User-centred design

Kontogiannis, T, and Embrey, D. (1997), A User-Centred Design Approach for Introducing Computer-Based Process Information Systems, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 109-119. 

Sound user interface design requires engagement and close cooperation of representative users. In practice it is insufficient to simply hold a focus group to ask users what their requirements are. A better approach is to formally implement a user-centred design process. Here a small number of representative users are convened and comments are solicited on candidate designs. As the project progresses designers need to offer prototypes or test enviromnent for the subjects to try out the product. 

Humans are inherently fallible especially in an environment where people and systems are competing for attention. Careful, user-centred design provides us with opportunities to reduce errors. 

Poulson,D., Ashby, M. and Richardson, S. (1996). Userfit-Apractical handbook on user-centred design for Assistive Technology. TIDE - European Commission. 

Owens, D., G. Helmers and M. Sivak (1993). Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems a call for user-centred design, Ergonomics, 36,363-369. 

Most Western software developers would support the principles of user-centred design [18] but underlying concepts and assumptions are derived from USA / Northern European cultures. It is inevitable that those tools and techniques which involve users the most would be those very techniques which were most sensitive to cultural issues. Up to now, both non-native and native personnel have practiced usability in India and China. However, with the growth of local usability expertise, the localization of usability practice is a necessary and inevitable trend. 

Current techniques in user-centred design extensively rely on close and continuous contact of the design team with the users. In the context of the model of global software development discussed earlier, the business model of many software... 

ISO 13407 User-centred design process for interactive systems (1999)... 

Abstract. A new discipline. Usability Design, is introduced as an extension to Rational Unified Process (RUP). The aim is to make RUP more user-centred. The discipline springs out of best practices for user-centred design and contains activities that have been carefully tested. Five new roles are introduced to take responsibility for the different activities. An example is given to show the content of the workflow, the workflow details and the activities. The Usability Design discipline help projects to focus on usability and the users throughout the system development lifecycle. In the tutorial the participants will learn how to work with the new discipline within the RUP framework. It will contain practical examples and there will be room for discussions based on tbe participants own experience. 

The Rational Unified Process is a software engineering process [3] that significantly has contributed to the software development practice. Today, it is widely used and has contributed to creating a more unified view on software development. However, from a usability point of view the RUP has several drawbacks. Problems with the use of the process have been observed in several projects [2]. It does not provide the support needed to produce a usable system. In a study by Gulliksen, Goransson, Boivie, Blomkvist, Persson Cajander [1] the outcome of a project was compared with a list of principles for user-centred design. It shows how a project using RUP with clear intentions to apply a UCD approach ran into several problems that made it difficult to pursue with that approach. 

The conclusion from this is that the RUP and use cases as such are not ideal for user-centred design. But, to manage having an impact in practice we have decided to relate our development process to a the RUP based approach, since this is one of the most widely used processes in the large, in-house development organisations we typically work with. 

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