User-centered design is a philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of the end user of an interface or document are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. It is often seen as an offshoot of the usability movement, and a progenitor of the experience design and interaction design movements.
#31680
Drawing from user observation methodologies, design thinking and synthesis we observed and filmed old people in their homes in UK, US, Denmark, India, Taiwan, Italy, Israel, South Africa and Columbia.
People and Product (2008). Design>User Centered Design>Accessibility>Elderly
#30027
Design for Emotion: Ready for the Next Decade?
The experience profile of a product can be described in terms of these experiential components. Once such an experience profile has been properly defined, it must be translated in all product properties the designer can affect. It has an effect on the sensorial aspects of the product, but also on the way it functions, it affects the way people operate the product and even the way the product is marketed. In sum, the profile has an impact on all aspects that together shape the human-product interaction.
Hekkert, Paul and Pieter Desmet. uiGarden (2007). Design>User Interface>User Centered Design>User Experience
#28715
I was struck by the similarities in the challenges of getting software engineers to consider usability during design, and getting mechanical product designers to consider life cycle issues during design. It occurred to me designers may resist adopting these two design processes for very similar reasons, and that possible solutions may be almost identical.
Hayes, Caroline. Usability Professionals Association (2007). Design>Usability>User Centered Design
#29556
After the eras of the Commodity Economy, the Manufacturing Economy, the Service Economy and the Information Economy, we have now entered the era of the Dream Economy. The key to success in the Dream Economy is an in-depth and holistic understanding of people. It's not only about meeting people's practical needs, but also about meeting their aspirations and providing a positive emotional experience.
Jordan, Pat. uiGarden (2007). Design>User Centered Design>User Experience
#28404
Web designers frequently suffer under the illusion that other people look at their web pages the way we do. This is wrong. Designers need to develop the skill of looking at their designs through naïve eyes.
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design
#23974
Design Research: Why You Need It
Just as important as market research, design research is a necessary ingredient for creating, developing, and delivering a successful product. Marketers need solid market research to guide their decisions about product positioning, revenue potential, and target markets. Likewise, designers need solid design research to guide their decisions about the product's interaction framework, feature set, and overall appropriateness for its users.
Calde, Steve. Cooper Interaction Design (2003). Design>Usability>User Centered Design
#29639
Design Success Through User Research and Iterative Testing 
Intuit was faced with serious usability problems causing high support call volumes for one of its major payroll software products. Improving training and online help did not solve these usability problems. Results from research techniques such as usability studies and customer site visits supported a software interface redesign that raised performance as much as from 13% to 89% success for customers' most critical tasks (for novice users with no training). This paper describes how several different strategies combined to yield design success: using multiple data gathering techniques to converge on an understanding of customers' problems and details of software redesign, iteratively prototyping and testing until performance reached desired levels, and using diverse sources for design suggestions. Applicability of these strategies to other projects will be emphasized.
Petrick, M. Susan and Mark Keavney. STC Proceedings (2005). Design>User Centered Design>Audience Analysis
#24102
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
#19145
Designers' Roles in Communicating with Users
Defining 'the user experience' is difficult since it can extend to nearly everything in someone's interaction with a product, from the text on a search button, to the color scheme, to the associations it evokes, to the tone of the language used to describe it, to the customer support. Understanding the relationship between these elements requires a different kind of research than merely timing how quickly a task is accomplished or testing to see how memorable the logo is.
Light, Ann. Usability News (2003). Design>User Centered Design>Communication>User Experience
#21648
Designing a Telephone-Based User Interface
Explains how technical communicators, drawing on their experience designing Web sites and software interfaces, can help design effective interfaces for telephone-answering and call-routing systems.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2004). Design>User Interface>EPSS>User Centered Design
#20297
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
#21250
Designing Customer-Centered Organizations
Even with the present downturn in the economy, more companies, from new media to established banks, have larger usability and design teams than ever before. Should we be content that we have come so far?
Zapolski, John and Jared Braiterman. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>User Centered Design>Workflow>Usability
#24792
Designing for Quality: Visual Devices for Behemoth Systems
Two of the panelists present visual devices they have used with large, multifunction systems. These devices are effective in presenting information about large systems to users performing diverse tasks and having different levels of experience, and are powerful tools to help writers or developers learn the system. The third panelist shows how these tools are effective in designing for fitness for use—whether you are maintaining legacy software or designing new products.
