Usability Study 2

Usability Study
Circuit Simulation Comparison
VS. TINA.ICO
Joseph Dennison
4/19/19
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 3
Tasks ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Environment/Equipment ............................................................................................................. 3
Test Metrics ................................................................................................................................ 3
Results ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Finding voltage source ................................................................................................................ 4
Finding other components........................................................................................................... 4
Placement of components ........................................................................................................... 4
Wire placement ........................................................................................................................... 5
Changing value of voltage source ............................................................................................... 5
Changing value of components ................................................................................................... 6
Analyzing circuit ......................................................................................................................... 6
Graphing AC circuit .................................................................................................................... 6
Adding component on wire ......................................................................................................... 7
Organizing circuit ....................................................................................................................... 7
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 8
Appendix: Raw Data ....................................................................................................................... 8
Introduction
This white paper will analyze the usability of two different circuit simulation programs, Tina and
LTspice. This comparation will be in the eyes of an entry level electrical engineering student
who needs a faster way to simulate circuit problems than just drawing and calculating by hand.
Methodology
Tasks
1. Finding voltage source
2. Finding other components
3. Placement of voltage source/components
4. Wire placement
5. Changing value of voltage source
6. Changing value of components
7. Analyzing circuit
8. Graphing AC circuit
9. Adding component on wire
10. Organizing circuit
This tasks were selected as if an electrical engineering student was understand how to analysis
by sophomore year of college. These tasks these programs will then guide the user into making
the schematics and calculate the tasks the user asked to perform.
Environment/Equipment
The environment in which the comparison was conducted was stationed at the an apartment’s
living room or in the commons with other electrical engineering students on real class work
using these programs. For a true comparison it will be used for real class work. Equipment that
is conducting this comparison will be on a personal computer with Tina and LTspice already
installed.
Test Metrics
1. Effective: Was the task able to be completed.

2. Efficient: The number of clicks and navigation in order to complete.
3. Engaging: The appeal of the interface and product created by user.
4. Error Tolerant: The ease to troubleshoot if a problem would arise.
5. Easy to Learn: The ease of translating what you learned in EE class to the program.
Strongly Disagree Slightly Slightly Agree Strongly

Disagree Disagree Agree Agree
1 2 3 4 5 6
Using Likert scales, a one to six scale like the one above will be used to critic each test metric.
This will make each test metric not be able to fall into the neutral dynamic.
Results
Finding voltage source
The voltage source is arguably the most important component for a circuit simulation for it runs
the circuit. Tina has the best location in terms of finding the voltage source, because in Tina, it is
at the top bar where LTspice has it in a list called components in order to find it. An exception is
that LTspice has only one option for a voltage source where Tina has three(voltage source,
battery, and function generator). Simplicity of the type of source benefits LTspice as referenced
in the changing value of voltage source task.
Tina LTspice
Finding other components
The other components to find for a circuit was referring to ground, resistors, capacitors, and
inductors. Both programs do an excellent job with the location of these components being at the
top bar for anyone to see and understand do to their symbols.
Tina LTspice
Placement of components
Sometimes in order to place a component on the circuit the way the user wants to, they need to
rotate the component 90 degrees. Both programs have two rotating left and right buttons on the
top bar, but Tina is more forgiving then LTspice when rotating. Tina only needs the user to
highlight the component in order to have the option to rotate, where LTspice requires the user to
have the component on their mouse in order to rotate. But the problem is that when they click on
the rotate button with the component on the mouse, it drags the whole circuit downward, making
LTspice not error tolerant.
Tina LTspice
Wire placement
Both programs have the wire button on the top bar for easy location, but they behave differently.
Tina is easier to use because use only need to connect the dots between components. Where with
LTspice, the user needs to click each time they want to change directions. This lets the user
create the exactly what was intended for the circuit design. But confuse new users on how the
wire system works.
Tina LTspice
Changing value of voltage source
Objectively, LTspice has the best interface than Tina for the reason of being able to switch
between a DC and AC voltage source with the same component. Where Tina forces the user to
switch the component itself if they need to convert to DC or AC power.
Tina LTspice
Changing value of components
For changing the value of the components, LTspice has a more user friendly interface. Tina
gives the user a lot more options which can be go, but nine times out of ten, the only thing that
the user needed to change was the main value of the component. For example, the inductor has a
reading for inductance, and that might be the only thing the user wants to change.
Tina LTspice
Analyzing circuit
Then it comes to analyzing the circuit, Tina is the best at showing users all the nodal voltages
and all the currents across each component. This table below shows them all you need to truly
analysis the circuit with all the values as the picture. LTspice doesn’t have a table like Tina does
but has the graphing feature that can analyze one voltage or current at a time.
Tina (LTspice doesn’t have this feature)

