User Centered Design A
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AHL Topic 7: User Centered Design A User-centered design (UCD) is a process (not restricted to interfaces or technologies) in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. User-centered design can be characterized as a multi-stage problem solving process that not only requires designers to analyse and foresee how users are likely to use a product, but also to test the validity of their assumptions with regard to user behaviour in real world tests with actual users. Such testing is necessary as it is often very difficult for the designers of a product to understand intuitively what a first-time user of their design experiences, and what each user's learning curve may look like. The chief difference from other product design philosophies is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate the product. During the past twenty years, user-centered research (UCR) has become an increasingly common and important part of contemporary product development. The origins of this approach to design and development actually stretch back to the beginning of industrial design in America. Starting in the 1940s and 1950s, Henry Dreyfuss (widely considered the father of industrial design in the United States) preached and practiced a method of design that clearly focused on studying people’s behaviors and attitudes as a first step in designing successful products. During the next forty to fifty years, Dreyfuss’s example served to motivate other highly successful and influential designers (e.g., Robert Probst, Jay Doblin, Niels Different, and William Stumpf) to adopt a user-centered approach to their design work. The most valuable asset of a successful design team is the information they have about their users. When teams have the right information, the job of designing a powerful, intuitive, easy-to-use interface becomes tremendously easier. When they don’t, every little design decision becomes a struggle. Field studies get the team immersed in the environment of their users and allow them to observe critical details for which there is no other way of discovering. Using an Iterative, Cyclical Design Process Iterative design is a design methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product or process. Based on the results of testing the most recent iteration of a design, changes and refinements are made. This process is intended to ultimately improve the quality and functionality of a design. The key requirements for Iterative Design are: identification of required changes, an ability to make changes, and a willingness to make changes. When a problem is encountered, there is no set method to determine the correct solution. Rather, there are empirical methods that can be used during system development or after the system is delivered, usually a more inopportune time. Ultimately, iterative design works towards meeting goals such as making the system user friendly, easy to use, easy to operate, simple, etc. The five stages of UCD: ● research ● concept ● design ● implementation ● launch An iterative, cyclical design process lends itself easily to user-centered design. User-centered design includes four important tenets identified by Gould, Boies, and Lewis (1991): • Early focus on users. Designers should concentrate on understanding the needs of users early in the design process. • Integrated design. All aspects of the design should evolve in parallel, rather than in sequence. Keep the internal design of the product consistent with the needs of the user interface. • Early and continual testing. The only currently feasible approach to User-centered design is an empirical one: the design works if real users decide it works. Incorporating usability testing throughout the development process gives users a chance to deliver feedback on the design before the product is released. • Iterative design. Big problems often mask small problems. Designers and developers should revise the design iteratively through rounds of testing. Multidisciplinary Teams UCD requires that specialists from several disciplines create the total customer experience. These roles can be organized into a conceptual team structure, which includes individuals who design, those who are architects, those who provide information, and those who lead. The work of all these individuals is informed by guidelines, processes, and tools, as well as by customer input and user evaluation. Even though all these categories of roles come together and synergistically create the total customer experience, it is important to point out the differences in the contributions made by each. UCD Role Terminology Responsibility Skills User experience Program manager, design lead, creative integrator, Has responsibility for the total customer experience Vision, leadership, technical expertise, project and design lead creative lead, creative director, ease of use lead, design of the project people management, facilitation user experience design lead Product manager, marketing, packaging engineer Specifies the target market, user audience, key Marketing, market intelligence, market trends, Marketing specialist competitor, market ease of use objectives, and ease synthesis of information, teamwork of use messages as well as the channel, packaging, and terms and condition requirements Visual/industrial Industrial design, mechanical design, graphics Has responsibility for the overall appearance, layout, Art, design, model/prototype building, creativity, designer designer, media designer, artist, visual interface balance of the software offering including the consistent teamwork architect, mechanical engineer, director visual signature of the advertising, packaging, and product design Human-computer User interaction design, user interface design, Responsible for specifying the task flow, interaction Human-computer interaction, conceptual modeling, interaction designer interaction designer, designer, product designer, HCI design, and division of tasks to be carried out by the information synthesis designer, HCI specialist, information architect user and by the computer User assistance User communication design, user assistance Has responsibility to specify the appropriate user Information architecture, teamwork architect designer, user assistance architect, writer, assistance mechanisms for the offering information designer Technology Programmer, technologist, architect, software Has responsibility for specifying the underlying Technical skill in relevant domain, development architect designer, UI programmer technology required to implement the desired total process, programming and/or engineering customer experience teamwork Service and support User support specialist, service planner, service and Specifies the service and support that should be delivered technologies and options specialist support engineer with the offering Usability specialist, usability engineer, human Has responsibility for the design, analysis, and Usability engineering, technical aptitude, UCD User research specialist factors engineer, user experience specialist, user interpretation of UCD studies carried out on the methods experience architect, user research specialist, user project including the articulation of feedback specialist recommendations coming from this applied research Internationalization/ Localization designer Is responsible for ensuring that the offering Internationalization and localization specialization, terminology appropriately addresses the needs of the terminology, languages, HL enablement specialist international audience within the target market and for specifying the appropriate terminology to be used in the offering UCD project lead Program manager, project manager, product Has overall responsibility for UCD deliverables and Project management, UCD process, development manager plans as well as the integration of them into the process development plan The primary notion of usability is that an object designed with a generalized users' psychology and physiology in mind is, for example: • More efficient to use—takes less time to accomplish a particular task • Easier to learn—operation can be learned by observing the object • More satisfying to use In the user-centered design model, the product is designed with its intended users in mind at all times. In the user-driven or participatory design model, some of the users become actual or de facto members of the design team. The term user friendly is often used as a synonym for usable, though it may also refer to accessibility. Usability describes the quality of user experience across websites, software, products, and environments. There is no consensus about the relation of the terms ergonomics (or human factors) and usability. Some think of usability as the software specialization of the larger topic of ergonomics. Others view these topics as tangential, with ergonomics focusing on physiological matters (e.g., turning a door handle) and usability focusing on psychological matters (e.g., recognizing that a door can be opened by turning its handle). Designed products surround us all and range from bus tickets to buildings. One of the primary considerations in all fields of design is ‘usability’ and, increasingly, the phenomenon of ‘user-centred design’. This can focus on physical