Metaverse in Education Beyond Instructional and 3D Design: A Usability Evaluation

There is increasing adoption of immersive metaverse environments for education, but most applications prioritize 3D visual appeal over usability. This paper introduces a tailored usability evaluation framework for metaverse in education and applies it to assess the space education platform Mission: ISS. The methodology involves heuristic-based evaluations by experts, supplemented by a user study involving five engineering students. The analysis reveals significant usability issues, particularly concerning error prevention and learner control, with weighted averages of 1.7 and 2.3 on a five-point scale, respectively. Conversely, VR heuristics applaud the immersive learning experiences (4.7/5) but suggest improvements for intuitive navigation (3.3/5). Other flaws include bias towards experts, lack of feedback, and poor lecture visibility, which hinders user satisfaction. Recommended mitigations encompass differentiated difficulty levels, strengthened feedback and error prevention, resolving misleading UI elements, and boosting lecture exposure. With these targeted changes, it is hoped that interaction barriers can be eliminated to provide an inclusive, seamless, and effective learning experience catering to users across skill levels in metaverse educational environments.