Multimedia Tools for Internet Commerce Applications: Usability in a Small Business Context

Earlier studies on Small Business Internet Commerce (SBIC) indicate that small businesses are using the Internet for various business activities. However, few so far have been focused on the use of multimedia tools to support context-rich, highly interactive business activities (eg., online product inspection and negotiation). This paper reports the findings of a preliminary study relevant to the usability of multimedia tools in a small business context. Several criteria have been identified that may have major effect on the suitability of different multimedia tools as facilitators of SBIC. These include, ease of use, platform independence, ready availability and the ability to maintain person-to-person interactivity. However, these criteria could be affected by the communication infrastructure quality (e.g., line reliability) and suitability to the business applications. We propose that further study needs to be carried out to provide a generic evaluation framework for such tools.