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User-Centered Design: An Integrated Approach

Article in IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication · April 2004

DOI: 10.1109/TPC.2004.824283 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 47, NO. 1, MARCH 2004 75

Karel Vredenberg, Scott Isensee, and Carol Righi

User-Centered Design: An Integrated Approach
Book Review
—Reviewed by
TIMOTHY L. J. FERRIS, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE

Index Terms—Software design, software engineering, user-centered design.

T his book results from a decade of presenting

the user-centered design (UCD) methodology for
be multidisciplinary and include industrial design
and human–computer interface specialists, and that
any project needs a good leader and clear allocation of
hundreds of companies (p. xxiii) and appears to be responsibilities to people with the appropriate skills.
the book complement to the professional development The authors also state that product design needs to
short course. Its purpose is to encourage software consider the needs of users in non-US cultures and
developers to focus on the total user experience those with physical disabilities, such as impaired
of software products during the whole of the vision (p. 54).
development cycle. The notion of the “total user
experience” is valuable because it focuses attention on The third chapter, “Introducing the Approach,”
the whole product-use cycle, from initial awareness presents the problem of introducing a UCD-based
through productive use. development culture into the stereotypical software
development house described in chapter 1. The
The book comprises five chapters. The first, “Taking major points are the suggestion that a UCD program
stock,” prompts the reader to review the current commence with an awareness campaign so that
situation in their company. The scenario painted is staff members understand the importance of UCD.
of the stereotypical company with poor processes for The authors also state that a UCD program is
ensuring that product development methods produce easier to effect with executive support, and that a
products satisfying the real needs of the customer suitable champion should be appointed. The methods
in a good whole-product experience. At the end of for persuading workers to implement the UCD
the chapter, the argument that usable products are methodologies described in this chapter conform to
expensive is answered in a series of bulleted points standard organizational cultural change methods,
asserting that usable products are easier to use and such as using frequent small communications rather
understand—thus reducing training and support, as than a single set-piece event, and applying the
well as user discomfort and stress—and that they methodology gradually rather than in a single big
improve productivity, product quality, and aesthetics, rollout.
thus providing a competitive advantage.
The fourth chapter, “Deploying the Approach,”
The second chapter, “The Integrated Approach,” opens by discussing the recruitment of subjects
describes the principles of the UCD approach. to be used in UCD development. Processes for
The six principles are to: (1) set business goals; recruitment, scheduling of sessions, legal issues, and
(2) understand the customers; (3) design the total reimbursement of subjects are mentioned. However,
customer experience from advertising to end-of-use; an absence visible to any university academic is
(4) perform rigorous evaluation of designs; (5) assess the issue of ethics in the use of human subjects in
product competitiveness against all direct and projects performed for commercial gain. Whilst this
indirect competitors; and (6) manage the project for may be covered in local legislation, a total lack of
a single coherent good for the user product. This mention of the issue of ethics is a serious failing in
chapter suggests that the development team should any work dealing with recruitment of human subjects
to participate in any kind of experimental work. In
addition, there is mention of “usability requirements”
Manuscript received October 26, 2003; revised October 30,
2003. The reviewer is with Systems Engineering and Evaluation (p. 112). What is unclear is whether the author uses
Centre, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes 5095, the word “requirement” in its common sense as a
Australia (email: [email protected]). common language statement of what is needed, or in
IEEE DOI 10.1109/TPC.2004.824283 the rigorous sense of MIL-STD-490A Section 3, which
defines the form of “Requirement Statements” used
Book Publisher:
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002, 246 pp. to definitively define the intended product or system
with index, plus CD. for both engineering and contractual purposes. This

