HSE Researchers Adapt Popular Usability Test
A team of researchers from the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences has adapted the widely used System Usability Scale (SUS) for Russian-speaking users, testing the adaptation on a sample of 657 participants. A validity test confirmed that the translated questionnaire maintains its structure and reliability, enabling an accurate assessment of system usability. The final adapted version of the SUS questionnaire can be used in both research and interface design practice. The paper has been published in Psychological Studies.
Numerous academic papers indicate that user-friendly interfaces attract more users, foster trust, and can boost company revenues. One of the key criteria for evaluating interfaces is usability—the extent to which a product enables users to achieve their goals while ensuring convenience. Usability should not be confused with user experience (UX), which refers to the subjective experience of interacting with an interface. Studying usability contributes to our understanding of how people interact with digital technologies.
The System Usability Scale (SUS) is widely applied across the globe to evaluate product usability. Its reliability has been validated by numerous studies. In Russia, this tool has been utilised in commercial practice in the form of a direct translation from English. However, to ensure accurate and practical results, the questionnaire requires not just translation but also conceptual adaptation to the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the respondents.
A team of researchers from the Laboratory for Cognitive Psychology of Digital Interface Users at HSE University has adapted the System Usability Scale for Russian-speaking users. The researchers employed a methodology designed for cross-cultural adaptation of self-report questionnaires. First, two translators independently carried out a parallel translation into Russian. Then, native English speakers performed a back-translation into English. All versions were carefully analysed and refined, and the resulting questionnaire was validated on a small group of respondents.
The final adapted questionnaire was tested on a sample of 657 users. To assess the test's reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used—a measure that indicates how consistently the questionnaire items perform. This coefficient is commonly applied in the social sciences to evaluate the reliability of such instruments. The results confirmed that the adapted SUS questionnaire performed well, with internally consistent questions and a reliable structure that aligns with the original English version. As a result, the adapted questionnaire can be confidently used with Russian-speaking audiences.
The SUS questionnaire consists of 10 statements, rated on a five-point scale ranging from 'Strongly disagree' to 'Strongly agree.' The final score, calculated using a specific formula, ranges from 0 to 100. In 2011, a key study analysed data from 500 evaluations using the SUS questionnaire, finding an average SUS score of 68 across all 500 studies. Interfaces with higher scores are considered user-friendly, while those with lower scores are seen as not user-friendly.
'The SUS stands out for its versatility. Unlike many other usability assessment questionnaires, it is effectively applied to a wide range of interfaces, from web and mobile applications to other digital solutions, making it highly adaptable and practical for real-world purposes. We have already received a positive response to our work from both researchers and businesses. UX researchers from two major domestic companies have reached out to us privately for adaptation materials,' explained Ekaterina Kosova, Junior Research Fellow at the Laboratory for Cognitive Psychology of Digital Interface Users and co-author of the study.