Design of an e–registration prototype using HCI principles : with specific reference to tax registration

Abstract

The aim of the research was: *to gain a better understanding on the concepts of Human-computer interaction (HCI) in general and the application of HCI principles in this field; to gain a better understanding of electronic registration systems (e-registration systems) and the use of web forms for this purpose; to gain a better understanding of which HCI principles could be applied to the design of a web form for e-registration; to apply the identified HCI principles to an example of a web form that was to be created; •to evaluate the design of the web form by means of different data-gathering techniques, and .to redesign the web form according to the data obtained from method triangulation.

In order to achieve these objectives, the research used, firstly a research methodology to

determine which research approach to follow. Secondly, a literature review was then

used to identify which HCI principles would be appropriate in the interface design of a

web form for e-registration. The empirical part of this study consisted of a web form

created according to these HCI principles, which was then evaluated according to

usability goals. The evaluation included different data-gathering techniques, namely an

observation of the manner in which the participants interacted with the web form, an

interview which consisted of in-depth questions regarding the improvement of the web

form and a questionnaire which consisted of specific questions regarding the usability of

the web form. The web form was redesigned according to the suggestions made by the participants and a final web form prototype was introduced. Finally, recommendations were made for additional studies in order to extend the study of HCI principles application in web forms, specifically in the design of tax e-registration systems in South Africa.