the field?

Developing a research question from a problem emerging from the literature discussed in Part 1. The discussion on the following will be evaluated.

.The topic of the research problem clearly stated.
.The area of IT defined demonstrating an understanding.
.Research question clearly stated.
.Significance of the problem clearly stated and justified.
.Aims of research clearly stated and explained.
.Relevant literature referenced.
.The research outcomes discussed.
.Contribution to theory and/or IT practice discussed.

Key Design Characteristics for Developing Usable E-Commerce Websites in the Arab World

Research community: In this section of the paper, discussions would be made on the research article entitled “Key Design Characteristics for Developing Usable E-Commerce Websites in the Arab World”.  The paper essentially addresses the Information Technology and Communication (ITC) research community. The  research work  can be best classified  to be conducted  by  the  sub-group  that  works  on Human Computer Interaction.

Key researchers: The key  researchers in this  domain are Zhao Huang and Morad Benyoucef, whose work “From e-commerce to social commerce: A close look at design features” have  been published  in the Electronic Commerce Research and Applications  journal and has been rated a one of the most downloaded articles as far as that particular journal is considered.

Rating the conference/journal: The chosen paper has been published in the Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline.  The articles published in this paper are essentially peer-reviewed: besides this, the journal has a h-index value of 27.  Thus, the journal has a more-than–average impact factor. The author of this article is associated with the Zarqa University, Jordon and   has been ranked as one   of the “averagely selective institutions” by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Jordan.

Research questions addressed by the paper:  The primary aim of this research work was to identify the specific design characteristics that essential for developing a successfully running e-commerce site as far as the Arab world is considered. The author has not set up the research question in the paper but has outlined the objectives of the paper in formal manner.

Justification of the research:  The research work provides a detailed description of all the features that must be included in any electronic commerce site. The author has reviewed two of ecommerce sites that are very popular in the Arab countries and developed the guideline that holds true for all e-commerce websites running across the world. Thus, the outcomes of the research work are indeed worth discovering and significant.

Connections with existing research:  The author has cited several existing literary works in this paper. The authors have highlighted the works that highlight the usability strengths and problems of ecommerce sites, as the very same aspects have been included in her own work. Thus, the connection between the cited papers and the paper under discussion is quite clear.

Theories on which research has been based:  The entire theory is based on concepts of web application usability evaluation. Although the concepts  have not been stated  in  the paper, however,  the same can be identified  easily  when the literature reviewed section is studied in details.

The Details of the Paper

Research paradigms: The positivist research theory has been utilized in this study. No assumptions have been stated in this paper formally, however, an in-depth study of the paper helps in identifying the fact that the experiments conducted by the researcher were entirely based on the ecommerce sites that are popular in the Arab countries.

Research method: The researcher has selected two  of  the most popular electronic commerce  sites  of  UAE,  and has  experimentally reviewed  the usability  of the  same.  Thus, it can be said that a qualitative research method has been utilized.

Rigour of the research design:  The researcher has successfully addressed the domain that has been mentioned in the research objectives. The researcher has identified the guidelines that should be followed  while developing an e-commerce  site  to be hosted  in the UAE,   besides providing  snapshots  for each  of  issues  that have been identified   in the experimental  review phase.

 The researcher has not over-claimed anything, not has missed out any particular topic of discussion.

Relevance to other researchers: The findings of this research study can be utilized to highlight the usability factors that need to consider for the development of easy to use e-commerce sites.

Correct referencing:  The author  has  utilized the APA style of  referencing  in  citing the  articles  that have  been revised during the study and   has utilized the style in correct format.

In this part of the paper, discussion would be made on the research gap identified from the reviewed article and the identification of the domain in which further research works can be conducted.

Significance: The  article being  reviewed highlights  the  usability issues   that are frequently observed  in electronic  commerce  sites  developed   by  website development  organizations based in Arab.   The author has directed her effort towards the identification of usability issues only, and has not considered the security issues and flaws that might be included in these websites.