Bibus, Connie M. 'C.J.', Jennifer Bown and William D. Gearhart. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>User Centered Design>Visual
#20847
Designing for Real People: Additional Lessons for Web Design from Mall and Retail Design
Suggests lessons from bricks-and-mortar retailers that can be applied to web design.
Carliner, Saul. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability
#13830
Whenever we design something, we confront the problem of how to account for differences in our audience's needs, skills, and background. We accept that audiences are diverse and include people with widely varying skill levels, physical abilities, background knowledge, and cultural differences. They range from power users--who could teach us something about the product--to the greenest of neophytes. Some have significant visual or other limitations. Some can understand the most abstract concepts, whereas others wouldn't recognize a metaphor if it bit them. And some come from very different cultures, such as the gap that divides Macintosh and Windows users. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the more obvious differences sometimes leads us to make ridiculous assumptions, such as considering women and men to be different audiences, or believing that it's impossible to produce something that works equally well for experienced and new users.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2000). Design>User Interface>User Centered Design
#29192
Designing Information That Meets Users' Needs 
Understanding users' needs is a systematic approach that draws on techniques used in software design and ethnographic-style research. These techniques include user personas, tasks analyses, and scenarios. Taken together they provide the basis of an information design that works for users.
Lasalle, Joan. Content Management Professionals (2007). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design
#26447
When forms give users the option to continue in two or more alternative directions, such as registering as a new customer or signing in as a returning one, unfortunate users will take the wrong turn if it isn't unmistakably obvious which way they should go. In this article, we'll take a look at a few intersection flows that have caused users problems.
Olsen, Henrik. GUUUI (2005). Articles>User Interface>User Centered Design>Workflow
#15114
Designing Quality Customer Experiences
Lists eight principles for designing memorable customer experiences.
#19477
Designing the Out-of-the-Box Experience: A Case Study
To improve your product’s out-of-the-box experience, you must first define the experience that you want your users to have. The next challenge is to design the specific elements that will achieve that experience. These elements must be designed harmoniously with each other and with the functional improvements planned for the product. By enhancing those improvements, the overall experience will draw the customer into the product. If designed appropriately, these elements can improve not only the out-of-the-box experience but also the marketability of the product.
Kowalski, Lee Anne. STC Proceedings (2001). Design>User Centered Design>User Experience
#20299
Designing the User-Centered Process Model: A Case Study
The case study involved the redesigning of NCR’s performance improvement model for developing information products, documentation, and training interventions for our customers. This process model, the Quality Information Products Process (QIPP) seeks to move information product developers away from an adversarial, compliance type model towards a quality improvement system that is grounded in the everyday practices of the users. The redesign effort was initiated during a review of the existing process as it related to a new corporate-wide product creation process which was recently implemented.
Kabel, Mary Ann. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>User Centered Design>Usability
#28496
Selections of 'least favorite' designs from graduate students of the George Mason University Department of Psychology.
Mintz, Farilee. Usability Interface (2006). Design>User Interface>Human Computer Interaction>User Centered Design
#24225
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
#24607
Developing and Maintaining a Successful Web Site: How to Keep Visitors Coming Back
How do you develop and maintain a successful web site? What makes a person come back to one organization's web site, but not another's? Several key factors contribute to making a web site successful: defining the appropriate information and organizing it so it's easily found, assembling a well-rounded web team, developing a web style guide, choosing the appropriate tools, and maintaining the information on a regular basis.
Dimick, Sharlyn A., Thomas G. Acree, Leslie K. Gasser Jeffery T. Penka and Matthew K. Wise. STC Proceedings (1996). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design
#30272
Developing Customer-Driven Quality Measurements For Documents
This paper serves as a description of the demonstration on developing customer-driven quality measurements for documents. Originally presented as a workshop at the 1993 STC Conference in Dallas, the content was modified based on participant evaluations. In addition, the format was changed to a demonstration session to allow for a more flexible presentation method based on participation and time constraints. The session will use as many hands-on exercises as possible to reinforce its objectives.
Fisher, Charles D., Jr. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>TC>Assessment>User Centered Design
#19266
Developing Effective Multimedia for Users
This paper offers practical suggestions for effectively using multimedia as technical documentation. Multimedia is a dynamic and growing area of communication. It offers great possibilities for communicating a wide range of technical information clearly and concisely. By incorporating user-centered design into all phases of production, technical communicators can create high-quality, effective multimedia content that will wow users and meet their information needs. Applying user-centered design at each phase, the paper illustrates the progression of a multimedia project from initial user analysis through media selection and content development to final delivery.
Eilers, Perthenia. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Multimedia>User Centered Design
