Presenter/Author Information

Lucas Michels
Omar El-Gayar
Matt Wills

Keywords

dss, user acceptance, swera

Start Date

1-7-2010 12:00 AM

Abstract

The Solar Wind and Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project focused onproviding renewable energy planning resources to the public. Examples include wind,solar, and hydro assessments. A major component of the SWERA website is the archivesearch. This provides for a discovery DSS upon which users can find and access renewableenergy data and supporting models. The RREX component of SWERA provides avisualization DSS as an addition to the website archive. RREX provides the discoverythrough a couple different avenues. RREX maps the renewable energy data that it providesalong with a graphing application of the same data. RREX also provides a web serviceapproach to allow for the distribution of the same data sets in multiple forms. The objectiveof this paper is to evaluate user satisfaction with the system as well as highlight factorsaffecting user satisfaction and experience. In the paper we provide a discussion of variousdesign decisions used in the construction of the system followed by description of researchmethodology, and a discussion of key findings. Overall, analysis of results indicatesgeneral acceptance of the functionality provided and highlights venues for furtherimprovements of the interface.

COinS
 
Jul 1st, 12:00 AM

Solar Wind and Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA): A Usability Case Study

The Solar Wind and Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project focused onproviding renewable energy planning resources to the public. Examples include wind,solar, and hydro assessments. A major component of the SWERA website is the archivesearch. This provides for a discovery DSS upon which users can find and access renewableenergy data and supporting models. The RREX component of SWERA provides avisualization DSS as an addition to the website archive. RREX provides the discoverythrough a couple different avenues. RREX maps the renewable energy data that it providesalong with a graphing application of the same data. RREX also provides a web serviceapproach to allow for the distribution of the same data sets in multiple forms. The objectiveof this paper is to evaluate user satisfaction with the system as well as highlight factorsaffecting user satisfaction and experience. In the paper we provide a discussion of variousdesign decisions used in the construction of the system followed by description of researchmethodology, and a discussion of key findings. Overall, analysis of results indicatesgeneral acceptance of the functionality provided and highlights venues for furtherimprovements of the interface.