According  to Muhannad and Ahmed  (2014), the general  population of  the Arab  countries do not rely much on the ecommerce  sites,  primarily  because  of  the   high  number of fraudulent activities  that have been reported  by  users of such  sites. Thus, the primary issue that exists in the reviewed article is that it does not contain any information associated with the security issues that might persist with the reviewed websites.

Research Topic: Identification of key security issues associated with E-Commerce Websites currently used in the Arab World

Research question:  The proposed study would be aimed at finding the answers to the following research questions:

1. What key security mechanisms are currently utilized for developing usable and secured e-commerce websites in the Arab world?
2. What major security issues are associated with E-Commerce Websites currently used in the Arab World?
3.   What strategies can be utilized for mitigating the major security issues that are associated with E-Commerce Websites currently used in the Arab World?

Developing a Research Question

Aims of research: The aim of the research study has been highlighted in the section below:

1. To identify the key security mechanisms are currently utilized for developing usable and secured e-commerce websites in the Arab world.
2. To identify the major security issues that is associated with E-Commerce Websites currently used in the Arab World
3.   To identify the strategies can be utilized for mitigating the major security issues that are associated with E-Commerce Websites currently used in the Arab World

Paper: A COMPARISON OF USABILITY TESTING METHODS FOR AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITE: A CASE STUDY ON A MALAYSIA ONLINE GIFT SHOP

Research community: In this section of the paper, discussions would be made on the research article entitled “A COMPARISON OF USABILITY TESTING METHODS FOR AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITE: A CASE STUDY ON A MALAYSIA ONLINE GIFT SHOP”.  The paper essentially addresses the Information Technology and Communication (ITC) research community. The subgroup of the research work can be termed as the connection between the web and people.

Key researchers: The key researchers in this  domain are K. N. Goh, Y.Y. Chen, F.W. Lai , S.C. Daud. Name of another publication of these authors is “Designing a checklist for an e-commerce website using Kansei Engineering”, was published in Springer in 2013.

Rating the conference/journal: The chosen paper has been published in the Informing Science: the International Conference on Information Technology.  The articles published in this paper are essentially peer-reviewed: besides this, the journal has a h-index value of 27.  Thus, the journal has a more-than–average impact factor. The author of this article is associated with 1 Computer and Information Sciences Department 2 Management and Humanities Department Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh, 31750, Perak, Malaysia.

The Context of the Paper:

Research Question:

The main research question of this research paper is – What is the importance of the usability testing for evaluating the e-commerce sites?

The research question is well justified and the aim of the research work is clearly discussed in this paper. The usability testing of the websites allows to understand the efficiency and satisfaction rate of the websites from the users’ perspectives. The focus of the research work was on the area of user interface defects of an ecommerce website of an online gift shop.

Significance of the research:

This research study is significant in the area of the website development for a business organization. In order to develop a good website for attracting the customers and conducting the e-business through the website, it is required to understand the efficiency of the website for satisfying the requirements of the target customers. Therefore, an efficient method is required for usability testing of the research study. Different types of methods for the testing had been used in this research study and some suggestions were given for the selection of a method for the usability testing.

Significance of the Problem

The base of the research study and the selection of the testing approaches for the usability testing of the website had been selected from the literature review of the study. A detailed literature review had been conducted in the research study form the past research works done by other researchers. The previous research works regarding the usability testing and the methods used in the res3eche pares are taken into consideration while selecting methods of the research work and the usability testing. The outcomes of the previous research works are also considered here.

Research based on any theory:

There was no such theory behind the research work. However, the importance of the usability testing and the customers’ perceptions in the e-commerce business has been used as the baseline of the research study.

Research paradigms:

Positivism research paradigm was used in the research study for establishing the methods for the different types of activities of the research study. The research study was a practical research study. The scientific impact of a particular fact over the social life of people was investigated in the research study. Different types of methods were applied over the six selected users among the targeted visitors. There were no such assumptions made before starting the research work. The concept behind the research work was that the practical application of the methods would help the researcher to understand the perfect way of measuring defects in the e-commerce website of the online gift shop.

