User Centered Design 101

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All contents © Copyright 2007-2008 Experience Dynamics
User Centered Design 101
An Experience Dynamics training
WEB SEMINAR
With Frank Spillers, MS

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About Your Speaker
Frank Spillers
Masters Cognitive Science
10 years User Centered Design experience
Founder, Experience Dynamics- leading Usability Design Research
firm

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Agenda
Is User Centered Design a buzzword, a technique, or a methodology?
Why does "UCD" get so much attention? How has it changed how teams
approach web application usability efforts? Is UCD right for you?
1.User Centered Design: Evolving from Dot-Com to Web 2.0
2.Why UCD? (Development, Business, Design benefits)
3.Development process: UCD vs. Agile vs. Waterfall
4.Case Studies: User Centered Design success stories
5.Is UCD right for you?: Planning a UCD process for your product
6.Q & A

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1. User Centered Design: Evolving from
Dot-Com to Web 2.0

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User Centered Design
Using user
advocacy as a
means to product
development…
Grounding
requirements and
design decision
making in observed
behavioral data.
For Websites,
portals, Intranets.
Software, Web
applications.
Embedded or mobile
devices, hardware
products.
For end-to-end
experiences.

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Timeline*
1997 20082001 2004
A lot of good post-dot com
guessing…and heavy sprinkles of
usability and UCD…
UCD methodology has influenced
every aspect of Web design and
development in the past 6 years.
*Note: This timeline is incomplete and is for illustrative purposes only. Sorry if we left you off!

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www.usabilitylabrental.com

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in a UCD
process
1. Get to know the users
2. Analyze user tasks and goals
3. Establish usability
requirements
4. Prototype some design ideas
5. Usability test the concepts
6. Repeat as necessary
6 Basic
Steps

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Let’s make a distinction
• Usability is not UCD
• Usability is a result, a goal, a field (UE, UX)
• UCD is a methodology
• Usability is an outcome of UCD practices

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International Standards Org
1. ISO 9241-11 (1998) defines usability as an
outcome
“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.”
2. ISO 13407 (1999) defines HCD as an approach
Human centred design processes for interactive systems
“Human-centred design is an approach to interactive system development that
focuses specifically on making systems usable. It is a multi-disciplinary activity…”

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“Is it possible to win with just
usability?”
Yes, I think so…but Enterprise level organizations need a
framework to manage UCD and adhere to the practice of
user involvement a la behavioral research…
Otherwise techniques get shelved, filed away or move on (with
bright stars).

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Why does UCD often look diluted,
dated, misplaced or weak?
Different reasons:
•Usability consultants or Centers of Excellence like to extend, expand and
redefine
•It is used for different purposes: marketing; PR; promotional reasons
•Different backgrounds; different disciplines come to UCD practice
•Not all steps are or can be followed
•UCD follows organizational buy-in to usability

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2. Why UCD? (Development, Business,
Design benefits)

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Approaches to Design
Technology driven
• Component focus
• System driven (use cases)
• Product defect view of quality
• Focus on system robustness
User Centered Design driven
• Solutions focus
• (real-world) Scenario driven
• Task success view of quality
• Focus on User Interface robustness

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Business case for usability
• Reduce development costs
• Reduce support costs
• Reduce documentation time
• Reduce maintenance costs
• Increase user satisfaction
• Increase user loyalty
• Increase user adoption

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Web 2.0 case for…(your case
here)
• More compelling user experience
• Faster application development
• Usability fixes more elegant
• More flexibility
• Better control of presentation layer (UI)

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3. Development process: UCD vs. Agile
vs. Waterfall

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Development methods:
Waterfall:
-3-6 month + releases
-Requirements definition
up front
-Sequential process
-Used heavily pre-Web
-Delay testing to end
Agile:
-”XP” Extreme
Programming
-Reduce the cost of
change
-30 day releases
-Include user
involvement
-Test as you go along
UCD:
-”Guerilla HCI”
-User testing often
-Iterative by nature
-Rapid (UI) design
prototyping
-User test anytime

