Usability Engineering: A Consultant's View of Best Practices and Proven Results

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. (Bob) Torres ◽  
Michael P. Heck ◽  
James R. Rudd ◽  
John F. (Jeff) Kelley
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Design Process ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Usability Engineering ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
Effective Use

( Part 1 of this three-part series on Best Practices appeared in the winter 2007 issue.) The IBM Global Services Usability Engineering National Practice (UENP) group has focused on the application of industry-based, user-centered design (UCD) best practice techniques and principles to solve user interface and usability problems in a variety of industry contexts. UCD techniques and principles have been applied across different industries, application domains, and user interface styles. We have learned valuable lessons with regard to consistent and effective use of a rigorous, proven, and repeatable design process in system and Internet projects. The use of our design process results in cost-effective solutions for satisfied customer users. Although the findings generally apply to many styles of user interfaces and systems, this article shares some of our lessons, experiences, best practices, and results with a focus on recent Web-based projects.

Meeting the Needs of Diverse User Groups

2011 ◽  
pp. 80-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gottfried Zimmermann ◽  
Jan Alexandersson ◽  
Cristina Buiza ◽  
Elena Urdaneta ◽  
Unai Diaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Implementation Support ◽  
European Project ◽  
Universal Control ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Service Control

“Pluggable user interfaces” is a software concept that facilitates adaptation and substitution of user interfaces and their components due to separation of the user interface from backend devices and services. Technically, the concept derives from abstract user interfaces, mainly in the context of device and service control. Abstract user interfaces have been claimed to support benefits such as ease of implementation, support for User Centered Design, seamless user interfaces, and ease of use. This paper reports on experiences in employing pluggable user interfaces in the European project i2home, based on the Universal Remote Console framework, and the Universal Control Hub architecture. In summary, our anecdotal evidence supports the claims on the benefits, but also identifies significant costs. The experience reports also include some hints as to how to mitigate the costs.

An Interactive Tool for the Participatory Design of Product Interface

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loris Barbieri ◽  
Agostino Angilica ◽  
Fabio Bruno ◽  
Maurizio Muzzupappa
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
End Users ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Accurate Analysis ◽  
Usability Tests ◽  
Interactive Tool ◽  
Novel Approach

The importance of participatory design (PD) is progressively increasing thanks to its capacity to explore a wide variety of concepts, thus increasing the opportunity to create a successful product. In fact the design process should not be a solo activity, as designers often need inputs and other points of view, especially from end-users. According to the ultimate idea of PD, end-users are actively involved in the various activities of the product development to ensure that their needs and desires are satisfied. This paper presents a novel approach to the participatory design of product interfaces in a user-centered design (UCD) process. The approach is based on an interactive tool that allows end-users to design custom user interfaces of household appliances taking advantage of their own needs and experiences. The tool incorporates the analytical and more abstract knowledge of the designers codified in the form of aesthetical, technological and manufacturing constraints (i.e., limitations in the number and geometry of interface components, a limited number of colors, a discretization of the area where interface widgets are placed). This solution allows the end-users to directly design their favorite interface without the interference of any other subject. Through an accurate analysis of the choices done by the users, the designers are able to access to the deepest level of the users’ expression in order to catch their latent needs and tacit knowledge. The tool has been designed in order to make possible to immediately perform usability tests on the designed interface by using a Mixed Reality prototype. The paper describes the development of the tool and proposes a methodology that has been specifically addressed to include this tool in a design process based on UCD principles. Both the tool and the methodology are presented through the description of a case-study related to the redesign of a washing machine dashboard. Experimental results show that the proposed tool can be an effective support to design product interfaces during PD sessions.

Innovative User Interface: Friendly Touch Control Screen for Multifunctional Electronic Printing System

1981 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-136
Author(s):  
Lionel Mosing ◽  
Tony Ciuffini ◽  
Tony Villano
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Computer Scientist ◽  
Product Introduction ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Product Design Process ◽  
Printing System ◽  
Effective Use

So that a wide range of users can and will make effective use of the functional richness now possible in electronically intensive, multi-functional office products, Xerox Printing Systems Division has developed an innovative approach to user/system interaction. Important elements in the progression from creation, through design, development and evaluation of this friendly user interface will be reviewed. These activities were integral to the product design process and its introduction. The symposium panel consists of a behavioral scientist, a physical scientist and a computer scientist who were intimately and interactively involved in the creation and development of this unique user interface for the Xerox 5700 Electronic Printing System. The effectiveness of the integrated, multidiscipline approach used to achieve early product introduction will be discussed. Innovation was in the user interface, the product and the process by which the user interface was achieved. Time will be set aside for audience interactions and questions.

Examination of the Use of Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics & Outlooks for the Future

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 1472-1475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Gonzalez-Holland ◽  
Daphne Whitmer ◽  
Larry Moralez ◽  
Mustapha Mouloua
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Heuristic Methods ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
The Future ◽  
Usability Evaluation Methods ◽  
Practical Implications

Heuristics are commonly employed throughout various stages of the design process to evaluate the usability of interfaces. Heuristic Evaluation (HE) provides researchers with a cost effective and practical means to effectively assess designs. In this article, we aim to outline the development and application of one of the most frequently cited set of heuristic evaluation tools, Nielsen’s (1994) 10 usability heuristics. Nielsen’s heuristics have not only been applied to various modalities of interface design, but have also been compared to other usability evaluation methods. Moreover, in many cases they have been modified so that they can be applied in an ever-changing socio-technical environment. In reviewing these developments, we propose theoretical and practical implications of these heuristic methods and present an outlook for the future. We argue that with the rapid expansion and growth of technology in the last 20 years, Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics may need an update to remain consistent with modern usability problems.