Correct referencing:

The whole document of the research paper was perfectly referenced. IEEE referencing style was used as the reference style of the research paper. All the literatures used in the research paper are acknowledged in the research paper. Total 26 references were given in the research paper.

Rigor of the research design:

In this research study, significant numbers of defects were found in the website using Feedback Capture after Task (FCAT), Retrospective Think Aloud with Eye Movements (RTE) and Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA) method of usability testing. After comparing all the three methods of usability testing, it had been found that the RTE method is able to provide more data regarding the defects of the website. This method had provided three times more defects than the other methods. However, all the data regarding the defects gathered through this method were not valid. More efficient method is required for gathering and analyzing the relevant data regarding the defects of the website. At the end of the paper, the eye tracking method (Cognitive load) had been suggested for the further analysis of the defects in the ecommerce websites.

Aims of Research

Relevance to other researchers:

This is relevant to other research works conducted in this area. Some of the other research papers are used as the reference of the research paper. The outcome of the research study are also relevant with the findings of the other research papers. Most previous study uses existing HCI evaluation method such as user testing, heuristic evaluation, inquiry methods and simulation methods to evaluate web applications. Among all, user testing and heuristic evaluation method are most commonly used for e-commerce website. Following  this pattern,  this research study has used four different methods: Feedback Capture after Task (FCAT), Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA), Retrospective Think Aloud with Eye Movements (RTE) and Observation.

Significance: The research study had been conducted for understanding the methods of usability testing of the ecommerce websites. With respect to the aspects of this research study the following research question can be formed:

Research Topic: Purpose of usability testing while developing an website for the ecommerce business organizations.

Research question:

• What is the importance of usability testing of ecommerce websites?
• What is the best method for usability testing for the ecommerce websites?

Aim of the research:  The main aim of the study will be the understanding of the purpose of the usability testing while developing an website for the ecommerce business organizations and finding the most effective method for the usability testing.

Chen, Y. Y., Lai, F. W., Goh, K. N., & Daud, S. C. (2013, January). The effect of integrating social plugins into e-commerce website: a study on online consumer behaviour. In Proceedings of the 7th international conference on ubiquitous information management and communication (p. 56). ACM.

Goh, K. N., Chen, Y. Y., Daud, S. C., Sivaji, A., & Soo, S. T. (2013, November). Designing a checklist for an e-commerce website using Kansei Engineering. In International Visual Informatics Conference (pp. 483-496). Springer International Publishing.

Goh, K. N., Chen, Y. Y., Lai, F. W., Daud, S. C., Sivaji, A., & Soo, S. T. (2013, April). A comparison of usability testing methods for an e-commerce website: A case study on a Malaysia online gift shop. In Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG), 2013 Tenth International Conference on (pp. 143-150). IEEE.

Hasan, L. (2016). Key Design Characteristics for Developing Usable E-Commerce Websites in the Arab World. Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, 19.

Kamoun, F., & Halaweh, M. (2016). Does Interface Design Influence Consumers' Security Perception?. In Encyclopedia of E-Commerce Development, Implementation, and Management (pp. 1593-1609). IGI Global.

Muhannad, K., & Ahmed, G. (2014). Customer perceptions of e-commerce in the United Arab Emirate. International Journal of Global Business, 7(1), 95.

Niranjanamurthy, M., & Chahar, D. D. (2013). The study of e-commerce security issues and solutions. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering, 2(7).

Niranjanamurthy, M., Kavyashree, N., Jagannath, S., & Chahar, D. (2013). Analysis of e-commerce and m-commerce: advantages, limitations and security issues. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering, 2(6).

Sarabdeen, J., Rodrigues, G., & Balasubramanian, S. (2014). E-Government users’ privacy and security concerns and availability of laws in Dubai. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 28(3), 261-276.