Methodological Quality of User-Centered Usability Evaluation of Digital Applications to Promote Citizens’ Engagement and Participation in Public Governance: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This systematic literature review aimed to assess the methodological quality of user-centered usability evaluation of digital applications to promote citizens’ engagement and participation in public governance by (i) systematizing their purposes; (ii) analyzing the evaluation procedures, methods, and instruments that were used; (iii) determining their conformance with recommended usability evaluation good practices; and (iv) identifying the implications of the reported results for future developments. An electronic search was conducted on Web of Science, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore databases, and after a screening procedure considering predefined eligibility criteria, 34 studies were reviewed. These studies performed user-centered usability evaluation of digital applications related to (i) participatory reporting of urban issues, (ii) environmental sustainability, (iii) civic participation, (iv) urban planning, (v) promotion of democratic values, (vi) electronic voting, and (vii) chatbots. In terms of the methodological quality of the included studies, the results suggest that there is a high heterogeneity of the user-centered usability evaluation. Therefore, there is a need for recommendations to support user-centered usability evaluations of digital applications to promote citizens’ engagement and participation in public governance to improve the planning and conduction of future research.