User Research to Enhance the U.S. Postal Service Website

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 810-814
Author(s):  
Mark E. Becker ◽  
Jacob R. Bevitt ◽  
Richard L. Horst
Keyword(s):  
Postal Service ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
User Research ◽  
Web Presence ◽  
Usability Tests ◽  
Content Organization ◽  
Usability Evaluation Methods ◽  
The U.S ◽  
User Centered

This paper describes user research conducted over the past three years for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), with the overall goal of improving the usability of its website, USPS.com . This research has been part of a broad user-centered design approach to website enhancement implemented by USPS. This research has involved usability tests, card sorting, tree tests, and first click analyses, and has used input from representative users, both consumers and business users, and both in-person and remotely located across the U.S. In addition to yielding specific design recommendations to improve user experiences, optimize content organization, and contribute to the design of new functionality, the present research has provided insights regarding user needs, expectations, and preferences. This initiative serves as a good example of a large organization’s transformation of its web presence by employing an incremental, user-centered approach. It highlights the breadth of usability evaluation methods available and the benefit such research can have in improving the user experience of large organizations like USPS.

scholarly journals Can HCI Help Increase People’s Engagement in Sustainable Development? A Case Study on Energy Literacy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7543
Author(s):  
Carla Pestana ◽  
Luísa Barros ◽  
Sabrina Scuri ◽  
Mary Barreto
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Information Platform ◽  
Energy Education ◽  
Initial Results ◽  
User Centered ◽  
Education Initiatives

The adoption of energy efficiency practices and increased penetration of renewable energy sources in the power system are estimated to play a key role in the decarbonization of the energy sector, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately fight climate change. To foster energy transition, energy education initiatives should primarily target the citizens and be designed adopting a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach and HCI methodologies. This paper describes how UCD/HCI can inform the design of citizens’ energy education initiatives by presenting a case study—the development of an information platform targeting Madeiran citizens. The article describes the design process, from ideation to prototype and validation. Methods used in each phase (card sorting, semi-structured interviews, brainstorming sessions, think-aloud protocol and surveys) are described. Results of each phase and how they have informed the following steps are presented, together with a detailed description of the resulting information platform and initial results in terms of acceptance and interaction with the system. Our initial results support the hypothesis that adopting an HCI perspective can nurture the development of energy education initiatives targeting citizens, bringing a user-centered approach to the design of such initiatives.

scholarly journals Developing web map application based on user centered design

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 131-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Voldán
Keyword(s):  
Design Method ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
End User ◽  
User Research ◽  
Web Mapping ◽  
User Centred Design ◽  
Web Map ◽  
Usability Research ◽  
User Centered

User centred design is an approach in process of development any kind of human product where the main idea is to create a product for the end user. This article presents User centred design method in developing web mapping services. This method can be split into four main phases – user research, creation of concepts, developing with usability research and lunch of product. The article describes each part of this phase with an aim to provide guidelines for developers and primarily with an aim to improve the usability of web mapping services.

Usability Evaluation of Alzheimer’s mHealth Applications for Caregivers

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 503-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janetta Brown ◽  
Hyung Nam Kim
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
App Development ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Healthcare Interventions ◽  
Home Based Care ◽  
Mhealth Apps ◽  
User Centered

As the sixth leading cause of death within the United States, Alzheimer’s disease affects over 15 million caregivers administering home-based care for loved ones having this illness. The rise in advocacy for mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) to facilitate chronic disease management presents a tremendous platform for Alzheimer’s caregivers to utilize mHealth apps while administering care. Although mHealth apps serve as potential healthcare interventions, little is known regarding their usability. This study will advance knowledge on the apps’ usability and provide user-centered design guidelines for future app development. Keyword searches in Apple and Google App Stores yielded 43 Alzheimer’s apps. Card sorting then generated three levels of categories for app classification. Stratified random sampling produced a sample size of six apps selected for review. Lastly, a heuristic evaluation of the six sampled apps was conducted according to Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics. User-centered design guidelines were constructed to remedy problematic usability issues for the intended users of these apps.

