EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN USERS AND CUSTOM-MADE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e042627
Author(s):  
María Reina-Bueno ◽  
María del Carmen Vázquez-Bautista ◽  
Inmaculada C Palomo-Toucedo ◽  
Gabriel Domínguez-Maldonado ◽  
José Manuel Castillo-López ◽  
...  

IntroductionSystemic lupus erythaematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease of heterogeneous involvement. The disease may affect feet with a high prevalence of symptoms such as, for example, pain, forefoot and rearfoot deformities, and biomechanics dysfunctions. Custom-made foot orthoses (CMFO) have been previously reported to be effective in patients with other rheumatic diseases. However, as far as the authors know, there exist no studies about their effectiveness in SLE. This study aims at determining the effect of CMFO versus placebo flat cushioning insoles on pain, foot functionality, fatigue and quality of life in patients with SLE.Methods and analysisA randomised controlled trial would compare the effects of (1) CMFO and group B, which received a placebo, flat cushioning insoles, for 3 months. The main outcome measures are foot pain, foot functionality and foot-related disability. The secondary outcome measures are fatigue and quality of life.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the Portal de Ética de la Investigación Biomédica de Andalucía ethical committee 1494-N-19. The results will be disseminated regardless of the magnitude or direction of effect.Trial registartion numberClinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT04098055.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 2473011418S0052
Author(s):  
Akiyama Yui ◽  
Takaaki Hirano ◽  
Hisateru Niki

Category: Ankle Arthritis Introduction/Purpose: There are few reports describing conservative therapy for ankle osteoarthritis. Hiflex Foot Gear (HFG) is a custom-made polyethylene ankle–foot orthosis developed to permit slight mobility of the ankle while providing adequate ankle support. The purpose of this study was to validate the hypothesis that HFG improves the quality of life (QOL) in patients with ankle osteoarthritis.Subjects and methods. Methods: Ten ankles from eight patients (one man, seven women) diagnosed with ankle osteoarthritis at this hospital, prescribed an HFG, and observed for follow-up for at least 3 months were included in this study. The patients’ mean age was 69.9 (range: 46?85) years. Patients were classified as Takakura–Tanaka stage IIIa (2 ankles), stage IIIb (2 ankles), stage IV (6 ankles), with a mean observation period of 8.9 (range: 3?13) months. Clinical evaluations were made before and 3 months after wearing the orthosis. The ankle/hindfoot scale of the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot (JSSF) Standard Rating System and the Self-Administered Foot Evaluation Questionnaire (SAFE-Q) subscale of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association/Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot, respectively, were used for making evaluations. Scores were compared using a paired t-test. Results: JSSF scores improved from 55.1 points at baseline to 71.4 points after wearing the HFG (p < 0.001). According to the SAFE-Q subscales, changes after wearing the HFG were as follows: 28.9 to 61.9 points for items related to pain (p < 0.001), 36.9 to 53.7 points for those related to physical function and daily life (p = 0.001), 31.3 to 58.9 points for those related to social functions (p = 0.002), and from 31.3 to 65.0 points for those related to overall perception of health (p < 0.001); items related to shoes showed no substantial change (from 52.1 to 53.6 points). Conclusion: Our results revealed that wearing the HFG improved pain in patients with severe ankle osteoarthritis. Retained flexibility in the ankle range of motion was believed to be the factor underlying improvements in physical function and daily life, social functions, and overall perception of health. HFG is a potential option for conservative therapy in patients who cannot obtain sufficient pain control during the preoperative waiting period or in those who do not wish to undergo surgery.


2011 ◽  
Vol 403-408 ◽  
pp. 2127-2130
Author(s):  
Chun Yan Liu ◽  
Zhu Lin Liu

With the computer software and technology continuously improving, because of various factors influencing, computer engineers are very tough on how to improve the quality of software products, this is a bottleneck problem we must solve. We think that the information engineering combining with the philosophy thought would make engineer’s ideas suddenly enlightened. We find a method and model to solve software engineering problems from the philosophical Angle, and put forward the importance of information philosophy in the study of information engineering by standing at this altitude of the information engineering. As a new field, information philosophy provides a unified, convergence theory frame, it can satisfy the requirement of further specialized. Information philosophy will become most exciting and productive philosophy research field in our era's.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iyas Ibriwesh ◽  
Sin-Ban Ho ◽  
Ian Chai ◽  
Chuie-Hong Tan

