A Participatory Approach to Developing User-Centered Communications  

Participatory communication is most often applied to development communications--a field of practice rooted in the modernization efforts of the U.S. post World War II. Similar to participatory design, popular definitions and models of participatory communication provide a lens through which the efficacy of user-centered communications may be viewed. At Indiana University, we have had success in increasing the usability and usefulness of communication products by including end users, their advocates, and related stakeholders in cross-functional teams. The adoption of new systems used at Indiana University was fueled by communications strategies, plans, and products that resulted from a participatory approach.

Fitzpatrick, Christine Y. and Gregory A. Moore. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Participatory Design

Activity Modeling: Toward a Pragmatic Integration of Activity Theory with Usage-Centered Design  

Activity modeling is a systematic approach to organizing and representing the contextual aspects of tool use that is both well-grounded in an accepted theoretical framework and embedded within a proven design method. Activity theory provides the vocabulary and conceptual framework for understanding the human use of tools and other artifacts. Usage-centered design provides the methodological scaffolding for applying activity theory in practice. In this Technical Paper, activity theory and usage-centered design are outlined and the connections between the two are highlighted. Simple extensions to the models of usage-centered design are introduced that together succinctly model the salient and most essential features of the activities within which tool use is embedded. Although not intended as a tutorial, examples of Activity Maps, Activity Profiles, and Participation Maps are provided.

Constantine, Larry L. Constantine and Lockwood (2006). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods

Applied Empathy: A Design Framework for Meeting Human Needs and Desires

The design community keeps making a lot of noise about designing for people/users/customers. However, while this notion is well-intentioned and even conceptually correct, I find much of it boils down to empty rhetoric. What exactly are we doing? More user research? More usability testing? Certainly these are valid approaches to finding out about people's needs, but they're only a small part of an optimal solution. Are we using hollow tasks and tools like personas and scenarios? Those approaches typically take design farther away from the people for whom we are designing products rather than closer. How about focusing on usability and the user experience? That gets at only part of the issue and tends to come from the perspective of the product--as opposed to the more universal needs and desires of actual people.

Knemeyer, Dirk. UXmatters (2006). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods

Approaches to Creating Personas  

You do research to better understand your users, but exactly what is it that you want to find out about them? That's the first question you need to ask, and its answer dictates which research methods you should use, since specific methods are tailored to finding specific types of information.

Mulder, Steve. InformationDesign (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

Basics of Conducting Focus Groups

Focus groups are a powerful means to evaluate services or test new ideas. Basically, focus groups are interviews, but of 6-10 people at the same time in the same group. One can get a great deal of information during a focus group session.

McNamara, Carter. Free Management Library. Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Focus Groups

Being User-Centered When Implementing a UCD Process

For those who are interested in usability – whether long-time advocates or newly introduced – this is a good time to introduce a user-centered design process.

Quesenbery, Whitney. WQusability (2001). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Usability

A Bright Idea: Web-Based Surveys

If you’re looking for a quick, simple, and cost-efficient way to survey your members, you may want to try a Web-based survey service such as Zoomerang. Zoomerang offers users the ability to create and design their own surveys, send the surveys to targeted groups, and download the results, which Zoomerang tabulates.

McEwen, Kathryn. Tieline (2003). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Surveys

Crappy Personas vs. Robust Personas

If you're just going to guess on the personas, why bother? Just design for yourself, like the 37Signals team does. However, when you do the field studies, you create relationships with the people in your research. You can return to those people and ask them questions. You can learn about the things they do.

Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

Customer Satisfaction Measurement  

What are the best ways to measure customer satisfaction? Wiley shares some of her ideas.

Wiley, Ann L. Intercom (2006). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Surveys

Customer Storytelling at the Heart of Business Success

As most of us know by now, customer personas and scenarios are vehicles for helping an organization continuously keep their customers in their line of sight. Traditional segmentation identifies and categorizes a current or potential audience based upon common characteristics, including demographics, attitudes, behavior, transactions, frequency of interaction, spend, and more. They are discovered by “doing the math,” which may include data aggregation, cluster analysis, factor analysis, and other statistical methods applied to large sample sets. And then segments are given catchy names like Savvy Skeptics, Active Balancers, Indulgent Nutritionist, or Trade-Uppers. When done right, segments are statistically derived from the analysis and synthesis of quantitative data and are a solid foundation for customer understanding.

Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

Defining Feature Sets Through Prototyping

Defining requirements and features can be a daunting task under the best of circumstances. The Vision Prototype allows the user-centered vision to be seen—and discussed—by all team members and then easily translated into a set of functional requirements.