The Improved Design for Automated Teller Machine Based on the Theory of User Requirements

2011 ◽  
Vol 308-310 ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Ya Jing Hou ◽  
Xi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
User Needs ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Product Lifecycle ◽  
Good Service ◽  
User Research ◽  
Automated Teller Machine ◽  
Improved Design ◽  
User Centered

Good products and good service derived from comprehensive understanding of user requirements. Currently, user-centered design (UCD) is mentioned very often in the field of design. However, how to achieve our design based on UCD, and how to carry out user needs throughout the whole product lifecycle? The present study showed improved design for Automated Teller Machine（ATM ）, which based on the understanding of the user research theory, establishing the model to solve the problems that the customers faced when they use the machine by analyzing the user needs.

scholarly journals Aplicación interactiva para el aprendizaje con evaluaciones en el área de las matemáticas

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (19) ◽  
pp. 16-31
Author(s):  
Luis Abraham Tlapa García ◽  
Juana Elisa Escalante Vega ◽  
Lorena Alonso Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Application ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Usability Tests ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
Support Strategy ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Research And Design ◽  
User Centered

The following document presents the development process of an interactive mobile application, as a support strategy for the teaching - learning process in the area of mathematics, for students of the Educational Experience (EE), Fundamentals of Mathematics at the Faculty of Statistics and Informatics. Using User Centered Design (UCD), which proposes to put the client at the center of research and design, to obtain an application that achieves a user experience (UX), satisfactory, when interacting with the application, allowing greater speed in the completion of tasks, which is simple to learn and intuitive, this to increase its pleasure and ease of use for the beneficiary, obtaining these results with usability tests to the application. All this because currently many applications are known as support in the area of mathematics, which have usability problems obtaining a bad UX. This work follows a user-centered methodology to create usable applications and a good UX for university students in the area of mathematics.

scholarly journals Evaluasi dan Rekomendasi Usabilitas guna perbaikan E-Learning pada Perguruan Tinggi berdasarkan User Centered Design

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Hulwah Zahidah ◽  
Amalia Rahmah
Keyword(s):  
Usability Testing ◽  
User Acceptance ◽  
Acceptance Test ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
User Research ◽  
System Usability Scale ◽  
System Usability ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Research Prototype ◽  
User Centered

STT Terpadu Nurul Fikri adalah salah satu instansi yang memanfaatkan teknologi dalam mengembangkan kegitan belajar mengajar dengan menggunakan e-learning sebagai media utamanya. Namun, kondisi eLen saat ini masih kurang mendukung pembelajaran mahasiswa, dibuktikan dengan tidak tersedianya beberapa fitur yang dibutuhkan oleh pengguna. Hal tersebut didukung dari hasil penyebaran kuesioner yang mengacu pada usability, bahwa eLen memiliki permasalahan. Dengan adanya permasalahan tersebut maka diperlukan peningkatan e-Len STT NF dengan membuat rancangan solusi desain berdasarkan kebutuhan pengguna menggunakan User Centered Design (UCD). Dari masalah yang sudah didapat akan dilakukan user research, lalu dilakukan pembuatan prototype yang mengacu pada hasil user research. Prototype yang telah dibuat akan diuji dengan menggunakan metode usability testing dan system usability scale. Hasil usability testing menyatakan bahwa prototype website eLen STT NF yang telah dilakukan berbasis UCD sudah cukup baik dan sudah sesuai dengan kebutuhan pengguna. Sementara itu, hasil System Usability Scale (SUS) menyatakan bahwa Skor SUS dari website eLen STT NF berbasis UCD adalah 78.61. Tahap selanjutnya, akan dilakukannya implementasi Moodle yang kemudian akan dilakukan  pengujian kembali dengan menggunakan User Acceptance Test (UAT). Kemudian hasil dari UAT menyatakan bahwa implementasi eLen STT NF sudah cukup baik didapat dari jumlah nilai rata-rata pengujian berdasarkan 14 pertanyaan sebesar 83,57%.

From Behavior to Design

2007 ◽  
pp. 108-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Forsman
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Task Analysis ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Design Team ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
User Research ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Tools And Techniques ◽  
User Centered

This chapter explores user-centered design concepts such as personas, scenarios and task analysis. It argues that combining ethnographic research and psychographic data to create personas and scenarios produces powerful quantitative and qualitative evidence for product requirements. The chapter also illustrates ways the resulting interface specifications can be developed with fidelity to those initial requirements. This approach offers a substantive understanding of the nature of designing interfaces for a variety of contexts. Furthermore, the author hopes that by outlining and describing the various tools and techniques available to the user-centered design team, more complex and hybrid models of user research design will be developed for creating and studying information systems, as well as assist in the understanding of the intricate relationships that exist between different ways in producing user-center designed products as a whole.

