User Centred Design

User Centred Design Laura Massa

Summary UCD (User Centred Design) • Introduction • Standard ISO 13407 • Methods to realise standard ISO 13407 • TRUMP Project • Generalities • Methods • Applications

What Is User Centred Design? • Is an approach to software development which focuses specifically on making products usable • The usability of a product is defined in a standard: ISO 9241, part 11 as ‘the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use’

Why User Centred Design? To obtain a software which • is easier to understand and use, thus reducing training costs • improves the quality of life of users by reducing stress and improving satisfaction • significantly improves the productivity and operational efficiency of individual users and consequently the organisation

UCD and Other Methods • In other methods for designing software applications the stress is placed on meeting the technical and functional requirements for the software • In this method it is equally important to consider usability requirements

UCD Standard • User centred design is based on a standard: ISO 13407 (Human Centred Design Processes for Interactive Systems)

Main Principles In line with the ISO 13407 standard • appropriate allocation of function between user and system • it is needed to determinate which aspects of a job or task should be handled by people and which can be handled by software • active involvement of users • to utilise people who have real insight into the context in which an application will be used • iteration of design solutions • iterative software design entails the feedback of end-users following their use of early design solutions • multi-disciplinary design teams • user-centred software development is a collaborative process which benefits from the active involvement of various parties, each of whom have insights and expertise to share

The Four Essential Activities(1) According to the ISO 13407 standard there are four essential user-centred design activities which should be undertaken to incorporate usability requirements into the software development process • understand and specify the context of use • specify the user and organisational requirements • produce designs and prototypes • carry out user-based assessment

The Four Essential Activities(2) • The activities are carried out in an iterative fashion, with the cycle being repeated until the particular usability objectives have been attained start Understand and specify the context of use Carry out user based assessment Specify the user and organisational requirements Produce prototypes Meets requirement

Understand and Specify the Context of Use for the System(1) • The quality of use of a system depends very much upon the context in which a system will be used • In some cases contextual information may already be known; although, where a new product or system is to be introduced, then it will be necessary to collect the relevant contextual information

Understand and Specify the Context of Use for the System(2) • At the end the following aspects are understood • the characteristics of the intended users • the tasks the users will perform • the environment in which the users will use the system • The results of this initial activity are embodied in a document which describes the context of use for the proposed software

Specify the User and Organisational Requirements • Building on the context of use description obtained before, an explicit statement of the user-centred requirements for the new software should be formulated • There are various methods which can help define these requirements, but some elements (as listed in ISO 13407) should be covered in the specification (next slide)

Important Elements • identification of the range of relevant users and other personnel in the design • provision of a clear statement of design goals • an indication of appropriate priorities for the different requirements • evidence of acceptance of the requirements by the stakeholders or their representatives • acknowledgement of any statutory or legislative requirements, for example for health and safety

Produce Designs and Prototypes • explore design solutions by creating simple mock-ups of the proposed system and then later presenting them to a representative sample of users • the initial design will be refined in light of user feedback • the key goal is to • simulate the design solution(s) using paper or computer-based mock-ups

Avantages of Using Prototypes • The activity fosters greater communication between the development team and end-users • Simple prototypes also allow different design options to be explored prior to coding allowing future problems to be identified early on in the development process

Carry Out User-based Assessment of the System or Prototype • help providing further information for refining the design • is comprised of the following steps: • evaluation plan • data collection and analysis • reporting the results and recommendations for change • iterate this activity until design (and usability) objectives are met • tracking changes, maintenance and follow-up

Methods (1) There is a range of methods which can be used to achieve the goals of user-centred software development • Planning • Usability planning • For each feature in which an investment is to be made in usability work, one or more tasks are identified • Cost-benefit analysis • a generic framework for identifying the costs and benefits associated with user-centred design activity • Usability context analysis • a structured method for eliciting detailed information about a product and how it will be used

Methods (2) • Expert-based evaluation and inspection • Heuristic evaluation • technique used to identify potential problems that operators can be expected to meet when using a computer or a telematics application • Usability walkthrough • users, developers and usability specialists review a set of designs individually, and then meet to discuss each element of the design in a walkthrough meeting • Early prototyping • Paper prototyping • Paper prototyping: Designers create a paper-based simulation of interface elements (menus, dialogues, icons etc.) using paper, card, acetate, and pens • Video prototyping • Video prototyping: this is a variant of paper-prototyping that makes use of video equipment to create short movies of the paper interface

Methods (3) • Usability performance evaluation • User-based observation • A small number of participants work with system while an observer makes notes • Co-operative evaluation • Users employ a prototype as they work through task scenarios. They explain what they are doing by talking or 'thinking-aloud' and this is recorded on tape and/or captured by an observer • Subjective assessment • Cognitive workload • For example this can be obtained from questionnaires • Focus groups • bring together various stakeholders in the context of a facilitated but informal discussion group • Individual interviews • are a quick and cheap way to obtain subjective feedback from users

Trump Project (1) • has, in its objectives, the integration of user centred methods into the development process • is part funded by the European Commission under ESPRIT project 28015 • involved three partners and one subcontractor; Serco Usability Services co-ordinated the project and provided the usability expertise to the user partners, Inland Revenue and Israel Aircraft Industries. Lloyd's Register provided independent assessment of the usability maturity before and after the application at IR

Trump Project (2) • gives some methods which respond to ISO 13407 • Stakeholder Meeting, Paper Prototyping, Usability Testing are three basic methods

Stakeholder Meeting (1) • To collect and agree information about • Why is the system being developed? What are the overall objectives? • Who are the intended users and what are their tasks? • What are the technical and environmental constraints? • What key functionality is needed to support the user needs? • How will the system be used? What are typical scenarios of how and why users will interact with the system? • What are the usability goals? • How will users obtain assistance? • Are there any initial design concepts?