Quinn, Laura S. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods

Design-Driven Innovation  

The object of this contribution is to investigate how the design practice could promote and guide convergence dynamics amongst a plurality of stakeholders.

Maschi, Simona. University of Alberta (2003). Design>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

Designing an Effective User Study  

When it comes to learning about your users, a plethora of methods await you. But which one is best for your situation? The answer depends on many factors, including the kind of information you hope to discover, the time and budget you have available, and your access to users.

Hammar, Molly and Dawn Stevens. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Usability>Methods>User Centered Design

Developing and Implementing Effective Web-Based Surveys  

In this paper we will report on the development and implementation of the first part of a two-part web-based survey distributed to a university population of over 20,000 faculty, staff and students. This large-scale project presented multiple operational, technical and design challenges. User-centered design was crucial to the successful development and deployment of the survey. This survey tool was used to explore the richness and potential value of web surveys motivated by a combination of a desire to improve both the survey-taking process and results-computing process. The objective of this research is to design and implement an effective Web survey tool, record user participation, determine the value of implementing a two-part survey over time (longitudinal), and to identify improvements for future web-based surveys. The benefit to the organization will be the identification of service areas in need of improvements and the ability to match satisfaction level with actual product/service costs.

Andrews, Susan and Susan Feinberg. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Surveys

Driving Product Improvements through Customer Surveys: A Case Study  

IBM WebSphere Commerce is a software product that enables merchants to sell goods and services online. The user audience who has the task to understand the product complexities and build stores for the customers consists of store developers - a large group of users from external companies or within IBM. Conducting a survey to gather their feedback on store development proved to be a powerful method for understanding the various store development scenarios and identifying areas for product improvement. Some of the techniques that helped us create a successful customer survey involved using a multidisciplinary group to create the survey questions, tirelessly communicating the results, and following up on the issues.

Markova, Uliyana. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods

Field Oriented Design Techniques: Case Studies and Organizing Dimensions  

An article of faith among members of the CHI community is that successful design stems from the synthesis of a profound understanding of users' work and the capabilities offered by technology.

Wixon, Dennis and Judith A. Ramey. Microsoft (1995). Design>User Centered Design>Methods

Field Studies: The Best Tool to Discover User Needs

The most valuable asset of a successful design team is the information they have about their users. When teams have the right information, the job of designing a powerful, intuitive, easy-to-use interface becomes tremendously easier. When they don't, every little design decision becomes a struggle. While techniques, such as focus groups, usability tests, and surveys, can lead to valuable insights, the most powerful tool in the toolbox is the 'field study'. Field studies get the team immersed in the environment of their users and allow them to observe critical details for which there is no other way of discovering.

Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering. Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Usability

Finding a Cure for Survey Fatigue  

A downward trend in survey response rates is often blamed on the fact that people simply become tired of taking surveys. Butthere are ways to avoid the malaise setting in, says Angela Sinickas, a key one being making sure thatpeople feel their opinions are actually being listened to. Here she shares three common causes of survey fatigue and how to deal with them.

Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Surveys

Goal-Oriented Design

To me, understanding goals is the single most critical factor in the success of any design project, and fundamental to the Web Design from Scratch approach. In this section, you'll learn techniques that help you discover your own goals and gain insight into what your target audience really wants. If you're working on a project, this section will help you get a clear picture of your purpose, understand the key goals of your target users and start to visualise a high-value solution that ensures everybody wins.

Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design>Methods

HTML Wireframes and Prototypes: All Gain and No Pain

Mention the use of HTML for wireframing or prototyping, and some information architects and interaction designers frantically look for the nearest exit. In some circles, HTML has acquired the reputation of being a time-consuming, difficult undertaking best left to developers. This is very far from the truth.

Stanford, Julie. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>Methods>User Centered Design

Innovations in Card Sorting

Creating a product that has a logical information structure is critical to the success of the product. A good structure helps users find information and accomplish their tasks with ease. Card sorting is one method that can help us understand how users think the information and navigation should be within a product.

Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Card Sorting

The Joys of Prototyping

At the heart of any good user-centred design process is the practice of prototyping. By creating and testing interfaces in rough format, designers are able to feed through improvements and feedback from users quickly and easily. This in turn helps to ensure a final product that is an evolved solution, in the sense that it has been through a number of iterations and emerged as fit for the job in question.

Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2002). Design>User Centered Design>Methods