This research proposed an algorithm to enhance the software requirements prioritization activity, called the multiple perspective prioritization technique. This proposed technique (algorithm) attempts to represent three perspectives: the customer, business and technical perspectives. In addition, this technique is designed for a medium to large number of requirements. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed multiple perspective prioritization technique were investigated empirically, in order to show whether it is worthy to be adopted in the real working environment. For this reason, a controlled experiment was conducted among 159 participants, where they were asked to prioritize 42 requirements using the three techniques: our proposed technique (multiple perspective prioritization technique), analytical hierarchical process and Wiegers’ technique. The aim of this experiment was to compare and evaluate the multiple perspective prioritization technique with two other techniques, which are among the most widely used prioritization techniques. By this comparison, we would like to show which of these techniques (multiple perspective prioritization technique, analytical hierarchical process and Wiegers) is more efficient, understandable, easy to use, more scalable and less time-consuming by the participants in practice. This will help the software industry and associated experts to improve the quality of their software products. The experiment outcome reveals in general that the multiple perspective prioritization technique is more effective, understandable, less time-consuming, more scalable and easier for prioritizing requirements than the analytical hierarchical process and Wiegers’ techniques. As a conclusion, the multiple perspective prioritization technique is worthy to be implemented in real environments. Our findings reflecting the three perspectives would provide valuable insights into the domain of prioritizing software requirements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.V. Petrunun ◽  
V.V. Bankrutenko ◽  
I.V. Malinovsky ◽  
A.A. Shlaev

Author(s):  
T. B. Larina

The development of e-learning, both in distance and mixed forms, becomes especially relevant in the modern educational process. A high-quality e-learning course is developed through the efforts of two parties: the teacher, who creates the methodological content, and the programmer, who creates the electronic shell of the course. The article substantiates the importance of quality issues in the development of a user interface for electronic educational resources, since the user of an electronic course deals with the direct implementation of educational material. The indicators for assessing the quality of software products in accordance with international and Russian standards and their applicability for assessing user interfaces of electronic educational resources are analyzed. The conclusion is made about the importance of the indicator “practicality” in relation to this type of software product as an indicator of an individual evaluation of the use of a product by a certain user or circle of users. The classical methods for assessing the quality of the human-machine interaction interface and the applicability of experimental and formal methods for assessing quality are considered. The analysis of modern approaches to the design of user interfaces based on UX/UI design is given. An assessment of the requirements and criteria for assessing the user interface from the standpoint of modern design is given. The tasks and features of the UX and UI components of the design process are analyzed. The essence of the modern term “usability” as an indicator of the interface evaluation is explained, and the qualitative evaluation criteria for this indicator are considered. The concept of UX testing is given, the main stages of this process are considered. The importance of taking into account the subjective psychological factors of interface perception is substantiated. The indicators for assessing the quality of user interfaces, based on the cognitive factors of its perception by a person, are analyzed.


Author(s):  
Rory V. O'Connor

For very small software development companies, the quality of their software products is a key to competitive advantage. However, the usage of software engineering standards is extremely low amongst such very small software companies. A primary reason cited by many such companies for this lack of quality standards adoption is the perception that they have been developed for large multi-national software companies and not with small and very small organizations in mind and are therefore not suitable for their specific needs. This chapter describes the design and development of the software process lifecycle standard for very small entities. This chapter presents a unique insight from the perspective of some of the standards authors on the development of the ISO/IEC 29110 standard, including the rationale behind its development and the innovative design of implementation guides to assist very small companies in adopting the standards, as well outlining a pilot project scheme for usage in early trials of this standard.


Author(s):  
Rory V. O'Connor

For very small software development companies, the quality of their software products is a key to competitive advantage. However, the usage of Software Engineering standards is extremely low amongst such very small software companies. A primary reason cited by many such companies for this lack of quality standards adoption is the perception that they have been developed for large multi-national software companies and not with small and very small organizations in mind and are therefore not suitable for their specific needs. This chapter describes the design and development of the software process lifecycle standard for very small entities ISO/IEC 29110. This chapter presents a unique insight from the perspective of some of the standards authors on the development of the ISO/IEC 29110 standard, including the rationale behind its development and the innovative design of implementation guides to assist very small companies in adopting the standards, as well outlining a pilot project scheme for usage in early trials of this standard.


2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Søren Thorgaard Skou ◽  
Lea Hojgaard ◽  
Ole H. Simonsen

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent degenerative disease in older adults. Treatment strategies, including insoles, focus on reducing pain and physical disability. In medial KOA, insoles have been studied extensively with conflicting results, possibly due to heterogeneity in outcome measures and the intervention. We sought to investigate the effect of custom-made laterally wedged insoles on pain, function, and quality of life in patients with medial KOA. Methods: Fifty-one consecutive patients with medial KOA were prescribed custom-made insoles with arch support and a 5.0° to 8.7° lateral wedge. At follow-up, 42 of the 51 participants (22 men; mean age, 63 years; mean Kellgren-Lawrence, 3.4) participated. Retrospectively, participants were asked to rate the pain intensity in their affected knee before and after the intervention measured on a visual analog scale after 30 min of physical activity (primary outcome), at rest, at night, and after 50 m of walking. Additionally, they completed the Oxford Knee Score and the EQ-5D. The paired-samples t test was applied in the statistics. Results: The visual analog scale score after 30 min of physical activity was significantly reduced after the intervention (mean, 3.3 cm; 95% confidence interval, 2.1–4.5 cm; P &lt; .001). The same significant changes were found in all of the secondary outcomes. Conclusions: There was a significant reduction in pain and improvements in function and quality of life with custom-made laterally wedged insoles with arch support in older adults with mild-to-severe medial KOA. The customization of laterally wedged insoles may be essential for the effect in medial KOA. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 103(1): 50–55, 2013)


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