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Benefits of hiring an experienced usability specialist:
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User Centered Design is an approach that seeks to
enhance user productivity and satisfaction by designing the software
interface from the user's perspective. It focuses on solving the
real problems that users face in their work tasks and avoids designing
from a place of assumptions and guesses on the part of developers.
It reduces the risk of interface design problems that cause user
rejection and the accompanying late redesign changes. It emphasizes
familiar concepts and user terminology thereby reducing training
and documentation. The approach can be summarized as:
The methods employed during the design phase of a project will determine the quality of the user interface in the final product. Proper techniques within the design phase would include a cycle of Design, Prototype, and Usability Test. These activities are done Iteratively until the usability objectives of the system are achieved.
The designer utilizes the User Profile, Task Analysis, system specifications, business requirements, and any other information, to create and define the user interface for the software product. This is best done in stages, in a "tops-down" approach. The designer creates the high-level design including the conceptual model, main objects and actions, some main windows, main dialogs, menu, toolbar, etc. This "first cut" is then moved to the next steps of Prototyping and Usability Testing. Based on the results of the usability testing, the designer would make the necessary changes to the existing interface and design the remaining portions of the system. The revised and new designs are then re-tested as the project goes through the necessary Iterations in the design cycle.
Prototyping creates a "mockup" or sample of the proposed interface design. Prototyping can be done using various tools such as pencil and paper, storyboards, flipbooks, overheads, software prototyping tools, or software development tools (live code). The tools used are based on the project needs. Developing a prototype allows the design to be changed in a relatively inexpensive and timely way, and avoids throwing out extensive coding efforts and implementation time. Prototyping avoids late design changes and "re-starts" at the end of a development cycle because of user rejection.
Usability Testing obtains empirical data which identifies the problems in the design. During testing, the interface design is measured against quantified usability objectives outlined at the beginning of the project. See the attached description for more information about Usability Testing.
Iteration within the design cycle is the method which "engineers" or remedies the problems identified by usability testing. The iterations of Design, Prototype, and Usability Test create a feedback loop in which the designer obtains the information needed to improve the design. With each iteration the designer gets closer to the ideal design because of the objective data provided by users during usability testing. The number of iterations varies per project based on the complexity of the application, user audience, and design methods. The cycles of iteration are complete when the usability objectives for the project have been met.