Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-by-step Guide"Some argue the big advances in our impact on design and usability will come from better methods. Some argue they will come from earlier involvement in the development process. The biggest impact, however, will come as more and more companies realize the benefits of user-centered design and embrace it. Eric offers a practical road map to get there."--Arnie Lund, Director of Design and Usability, Microsoft Corporation "This book is a great how-to manual for people who want to bring the benefits of improved usability to their companies. It''s thorough yet still accessible for the smart businessperson. I''ve been working with user-centered design for almost 20 years and I found myself circling tips and tricks."--Harley Manning, Research Director, Forrester Research "This book should be required reading for all executive champions of change. It does an excellent job in laying the foundation for incorporating usability engineering concepts and best practices into corporations. Business success in the new economy will greatly depend on instituting the changes in design methods and thinking that are so clearly and simply put forth in this very practical and useful book."--Ed Israelski, Program Manager--Human Factors, Abbott Laboratories "For those of us who have evangelized usability for so many years, we finally have a book that offers meaningful insights that can only come from years of practical experience in the real world. Here is a wonderful guide for all who wish to make usability a ''way of life'' for their companies."--Felica Selenko, Principal Technical Staff Member, AT&T "Dr. Schaffer''s mantra is that the main differentiator for companies of the future will be the ability to build practical, useful, usable, and satisfying applications and sites. This is a book that provides the road map necessary to allow your organization to achieve these goals." --Colin Hynes, Director of Site Usability, Staples, Inc. "Eric''s methodology helped RBC Royal Bank''s online banking complete a new user interface, and provided a blueprint for making usable designs a routine part of our development process. The site became successful in making money, saving money, and increasing customer satisfaction--evidencing the effectiveness of his approach."--Carolyn Burke, Senior Manager, e-Commerce and Payments Strategy, RBC Royal Bank of Canada "If you''re tasked with bringing usability to a large organization, this book is for you (and your boss). Informed by years of case studies and consulting experience, Eric provides the long view, clearly describing what to expect, what to avoid, and how to succeed in establishing user-centered principles at your company."--Pat Malecek, User Experience Manager, AVP, CUA, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. "Usability issues are a key challenge for user-interface development of increasingly complex products and services. This book provides much-needed insights to help managers achieve their key objectives and to develop more successful solutions."--Aaron Marcus, President, Aaron Marcus and Associates At one time, computer hardware was the key differentiator in information technology--what gave an organization its competitive edge. Then, as hardware prices fell, software took center stage. Today, software has become a broadly shared commodity, and a new differentiator has emerged--usability. Applications, including Web sites, are usable if they are practical, useful, easy to work with, and satisfying. Usability is now the factor likeliest to give an organization a distinct advantage. Institutionalization of Usability shows how to make user-centered design and development a routine practice within an enterprise. Other excellent books explain precisely how to make software usable; this book builds on that foundation, and focuses instead on how to get usability recognized and incorporated into an organization''s values and culture. Based on author Eric Schaffer''s extensive experience, the book provides a solid methodology for institutionalizing usability, guiding readers step by step with practical advice on topics like organizational change, milestones, toolsets, infrastructure, and staffing requirements needed to achieve fully mature usability engineering. Learn how to:
Whether you are an executive leading the institutionalization process, a manager supporting the transition, or an engineer working on usability issues, Institutionalization of Usability will help you to build usability into your software practices. |
Contents
The Deep Changes | 1 |
Changing the Feature Mindset | 2 |
Changing the Technology Mindset | 3 |
Changing Management Values | 4 |
Changing the Process for Interface Design | 6 |
Usability within Government | 7 |
The StepbyStep Process for Institutionalizing Usability | 8 |
The Startup Phase | 9 |
Testing Facilities | 119 |
Recording of Testing Sessions | 122 |
Modeling Tools and Software | 124 |
Data Gathering and Testing Techniques | 126 |
The Special Needs of International Testing | 128 |
The Bollywood Method | 129 |
Recruiting Interview and Testing Participants | 130 |
Interface Design Standards | 135 |
The Setup Phase | 10 |
The Organization Phase | 11 |
The LongTerm Operations Phase | 12 |
Startup | 15 |
Wakeup Calls and Common Reactions | 17 |
The Value of Usability | 18 |
