Standardization of visual and procedural guidelines for developing user friendly web applications at Scania InfoMate

Scania InfoMate develops web applications that support truck distributors and workshops with the necessary tools for an effective maintenance process. However, the end-users of these applications are faced with as many different graphical interfaces as there are applications. As a consequence, important effects of recognition are lost, developers spend unnecessary time designing new solutions for each application and Scania InfoMate does not present a homogeneous brand image towards its customers. Therefore the aim of this study is to give a suggestion of how a standardized graphical interface for web applications at Scania InfoMate should be designed. The given suggestion should come from thorough investigation of both end-user needs and recent research within the area of usability. In addition to a standardized interface this study also aims to deliver guidelines that support future web application development at Scania InfoMate. Through a combination of methods, mainly heuristic evaluation and user interviews, an elaborate description of usability and consistency problems in a defined web application portfolio is produced. This served as a basis for developing an interface design suggestion and helped pinpoint crucial areas in need of usability and consistency guidelines. The main findings are a graphical interface design suggestion that specify positioning and visualization of common interface elements and guidelines ensuring that future web application development at Scania InfoMate is kept at a high standard regarding usability and consistency. This study also points out areas for further development at Scania InfoMate and suggests that additional studies should take place to establish a common view on consistency issues