Development and Cross-cultural Validation of the Korean Version of SMArtphone's uSability Heuristics (SMASH)

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop and cross-culturally validate the Korean version of SMArtphone's uSability Heuristics (K-SMASH). Methods: In the study, it was used the adaptation process consisted of five stages, namely, translation, synthesis, back translation, expert committee review, and pretesting. In the pretesting stage, a mobile application, using the prefinal K-SMASH, was evaluated for the severity of usability problems by three experts in computer science and informatics. Each participant completed the evaluation and was interviewed about their understanding, interpretation, and opinion of the cultural relevance of the prefinal K-SMASH. Next, we reviewed the differences in the experts' opinions and the questionnaire results. Results: Twelve SMASH items, words and sentences, were translated, back translated, and revised, considering the conceptual meaning in the context of the Korean culture, by experts in various fields, including a Korean linguist and a bilingual translator, through the first stage to the fourth stage. In the pretesting stage, the results showed no major differences among the severity ratings of participants. Furthermore, all participants answered that there were no critical discrepancies or inconsistencies with the cultural relevance of the prefinal K-SMASH. Conclusions: The results of the study provide preliminary evidence that the modified K-SMASH can be used for heuristic evaluation, one of the usability tests, when developing applications in Korea.