Table 4.
Comparison of ALFA toolkit features with existing tools
| ALFA element and comparable functionality | Existing tools | ALFA tool kit | |||||||
| Qualitative research | Transcription and analysis | Usability testing | Screen casting | ||||||
| ATLAS.ti | NVivo | Transana | Morae | Camtasia | Adobe Captivate | BB F’Back | |||
| 1. Multichannel Video (MCV) recording | |||||||||
| Screen capture | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Video capture | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 camera | No | No | 1 camera | 3 cameras | |
| Audio capture | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2. Observational Data Capture (ODC) | |||||||||
| Multimedia import | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Sufficient video display | Yes | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | Flexible | |
| Video controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | |
| Exports durations directly | No | No | No | No | N/A | N/A | No | Yes | |
| Method of coding for interactions | Codes, Memos | Codes, Memos, Nodes | Keywords, Comments | Markers | No | No | No | duration variables | |
| Interaction durations | No | Graphical | No | Yes | No | No | Graphical | Direct export | |
| 3. User Activity Recording (UAR) | |||||||||
| Keyboard use | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | No | No | Yes | Direct export | |
| Mouse use | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Direct export | |
| Interaction durations | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Lightweight to install | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 4. Voice Activity Recording (VAR) and transcription | |||||||||
| Indicates voice levels | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Measures verbal interactions | No | Manual | Manual | No | No | No | Manual | Direct export | |
| Import/create transcriptions | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Time-stamped transcriptions | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes. | |
| 5. Log File Aggregation | |||||||||
| Combine data from different tools | video and transcript’s | video and transcripts | video and transcript’s | Screen capture and video | No | No | No | Up to 10. Can extend further | |
| Single exportable file | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, many formats | |
| XML output | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 6. Occurrence graphs | |||||||||
| Time lines for interaction | No, Network diagrams | Yes, small display | No, Clips organised with labels | 1 timeline | No | 1 timeline | mouse, keyboard and voice | Multiple timelines. Large display | |
| Interactions mapped to video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No, to screen capture | No, to screen capture | Yes | |
| Interaction durations linked to video | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No, linked to frame | No, linked to frame | No | |
| 7. UML process modeling | |||||||||
| Use for UML validation | Limited | Limited | No | Limited | No | No | No | No | |
| Indicates interactions and durations in channels | No | Yes, limited by display area | No | Yes, 1 at a time | No | No | Only for mouse, keyboard and voice | Yes, multiple channels of interactions | |
| Shows interaction type directly | No, Using codes | Yes | No, Using labels | No, Using markers | No | No | Only mouse, keyboard and voice | Yes. | |