Stakeholder Meeting (2) Method • Planning • Arrange a one-day meeting • Invite stakeholders who have knowledge about the intended users and usage, including project manager, different types of user and developer(s) • Need a facilitator and a person to record the information provided during the meeting • Produce a list of issues to be discussed and a detailed context of use checklist • Before the meeting • Identify the key issues you need to explore • Provide all participants with the agenda and a copy of the context checklist

Stakeholder Meeting (3) • At the meeting • After discussing the major issues, discuss and fill in each item on the context checklist • After the meeting • Obtain any missing information; if the information is not easily available, arrange a field study to observe users in their work environment • Circulate to all participants a summary of the conclusions of the meeting, and the filled in checklist.

Paper Prototyping(1) • To enable draft interaction designs and screen designs to be very rapidly simulated and tested Method • Planning • Arrange a workshop attended by user(s) and developer(s) • You will also need a facilitator and a person to record the issues raised during the meeting • Four stages of paper prototyping may be required • concept design • interaction design • screen design • screen testing

Paper Prototyping(2) 1. Concept design • Sit round a table and sketch out possible approaches in a brainstorming environment • Evaluate the extent to which each approach meets the objectives agreed in the stakeholder meeting 2. Interaction design • Brainstorm possible screens or page types based on user tasks • Write the name of each suggested screen or page on a post-it-note. • Put each post-it-note on the wall close to related notes. • Group the post-it-notes in clusters that are meaningful to users. • Consolidate duplicates • Give a name to each cluster

Paper Prototyping(3) 3. Screen design • Sit round a table and sketch out design ideas in a brainstorming environment • Use this as a basis for rough sketches of each screen • Produce a rough design for each screen drawn by hand, or using a drawing package or prototyping tool 4. Screen testing • Ask the user to carry out a realistic task • As the user selects options on each screen, the developer explains what happens, and either points to the next screen or presents the next screen to the user • To test more detailed interaction, prepare pieces of paper with menus, scroll boxes, dialogue boxes, etc., and present these to the user when they select the appropriate option. The user simulates pointing and clicking using a pencil, and simulates typing by writing on paper

Usability Testing(1) • To identify usability problems and obtain measures of usability Method • Planning • Select the most important tasks and user groups to be tested • Select users who are representative of each user group • Produce a task scenario and input data and write instructions for the user • Plan sessions allowing time for giving instructions, running the test, answering a questionnaire, and a post-test interview • Invite developers to observe the sessions • If possible use one room for testing, linked by video to another room for observation

Usability Testing(2) • Running sessions • Welcome the user, and give the task instructions • Do not give any hints or assistance unless the user is unable to complete the task • Observe the interaction and note any problems encountered • Time each task • At the end of the session, ask the user to complete a satisfaction questionnaire • Interview the user to confirm they are representative of the intended user group, to gain general opinions, and to ask about specific problems encountered • Assess the results of the task

Usability Testing(3) • Reporting • Produce a list of usability problems, categorized by importance (use post-it-notes to sort the problems), and an overview of the types of problems encountered • Arrange a meeting with the project manager and developers to discuss whether and how each problem can be fixed • If measures have been taken, summarise the results of the satisfaction questionnaire, task time and effectiveness (accuracy and completeness) measures

Case Study of LAHAV • TRUMP applied methods to realize UCD in the LAHAV division of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) in Israel • IAI LAHAV division has a group of about 100 people developing aircraft avionics and uses a well-established development methodology, but their process for specifying operational requirements is not supported by any specific methods and techniques • The TRUMP project was undertaken as one of the process improvement activities at IAI

Benefits from Joining TRUMP • They found out that most methods are quiet intuitive and can be learnt on the job • The methods were practised by developers • They liked them and recommended to make them a standard in the development process • Another important point is a close link between process improvement and product improvement • In the TRUMP project the methods cost was extremely low and the results were obvious in the very short term

Cost benefits • Cost-benefits were calculated • Maturity assessments • The maturity briefings and assessments cost $5K in staff time • Development cost/benefits • IAI estimated that all the methods used resulted in savings in development costs of between $5K and $70K for each method, with a total saving of $330K. The cost of using the methods was only $22K, giving a cost-benefit ration of 1:15 • Sales cost/benefits • Increased sales because customers would be more likely to buy the product were estimated to be $400K • Support cost/benefits • Reduced costs of training and support were estimated at £50K • Overall cost benefits • The overall costs of the maturity assessments and use of methods was $27K. The total estimated savings and increased sales is $780K, giving a cost-benefit ration of 1:29

References • Handbook of User-Centred Design http://www.ejeisa.com/nectar/inuse/6.2/contents.htm • Trump Project: http://www.usability.serco.com/trump/methods/index.htm

User Centred Design