User Centered Design Article

7/25/2019 User Centered Design Article

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User-Centered Design 251

User-Centered Design1

Chadia Abras2,Diane Maloney-Krichmar3, Jenny Preece

1. Introduction and History

!he design o" e#eryday ob$ects is not al%ays int&iti#e and at times, it lea#es the &ser "r&strated and &nable to

com'lete a sim'le tas() *o% many o" &s ha#e bo&ght a +C that %e ha#e str&ggled to &sed and missed recording

o&r "a#orite 'rograms beca&se %e mis&nderstood the instr&ctions or had to '&t &' %ith the cloc( blin(ing 12..

beca&se %e didn/t (no% ho% to sto' it0 Do %e ha#e to '&t &' %ith designs li(e these0 sn/t it 'ossible to designsystems that are more &sable0 User-centered design/ UCD4 is a broad term to describe design 'rocesses in

%hich end-&sers in"l&ence ho% a design ta(es sha'e) t is both a broad 'hiloso'hy and #ariety o" methods) !here is a

s'ectr&m o" %ays in %hich &sers are in#ol#ed in UCD b&t the im'ortant conce't is that &sers arein#ol#ed one %ay

or another) or e6am'le, some ty'es o" UCD cons&lt &sers abo&t their needs and in#ol#e them at s'eci"ic timesd&ring the design 'rocess7 ty'ically d&ring re8&irements gathering and &sability testing) At the o''osite end o" the

s'ectr&m, there are UCD methods in %hich &sers ha#e a dee' im'act on the design by being in#ol#ed as 'artners

%ith designers thro&gho&t the design 'rocess)

!he term &ser-centered design/ originated in Donald 9orman/s research laboratory at the Uni#ersity o"

Cali"ornia :an Diego UC:D4 in the 1;


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5) B6'loit the 'o%er o" constraints, both nat&ral and arti"icial, in order to gi#e the &ser the "eel that

there is one thing to do)

>) Design "or error) Plan "or any 'ossible error that can be made, this %ay the &ser %ill be allo%ed

the o'tion o" reco#ery "rom any 'ossible error made)) Ehen all else "ails, standardi?e) Create an international standard i" something cannot be designed

%itho&t arbitrary ma''ings 9orman, 1;


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ole Playing, %al(thro&ghs, and

sim&lations

B#al&ation o" alternati#e designs and

gaining additional in"ormation abo&t

&ser needs and e6'ectations7 'rototy'e

e#al&ation

Barly and mid-'oint in the

design cycle

Usability testing Collecting 8&antities data related tomeas&rable &sability criteria

inal stage o" the design cycle

nter#ie%s and 8&estionnaires Collecting 8&alitati#e data related to&ser satis"action %ith the arti"act

inal stage o" the design cycle

Ta#le 1. Involving users in the design rocess $Preece et al.% 2&&2'

!he disc&ssion so "ar indicates the central role o" &sability testing in UCD, %hich %e e6amine in more detail in the

ne6t section be"ore 'roceeding to disc&ss 'artici'atory design, %hich is a "orm o" UCD that has gained strongacce'tance in recent years, 'artic&larly in the :candina#ian co&ntries)

2.1 Usability Testing

Usability testing, according to D&mas = edish 1;;34, aims to achie#e the "ollo%ing "i#e goals, to

im'ro#e the 'rod&ct/s &sability

in#ol#e real &sers in the testing

gi#e the &sers real tas(s to accom'lish enable testers to obser#e and record the actions o" the 'artici'ants

enable testers analy?e the data obtained and ma(e changes accordingly

Usability testing "oc&ses on &ser needs, &ses em'irical meas&rement, and iterati#e design 9ielsen, 1;;4)

D&mas = eddish 1;;34 stress that interacti#e-systems designers are no% a%are that many 'ilot tests sho&ld be

cond&cted be"ore releasing any 'rod&ct to the '&blic) An interacti#e system is li(e a 'lay, %here e6tensi#erehearsals are e6'ected es'ecially close to o'ening night :hneiderman, 1;;


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en#ironment :hneiderman, 1;;


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(igure 1. Particiatory co))unity-centered develo)ent )odel $Preece% 2&&&'

