Usability of a Major Financial Internet Portal in Russia

This research study is an investigation of theperception of users of the Usability and Performanceof the translingual features of a Russian financialWeb portal. Three groups of university students inthe U.S. and Russia participated in user surveys andfocus group interviews. Usability was assessedutilizing criteria of Efficiency, Affect,Adaptability, Helpfulness and Control. Quality ofPerformance was evaluated using Retrieval Features,User Effort, and Measures of Effectiveness. Resultswere compared by criteria and by separate factorsbetween the three groups of users. The results werealso tested in terms of how the translingual featureis associated with all the Usability and Qualityscores. A third component includes a phenomenologicalanalysis of prevailing factors of the Lebenswelt ofusers, elicited from focus group interviews andqualitative open-ended questions of the survey.Present research demonstrated that Translated versionis an adequate translingual feature, and the currenttrend of creating Parallel versions on the Web mightsegue into stage when Translated versions willeffectively compete with Parallel ones.