scholarly journals User Interface Goals, AI Opportunities

AI Magazine ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lieberman
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
User Interface ◽  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Direct Manipulation ◽  
Intelligent Interfaces ◽  
Opinion Piece ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Design And Testing

This is an opinion piece about the relationship between the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI), and artificial intelligence (AI). The ultimate goal of both fields is to make user interfaces more effective and easier to use for people. But historically, they have disagreed about whether "intelligence" or "direct manipulation" is the better route to achieving this. There is an unjustified perception in HCI that AI is unreliable. There is an unjustified perception in AI that interfaces are merely cosmetic. This disagreement is counterproductive.This article argues that AI's goals of intelligent interfaces would benefit enormously by the user-centered design and testing principles of HCI. It argues that HCI's stated goals of meeting the needs of users and interacting in natural ways, would be best served by application of AI. Peace.

Der Benutzer im User Interface-Gestaltungsprozess (The User in the UI Design Process for Consumer Products)

2002 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Böcker ◽  
Matthias Schneider-Hufschmidt
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Design Process ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Ui Design ◽  
Usability Tests

Vielen Entwicklern von User Interfaces sind die Bedürfnisse, Anforderungen und Vorlieben der späteren Benutzer von Consumer-Produkten weitgehend unbekannt. Das Ergebnis ihrer Bemühungen sind Produkte, deren Funktionalität von den Benutzern nicht ausgenützt wird, weil sie entweder für diese Benutzer irrelevant oder in der Handhabung so komplex sind, dass Sie von den späteren Kunden nicht verstanden werden.Dabei ist es durchaus möglich, spätere Endkunden in die Gestaltungsprozesse für Benutzungsoberflächen dieser Produkte einzubinden. Zu den erfolgversprechenden Maßnahmen gehören primär Fokusgruppen-Analysen zur Erhebung von Nutzeranforderungen und Usability-Tests mit potenziellen Kunden, in denen während des gesamten Entwurfsprozesses Handhabungskonzepte, Gestaltungsalternativen und die entstehenden Produkte auf Akzeptanz und Nutzbarkeit getestet werden.

scholarly journals Using Operational Scenarios in a Virtual Reality Enhanced Design Process

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 448
Author(s):  
Katie Aylward ◽  
Joakim Dahlman ◽  
Kjetil Nordby ◽  
Monica Lundh
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Design Process ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
End Users ◽  
Concept Development ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
User Testing ◽  
Training And Education ◽  
Design Processes ◽  
User Centered

Maritime user interfaces for ships’ bridges are highly dependent on the context in which they are used, and rich maritime context is difficult to recreate in the early stages of user-centered design processes. Operations in Arctic waters where crews are faced with extreme environmental conditions, technology limitations and a lack of accurate navigational information further increase this challenge. There is a lack of research supporting the user-centered design of workplaces for hazardous Arctic operations. To meet this challenge, this paper reports on the process of developing virtual reality-reconstructed operational scenarios to connect stakeholders, end-users, designers, and human factors specialists in a joint process. This paper explores how virtual reality-reconstructed operational scenarios can be used as a tool both for concept development and user testing. Three operational scenarios were developed, implemented in a full mission bridge simulator, recreated in virtual reality (VR), and finally tested on navigators (end-users). Qualitative data were captured throughout the design process and user-testing, resulting in a thematic analysis that identified common themes reflecting the experiences gained throughout this process. In conclusion, we argue that operational scenarios, rendered in immersive media such as VR, may be an important and reusable asset when supporting maritime design processes and in maritime training and education.

Generating Interactive Prototypes from Query Annotated Discourse Models

i-com ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Kis ◽  
Cristian Bogdan
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Model Transformations ◽  
Interactive System ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Domain Experts ◽  
Application Logic ◽  
High Level

AbstractModel Based User Interface Development offers the possibility to design User Interfaces without being concerned about the underlying implementation. This is achieved by devising models at a high level of abstraction, thus creating the potential for involving users or domain experts to achieve a user-centered design process. Obtaining a running interactive application from such models usually requires several model transformations. One of the current problems is that while a user interface is generated after these transformations, other parts of the interactive system such as the application logic need to pre-exist or they must be written manually before the interface can be tested in a realistic scenario. This leaves the domain experts dependent on programmers and increases the time between iterations. In this paper we work with Query Annotations, which were previously used only for modeling at low levels and for generating fully functional interfaces, and we aim to generalize them for the high-level modeling approach called Discourse Modeling. The direct expected benefit of this generalization is the possibility to generate complete, readily testable interactive prototypes, rather than just their user interfaces. In addition, Query Annotations can serve as the mapping between the various levels of abstraction and bring to the domain experts a better understanding of the transformation process, as well as the possibility to modify the interfaces and models directly.

What can you Learn from a Low-Fidelity Prototype?

1989 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 224-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Virzi
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Design Process ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Design Phase ◽  
Central Tendency ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Design Information ◽  
High Level ◽  
Interface Designs

A case is made for using low-fidelity prototypes early in the design phase of new services. The rationale for this is based upon (1) a model of how user interface designs progress and (2) a call to expediency. The design process is viewed as the successive application of constraints that serve to prune the space of all user interfaces. Some constraints are external (i.e., placed on the service by limits of technology or cost). Other constraints are derived by application of heuristic design principles. Even after these constraints have been applied, the design is still not fully constrained and the designer must make high-level design decisions. At these choice points, I propose that low-fidelity prototyping is an appropriate means of gathering design information as it is an expedient solution and may serve as a method of testing the central tendency of entire classes of user interfaces.

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