Reducing Design Cycles | 19 |
Avoiding Building Unnecessary Functions | 20 |
Increasing Sales | 21 |
Avoiding Disasters | 22 |
Types of Wakeup Calls | 23 |
Train Wrecks | 24 |
Executive Insights | 25 |
Education and Training | 26 |
Experiencing the Wakeup Call and Beginning a Usability Process | 27 |
Usability Testing | 28 |
Common Responses to Wakeup Calls | 29 |
Relying on Good Intentions | 30 |
Being an Advocate for the Process | 31 |
Relying on Training | 32 |
Hiring Usability Consultants | 33 |
Seeing the Real Numbers Creates a Call to Action Too | 35 |
The Executive Champion | 37 |
The Role of the Executive Champion | 38 |
Why Support from Senior Management Is Crucial | 40 |
Deciding to Innovate | 41 |
Making the Change | 42 |
Educating the Executives | 43 |
Keeping It Moving Long Term | 45 |
Becoming a CXO | 47 |
Selecting a Usability Consultant | 49 |
Completeness of Solution | 53 |
Domain Expertise | 54 |
Methodology | 55 |
Tools and Templates | 56 |
Size and Stability | 57 |
Corporate Cultural Match | 58 |
Organizational Structure | 60 |
Quality Control and Feedback | 61 |
Ongoing Training for the Consultancys Staff | 62 |
Setup | 65 |
Strategy | 67 |
What to Consider When Developing the Strategic Plan | 69 |
A Proactive Organization | 70 |
The Importance of Sequence | 73 |
Reacting to Past Events | 74 |
Targets of Opportunity | 75 |
Slower Can Be Better | 76 |
Phasing in Design Standards | 77 |
Key Groups for Support or Resistance | 78 |
Executive Support for Usability within ATT | 79 |
Training | 82 |
The Project Path | 83 |
Training | 85 |
Types of Training | 86 |
Knowledge Training | 88 |
Who Should Get Knowledge Training? | 89 |
Skills Training | 90 |
Who Should Get Skills Training? | 92 |
Certification | 93 |
A Typical Training Plan | 94 |
Conferences | 96 |
Methodology | 97 |
What to Look for in a UserCentered Methodology | 98 |
Integrating Usability into the Development Cycle | 101 |
An Outline of The Schaffer Method | 102 |
Know What the Organization Wants | 104 |
Know What the Users Want | 105 |
The Plan Standards Phase | 106 |
The Plan Design and Implementation Phase | 107 |
The Plan Evaluations Phase | 108 |
AG Edwards Usability Process and Methodology | 109 |
The Plan Localization Phase | 110 |
The Challenges of Retrofitting a Development Life Cycle | 111 |
Using Classic Methodologies | 114 |
Tools Templates and Testing Facilities | 117 |
Introduction to Your Toolkit | 118 |
What Is an Interface Design Standard? | 136 |
Screen Design Templates | 137 |
Other Contents of a Design Standard | 140 |
The Value of Design Standards | 143 |
The Process and Cost of Developing Standards | 145 |
Disseminating Supporting and Enforcing Standards | 146 |
Showcase Projects | 151 |
The Value of a Showcase Project | 152 |
Selecting the Right Staff and Project | 155 |
The Right Staff | 156 |
Expectations | 160 |
Organization | 163 |
Organizational Structure | 165 |
Organizational Structures for Usability Teams | 168 |
Centralized Structure | 170 |
Being on a Projects | 171 |
Placement within Quality Assurance | 172 |
Placement within Marketing | 173 |
Placement under a CXO | 176 |
Escalation of Problems | 177 |
Graphic Artists Writers and Other UsabilityOriented Staff | 178 |
Staffing | 179 |
The Chief User Experience Executive | 180 |
The Central Usability Organization Manager | 182 |
The Internal Consultant | 184 |
The Specialist | 186 |
The Researcher | 189 |
The Usability Manager and Practitioners | 190 |
The Creative Director and the Graphic Designer | 192 |
Outside Consultants | 194 |
The Social Security Administrations Usability Team | 195 |
What to Look for When Hiring | 196 |
Usability Skills for a General Practitioner | 197 |
Education | 200 |
Experience | 201 |
Usability Background That Includes Design | 202 |
Specialist vs Generalist | 203 |
Real Skills and Knowledge | 204 |
Interpersonal Skills and Level of Expertise | 205 |
An Offshore Model | 206 |
The Limits of Offshore Usability | 209 |
Projects | 211 |
Doing It Right | 212 |
Managing by Project Importance | 213 |
Who Will Do the Usability Work? | 214 |
Different Strategies for Practitioner Involvement | 215 |
Working Smart | 217 |
Efficient Project Planning | 219 |
Estimating Usability Work | 220 |
LongTerm Operations | 223 |
Activities of the Established Usability Group | 225 |
Maintaining Respect and Negotiating Effectively | 226 |
The Value of a ResearchBased Approach to Usability | 228 |
Roadblocks in the Path to Good UsabilityThe IT Department | 229 |
Maintaining Momentum | 230 |
The Role of the Central Usability Team | 231 |
Training | 233 |
Mentoring | 234 |
Supporting Standards | 235 |
Advocating Usability through a Strong Sense of Community | 236 |
Supporting the Community | 237 |
Performing Usability Testing | 238 |
Focusing on Metrics | 239 |
Having Responsibility | 241 |
Reporting to Executives | 242 |
My Nine Principles to Keep Institutionalization Motivated | 243 |
The Future | 247 |
Symptoms of Leaping the Chasm | 248 |
Usability Trends | 249 |
Maturity | 250 |
Your Organizations Maturity | 251 |
Managed Usability | 252 |
A Vision of the Future of Usability | 253 |
Appendix | 255 |
References | 259 |
263 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
References to this book
Using Human Factors Engineering to Improve Patient Safety John W. Gosbee,Laura Lin Gosbee No preview available - 2005 |