*. +dvantages and Disadvantages o" User-Centered Design!he ma$or ad#antage o" the &ser-centered design a''roach is that a dee'er &nderstanding o" the 'sychological,

organi?ational, social, and ergonomic "actors that a""ect the &se o" com'&ter technology emerges "rom the

in#ol#ement o" the &sers at e#ery stage o" the design and e#al&ation o" the 'rod&ct) !he in#ol#ement o" &sers

ass&res that the 'rod&ct %ill be s&itable "or its intended '&r'ose in the en#ironment in %hich it %ill be &sed) !hisa''roach leads to the de#elo'ment o" 'rod&cts that are more e""ecti#e, e""icient, and sa"e)

t also hel's designers manage &ser/s e6'ectations abo&t a ne% 'rod&ct) Ehen &sers ha#e been in#ol#ed in

the design o" a 'rod&ct, they (no% "rom an early stage %hat to e6'ect "rom a 'rod&ct and they "eel that their ideas

and s&ggestions ha#e been ta(en into acco&nt d&ring the 'rocess) !his leads to a sense o" o%nershi' "or the "inal'rod&ct that o"ten res&lts in higher c&stomer satis"action and smoother integration o" the 'rod&ct into the

en#ironment Preece, et) al, 1;;7 Preece, et) al, 2..24) " the design is not &ser-centered, it co&ld lead to ill-tho&ght

o&t designs) Ehen &sers/ e6'ectations are not met, they may get "r&strated or e#en angry) !he ma$or disad#antage to

&ser-centered design is that is can be 8&ite costly) t ta(es time to gather data "rom and abo&t &sers es'ecially i" yo&

see( to &nderstand the en#ironment in %hich they %ill be &sing the 'rod&cts) !he 'rocess re8&ires reso&rces, both"inancial and h&man) User-centered design teams generally bene"it "rom incl&ding 'ersons "rom di""erent

disci'lines, 'artic&larly 'sychologists, sociologists and anthro'ologists %hose $ob it is to &nderstand &sers/ needs

and comm&nicate them to the technical de#elo'ers in the team) !he do%nside o" this a''roach is that members o"the team ha#e to learn to comm&nicate e""ecti#ely and to res'ect each other/s contrib&tions and e6'ertise) !his can

be time cons&ming and hence adds costs to the 'rocess) Management may 8&estion %hether this added #al&e is

%orth the cost, 'artic&larly i" deli#ery dates are threatened Di6, et) al, 1;;7 Preece, et) al, 1;;7 Preece, et) al,

2..24) !able 2 s&mmari?es these and other ad#antages and disad#antages o" &ser-centered design)

+dvantages Disadvantages

Prod&cts are more e""icient, e""ecti#e, and sa"e t is more costly

Assists in managing &sers/ e6'ectations and le#els o"

satis"action %ith the 'rod&ct)

t ta(es more time

Users de#elo' a sense o" o%nershi' "or the 'rod&ct May re8&ire the in#ol#ement o" additional design teammembers i)e) ethnogra'hers, &sability e6'erts4 and %ide

range o" sta(eholders

Prod&cts re8&ire less redesign and integrate into theen#ironment more 8&ic(ly

May be di""ic&lt to translate some ty'es o" data into design

!he collaborati#e 'rocess generated more creati#e

design sol&tions to 'roblems)

!he 'rod&ct may be too s'eci"ic "or more general &se, th&s

not readily trans"erable to other clients7 th&s more costly

Ta#le 2. +dvantages and Disadvantages o" User-Centered Design

assessing theneeds o" the

co))unity

nurture theco))unity

test socia#ility

and usa#ility

select technologylan "or

socia#ility

test rototye

,valuate


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User-Centered Design 25>

. Conclusions

User-centered design UCD4 is a general term "or a 'hiloso'hy and methods %hich "oc&s on designing "or and

in#ol#ing &sers in the design o" com'&teri?ed systems) !he %ays in %hich &sers 'artici'ate can #ary) At one end o"

the s'ectr&m in#ol#ement may be relati#ely light7 they may be cons&lted abo&t their needs, obser#ed and 'artici'atein &sability testing) At the other end o" the s'ectr&m in#ol#ement can be intensi#e %ith &sers 'artici'ating

thro&gho&t the design 'rocess as 'artners in the design) A #ariety o" methods ha#e been de#elo'ed to s&''ort UCD

incl&ding &sability testing, &sability engineering, he&ristic e#al&ation, disco&nt e#al&ation and 'artici'atory design)&ic( and dirty e#al&ations, in %hich ideas are ta(en to a "e% re'resentati#e &sers "or their "eedbac( early in design,are also im'ortant) n#ol#ing &sers in design one %ay or another has been sho%n to lead to de#elo'ing more &sable

satis"ying designs)

. /e"erences

Abras, C) 2..34) Determining success in online education and health communities: Developing usa,ility and

socia,ility heuristics( Un'&blished Dissertation, Uni#ersity o" Maryland, @altimore Co&nty)

Abras, C), Maloney-Krichmar, D), = Preece, J) 2..3, J&ne 22-24) !valuating an online academic community:Purpose is the %ey(Pa'er 'resented at the *C nternational 2..3, Crete, reece)

Di6, A), inlay, J), Abo%d, ) = @eale, ) 1;;4) Human-Computer Interaction .:econd Bdition4) 9e% Hor(

Prentice *all)

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User Centered Design Article