0361-1434/04$20.00 © 2004 IEEE

76 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 47, NO. 1, MARCH 2004

ambiguity is nowhere clarified. A similar lack of magnitude more complex than the products envisaged
precision is found in the discussion of two methods in this book. The systems engineering processes
for working through what the product should do: the used in the defense industry are often criticized as
“task scenario” and the object-oriented “use case” overhead-intensive, and prompt a negative reaction
method. The authors state that the use case method in those seeking to perform small-scale civilian
describes the action from the product viewpoint, projects, claiming that the methods are massively too
whereas the need is for, and the task scenario expensive. Therefore, there is a place for a simplified
approach supports, analysis from the user viewpoint. approach to product development that incorporates
Unfortunately, both methods are described so briefly awareness of all facets of the product’s life cycle,
that the reader cannot confidently proceed with the including development, use, support, and the legacy
use of either method. In the matter of usability testing, created by the product. This is the space claimed by
the authors say that the tests must have a clearly the authors as the domain of UCD, but what they have
defined purpose and that, where the product design presented as methodology is too fluid to be grasped.
includes “internationalization” of the product, there
must be a context-rich test environment. However, The authors have correctly identified that the civilian
these comments are not supported by deeper industry is concerned about the cost of any formal
discussions about how these ends can be fulfilled. process and have, therefore, stressed that the UCD
approach can be implemented in a scaled manner,
The fifth chapter, “Optimizing Your Implementation of respecting the size and the issues involved in a
the Approach,” provides advice for improving certain particular project. However, a more useful book would
aspects of the UCD approach. The first major topic be one that identifies a range of processes that can
revisits the recruitment of subjects and asserts the be used, explaining the nature of those processes in
benefit of ensuring subjects are not used too often, to enough detail that a practitioner could confidently
avoid “study fatigue,” and the need to respect privacy implement each process, and providing guidelines
laws and the practical experience of the subjects. explaining when certain processes should be used
These are good points, but a very important issue and when they should be laid aside. Such a work
never discussed in the book is how to avoid bias would be a useful contribution to the field of product
caused by the idiosyncrasies of particular subjects, development management, and would be useful to
each of whom has particular opinions about what both practicing professionals and in education. The
is desirable in a user interface and the structure of work I propose as more useful would make UCD
information implied by the user interface. Clearly, something that can be grasped and applied rather
usability reports or comments may be biased by than the chameleon it appears in the present work,
individual preferences, even among people who are where it seems to be all things to all people, but
substantially “representative” users. There is a short nothing in particular. The present book appears to
introduction of the idea of story-based design, in be targeted at jolting software developers from the
which use, scenarios are described by means of technocentrism common to many, to a user-centered
stories describing the sequence of use activities that attitude shared by a part of the developer community.
would be required for the product system to support
particular user-initiated transactions. The structure of the present book reminds me of
computer manuals’ postintroduction of the IBM
The book also includes a CD containing several very PC. The manuals are part of a flexible, multiply
short video clips which provide both motivational configurable system, with the result that no manual
content supporting the adoption of UCD and takes the novice user from the physical arrangement
introductory ideas concerning some of the techniques of the product through to the details of use of the
mentioned in the book. The total duration of the applications software in a manual with a logical page
video content is 10 to 15 minutes. The brief clips 1. Rather, every manual pertains to a part of the
are provided to give readers ideas about how to system and assumes the reader understands the
implement UCD in their own workplaces. context of the whole system and seeks a reference
work for the part for which it purports to be a
Both the book and the video are heavy on motivational manual. Such manuals contrast with manuals for
material, but light on the substance of the UCD consumer machinery, such as washing machines.
method or the analysis of process or procedure for Similarly, this book addresses part of the field, but
consistent and coherent development of UCD. Thus, makes considerable assumptions about the reader’s
the book contrasts with works in systems engineering, knowledge and access to other materials, which are
which often provide similar motivational content in necessary to make the content of the book useful.
a brief introductory chapter, and follow that with a
methodology that has been demonstrated effective in The existence of this book is a sad indictment of the
engaging a developer and customer in a relationship professional education process of software developers:
that usually leads to the production of successful the functional cultural imperialism implied by the
innovative sociotechnical systems, normally orders of “take it or leave it” attitude of many software vendors,
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 47, NO. 1, MARCH 2004 77

and the common vendor business model of shifting education for and business practices in the software
a major part of the product validation process development industry, which, if addressed, would
to the customer, after shipping. By implication, provide considerable improvements for all users of
this book points to areas for improvement in the software products.

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