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“Fitting usability in” to Agile
• Move UCD deliverables to a quarterly
management cycle
• New features and functionality gained from
field study and usability tests should be
reviewed and prioritized at every new
monthly build review meeting

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Issues with Agile
• Agile competes with UCD activities (time and
attention)
• Close partnerships are required
• UCD team needs to debrief and ‘bug-squash’
features
• Usability findings should be cascaded into
Agile review cycles

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Agile and UCD
• Field Studies= Quarterly usability priority (feed
to Agile dev process)
• Usability Testing= Monthly usability priority
(depending on what needs tested, might be
small, incremental)
• Usability Reviews= Can feed into the more
narrow "inside a month" cycles.

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4. Case Studies: User Centered Design
success stories

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Many Success Stories…

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Design an “Information Appliance”
ExoBox

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Business Objectives
• It is not a computer
• Target is a home
environment
• Reduce fear, increase
motivation

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User Objectives
• Support interruptions
• Don’t make me feel stupid
• Reduce fear of technology
• Quick, Effective, Productive
• Parent
• Teen/Child
• Grandparent
• Friend
• Shopper...

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User Attributes
• E-mail is a prime motivator
• Surfing the web, too
• Familiar with appliances
• Are fearful of complex technology
– They don’t want to feel stupid
– But don’t want to be left behind

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Tasks
• Get a message
• Prepare a meal
• Get help with
homework

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User Centered Design works better
when business models align with
end-products.

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Distinction
• UCD takes on many interpretations- folklores
• Usability efforts are stifled by many factors
• Managers who don’t “get it”
• IA’s or UX folks who think they “get it” but
don’t (or don’t get it enough to convince their
boss)

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5. Is UCD right for you?: Planning a UCD
process for your product

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Preparing your organization
• Usability testing is a good start
– Expert reviews are politically limited
– Field studies are easily misinterpreted
• Once established, Persona Research
is vital
– Ethnography should be embraced
– Developing personas is valuable

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Building momentum…
• Usability Education
• Research based design
• Credibility (business team buy-in)
• Integration (development process)
• Best practice capture
• Leadership (and budget)
• Expertise
*
*
*
*

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UCD must evolve to meet
market conditions

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Agile-friendly!

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6. Q & A

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thank you!
1-800-978-9183
www.experiencedynamics.com
Frank Spillers, MS
Frank.Spillers@experiencedynamics.com
1. Managing with User Centered Design checklist
2. Incorporating UCD into your product lifecycle: How UCD fits with Agile
3. Components of UCD Techniques: When to use and NOT to use User Centered Design
4. Guidance and Advice: how you can learn from best practice
5. Insider tips for promoting UCD at the team and management level
6. Q & A
Be sure to catch UCD 102 on March 21st
2007 ($125 charge)

About Experience Dynamics:
Experience Dynamics is a professional usability design research firm. Through its User Centered Design services,
Experience Dynamics assists organizations with removing the frustration and confusion that plagues most website
and software development projects. Companies benefiting from Experience Dynamics actionable usability
recommendations include AutoNation, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Verizon, Microsoft, Four Seasons, Washington
Mutual, Bank One, Target, Land Rover, Providence Health System and KeyBank.
About Experience Dynamics web seminars:
Experience Dynamics offers a recurring set of usability web seminars on hot usability topics. The web seminars
provide an overview and quick review of key issues and opportunities related to best practices in usability research.
The seminars are presented by Frank Spillers, MS, a recognized expert in the field of usability engineering and user
experience design. Experience Dynamics seminars are complimentary and are attended by companies including Intel,
Citigroup, KeyBank, The Hartford, Fujitsu, Intuit, EMC Corp, Chase, US Bank, Apple, Amazon.com, Business Objects,
Mentor Graphics, GM, Toyota and others.

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