TeenPower: development of an adolescent obesity prevention platform from a user-centered design approach. (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina I. Reis ◽  
Marta Carvalho ◽  
Pedro Gaspar ◽  
Pedro Sousa ◽  
Ricardo Martinho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retention Rate ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Design Study ◽  
Healthy Behaviors ◽  
Usability Tests ◽  
Post Production ◽  
Usability Data ◽  
High Engagement ◽  
User Centered

BACKGROUND Obesity is a chronic condition of the modern ages both by the influence on the quality of the life of those directly impacted by it, as well as the economic burden it implies for the world population. Multidisciplinary prevention programs are crucial, particularly when addressed for youngsters growing both physically and emotionally, which can introduce healthy behaviors into their daily habits more easily. Mobile Health (mHealth) interventions appear as one of the approaches that can provide an adequate support to these programs. They should be engaging and gamification has been one technique to promote higher retention rates. OBJECTIVE TeenPower is an innovative and interdisciplinary mHealth intervention program to empower adolescents, promoting healthy behaviors while preventing obesity. It uses interactive and collaborative technologies and includes a web-based application directed to teachers and health professionals, and a mobile application (Android) directed to adolescents. The user-centered design approach that we consider accountable for the initial high engagement rate of the users with the platform is described, and we propose a model for the approach conducted, to assist as an orientation for future developments in this context. METHODS An agile software development process was used, with an iterative and incremental approach for planning and implementing software features. We specifically identified a user-centered design approach model with three distinct phases: (1) Design Study; (2) Pre-Production Usability Tests; and (3) Post-Production Usability Data. Each phase of the model was a milestone to conduct a global assessment of the platform and to include specific validation and improvement methods. RESULTS The methods used in Phase 1 (Design Study) allowed us to obtain the high-fidelity version of the graphical interfaces. The methods used in Phase 2 (Pre-Production Usability Tests) showed a task completion success rate of 100%, after executing the first four tasks. Users described the system as easy to use and one that fulfills the requirements. Phase 3 (Post-Production Usability Data) was mainly derived from statistical analysis that reflects the actual usage of the system by real end-users: we achieved an average retention rate of 35% for the first couple of weeks. CONCLUSIONS Each technique and method used has provided significant input to use as feedback for the continuous design and development of the platform. The usage of this user-centered design approach model with three distinct phases allowed us to develop a platform tailored for the users while engaging them from the beginning of the development lifecycle, and thus delivering a software product with an initial high engagement rate. Nevertheless, the retention rate decreases significantly over a short period of time, revealing the need of further work in the development of a truly gamification experience that retains the users. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03516097 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03516097).

How Agile Developers Integrate User-Centered Design Into Their Processes: A Literature Review

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (08) ◽  
pp. 1175-1201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leydi Caballero ◽  
Ana M. Moreno ◽  
Ahmed Seffah
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
User Research ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
Agile Teams ◽  
User Centered

The lack of user engagement, the absence of user feedback, incomplete and continuously changing user requirements are among the critical concerns that cause projects to fail. User-centered design (UCD) and agile software development are two iterative approaches that have been proposed to overcome such concerns. UCD is a design process focusing on user research, user interface design and usability evaluation. Introduced by software engineering practitioners, agile refers to a number of iterative and incremental software development practices that emphasize people’s needs, communication between developers and stakeholders and the ability to adapt to change. In both the agile and UCD communities, however, a full understanding of user requirements is often seen as incompatible with early and quick development iterations. We performed a literature review aiming to identify how agile teams have integrated UCD tools into their agile software development process to a better understanding of the user requirements without losing sight of the agile values and principles. UCD tools adaptations and minimal-up-front design applied in agile development are among the approaches discovered in this study. The findings could lead to a comprehensive user-centric software engineering that will overcome inherent problems faced by agile teams to understand user needs, priorities and goals.

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