Assessing the Usability of University of Tehran’s Learning Management System

Assessing usability is nowadays considered a crucial factor in improving and developing any system’s performance and effectiveness including but not limited to university learning management systems. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a shift to online education was raised which had made learning management systems (LMSs) a core component especially in college level education. However, despite LMSs widespread use, very few studies were focused on usability of such systems and even among those few studies, fewer were based on learner’s perspectives. The aim of this study is to investigate the perceived usability of the University of Tehran’s LMS, particularly seeking the viewpoint of graduate level students. This study deployed a quantitative approach grounded in principles of human-computer interaction (HCI). Nielsen’s heuristic evaluation framework was utilized as a basis to assess the usability of the aforementioned LMS. Data collection took place via a researcher-designed online questionnaire survey, which was distributed among experienced graduate students at the University of Tehran. Participant’s eligibility criteria included them having experienced fully online learning before the study period (October 23 to November 5, 2021). The questionnaire’s content validity was confirmed by experts in HCI, Usability, UX design, user studies, and product design. The apparatus’s internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. Findings demonstrated that while graduate students perceived the LMS as being generally usable, falling above the average usability threshold, some aspects of the system still required further development. Specific heuristic categories were identified as requiring improvement, and additional usability features were recommended by participants at the end. This study aimed to shed light on both strengths and weaknesses of university of Tehran’s LMS from a user point of view. The results suggested various targeted improvements based on users’ feedback which can result in user satisfaction and overall usability of the system. Future system updates should consider integrating student-driven usability needs to optimize the learning experience.