Graphing AC circuit
Then it comes to graphing AC circuits, LTspice is the only program out of the two that supports
this feature in a clean manner. After added a window for graphing, just click on any node or
component for a voltage or current value with respect to frequency. Tina can do this but in a
very poor manner.
LTspice (Tina doesn’t have this feature)
Adding component on wire
Sometimes, users construct a circuit and need to add another component after they wire
everything up. They can just drop the component on the wire on both programs but there is a
problem for Tina. LTspice removes the wire when adding a component but Tina keeps it for
some reason. This can be unfriendly for new users who don’t know this and ruin the analysis
portion of the circuit.
Tina LTspice
Organizing circuit
Sometimes, the user will need to move the components around to make the circuit well
organized. For Tina, it is very easy to just drag and drop component placement at will. LTspice
is more complicated where the user needs to select move or drag from the top bar in order to start
moving components around. This lets the user have freedom but in a way makes it overly
complex.
Tina LTspice
Conclusion
Overall, the scores were very close to each other to the point where it’s a tie. But that doesn’t
mean that they are good at the same things, quite the opposite. Tina is a better program for
analyzing DC circuits for the program gives the user a table of all possible measurable outputs
that the user wants. LTspice is a better program for analyzing AC circuits for the program gives
the user a graph of the specific node or current value with respect the frequency or time. Both
programs will be kept for my laptop for I will utilize each program will their strengths in my
mind.
Bibliography
Tina
http://www.ti.com/tool/TINA-TI
LTspice
https://www.analog.com/en/design-center/design-tools-and-calculators/ltspice-simulator.html
Appendix: Raw Data

Tasks LTspice Tina
TASK 1 Finding voltage source Finding voltage source
Efficient The number of clicks and navigation in order to The number of clicks and navigation in order to
complete the task. complete the task.
Strongly Disagree Slightly Slightly Agree Strongly Strongly Disagree Slightly Slightly Agree Strongly
Disagree Disagree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Agree Agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Effective Was the task able to be completed. Was the task able to be completed.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Engaging The appeal of the interface and product created The appeal of the interface and product created
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Error The ease to troubleshoot if a problem would arise. The ease to troubleshoot if a problem would arise.
Tolerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Easy to The ease of translating what you learned in EE The ease of translating what you learned in EE
Learn class to the program. class to the program.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Additional 22 26
Notes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 2 Finding components Finding components
ficient The number of clicks and navigation in order to The number of clicks and navigation in order to
Strongly Disagree Slightly Slightly Agree Strongly Strongly Disagree Slightly Slightly Agree Strong
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
fective Was the task able to be completed. Was the task able to be completed.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
ngaging The appeal of the interface and product created The appeal of the interface and product created
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
ror The ease to troubleshoot if a problem would arise. The ease to troubleshoot if a problem would arise.
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
asy to The ease of translating what you learned in EE class The ease of translating what you learned in EE clas
arn to the program. to the program.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 27 29
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 3 Placement of voltage source/components Placement of voltage source/components
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
asy to The ease of translating what you learned in EE class The ease of translating what you learned in EE cla
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 17 30
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 4 Wire placement Wire placement
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 22 30
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 5 Changing value of voltage source Changing value of voltage source
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 28 18
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 6 Changing value of components Changing value of components
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 27 22
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 7 Analyzing circuit Analyzing circuit
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 22 30
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 8 Graphing AC circuit Graphing AC circuit
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 29 16
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 9 Adding component on wire Adding component on wire
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 28 18
otes
sks LTspice Tina
ASK 10 Organizing circuit Organizing circuit
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
by user. by user.
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
lerant
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
asy to The ease of translating what you learned in EE class The ease of translating what you learned in EE cla
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
dditional 20 27
otes
Final score: LTspice242vs.Tina246

Usability Study 2

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Usability Study 2

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Usability Study

Circuit Simulation Comparison

1. Effective: Was the task able to be completed.

Strongly Disagree Slightly Slightly Agree Strongly

Tina (LTspice doesn’t have this feature)

Appendix: Raw Data

Final score: LTspice242vs.Tina246

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