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.
#18547
Because user tasks form the foundation of modern 'task-based' documentation, tasks should be well-represented in the index. We need to create index headings for both the broad objectives of the user (e.g., balancing a cheque book), and the specific actions required by the application (e.g., opening a file).
Brown, Fred. Allegro Time! (2001). Articles>Indexing>User Centered Design
#15145
Inductive User Interfaces: A New Opportunity for Writers 
Discusses inductive user interfaces, which use single screens to guide users through each task in a software program.
Carlson, Janice L. Intercom (2002). Design>User Centered Design>User Interface
#25198
Information Architecture through Web Analytics
Is your website structured according to the needs of your users? Does it deliver on your website objectives? Use Web Analytics to redesign it.
Hurol Inan (2005). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Log Analysis
#13939
Information Design Considerations for Improving Situation Awareness in Complex Problem-Solving 
The conventional techniques for task analysis derive the basic tasks that make up user actions. However, in the complex-problem solving environment, attempts to describe step-by-step actions break down because no single route to a solution exists. Although individual tasks can be defined, task-analysis normally results in the tasks being divorced from context. However, to support complex problem-solving, the design must place the information within the situation context and allow users to develop and maintain situation awareness.
Albers, Michael J. ACM SIGDOC (1999). Presentations>User Centered Design>Usability
#20543
Information Engineering for the 21st Century
Bowie urges technical communicators to spend less time creating documentation and more time designing products that people can use intuitively.
Bowie, John S. Intercom (2003). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Usability
#28260
Information Foraging: Why Google Makes People Leave Your Site Faster
The easier it is to find places with good information, the less time users will spend visiting any individual website. This is one of many conclusions that follow from analyzing how people optimize their behavior in online information systems.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Search
#26466
Information Layering: Providing Need-Based Information 
Information Layering is not new, but it has acquired a new dimension through modern technical and interactive possibilities. Even as of now, this technique can be used to make HTML-help considerably more user friendly.
Achtelig, Marc. indoition engineering (2005). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Online
#23356
Information Search Experience: Emotions in Information Seeking
Description of a model for representing user search experiences.
Kalbach, James. IAsummit (2004). Articles>User Centered Design>Search
#24465
Informational Articles Must Ask For the Order
Unless you have explicit links to product pages from article content, users who visit articles directly from search engines might never realize that you sell related products.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design
#28318
Informed Design: Understanding Your Web Audience
Although there are lots of elements to consider when designing compelling Web experiences (writing style, look and feel, information organization--to name just a few), there is one 'knowable' element that can be used to appraise the rest: audience.
Wroblewski, Luke. uiGarden (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design
#26078
The Inmates are Running the Asylum
The classic rules of business management are rooted in the manufacturing traditions of the industrial age. Unfortunately, they have yet to address the new realities of the information age, in which products are no longer made from atoms but are mostly software, made only from the arrangements of bits.
Cooper, Alan. Cooper Interaction Design (2004). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design
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Before starting to innovate, it is important to reflect on how different flavors of innovation are perceived by the people who will eventually use a product and what risks and opportunities are associated with each. Then comes the hard part: figuring out what the right innovations are and how to implement them.
Kinsolving, Ernest. Cooper Interaction Design (2001). Design>User Interface>User Centered Design
#30638
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
#28704
Inside Your Users' Minds: The Cultural Probe
Theoretically, usability testing is a great way of finding out what is wrong with the products and services we design. We sit the users down in the lab and ask them to perform certain tasks, to 'tell us what you think--give voice to your stream of consciousness.' And on the whole, it works. But...
Stalker-Firth, Ruth. List Apart, A (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Cultural Theory
#21613
La interacción es un elemento clave en la adquisición de conocimiento. Depende básicamente de dos factores: tiempo y control. En este artículo consideramos la importancia del primero.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Design>Web Design>Interactive>User Centered Design
#26539
Interaction Designers: What We Are, What We Do, & What We Need to Know
A 2001 presentation by Robert Reimann and Jodi Forlizzi titled Interaction Designers: What We Are, What We Do, & What We Need to Know (ppt) provides a good overview of interaction design.
Reimann, Robert and Jodi Forlizzi. IxDA Resource Library (2005). Presentations>User Centered Design>Interaction Design
#18513
GUI(그래픽 유저 인터페이스)는 퍼스널 컴퓨터와 사용자간의 인터페이스를 제공하기 위하여 디자인되었다. 사용자는 현재 웹 페이지를 포함한 모든 그래픽 인터페이스에서 세련된 디자인 수준을 원한다. 이 단계의 목표는 잠재적인 사용자의 기대에 부응하는 웹 기술을 적용하여 사용자가 이용하기에 편리한 인터페이스를 구현함으로써 사용자의 요구를 만족시키는 것이다. 그리고 사용자가 무엇을 원하고 있는지에 대한 조사와 통계를 내는 것은 매우 중요하다. 요구사항이 무엇인지를 알 수 없는 사용자를 위해서 사이트를 디자인한다는 것은 불가능하다. 당신의 사이트에서 정보를 찾는 여러 유형의 사용자들을 대상으로 예제 시나리오를 만들어야 한다. 특정 정보를 찾는 경험 많은 사용자들은 여러분의 홈페이지 디자인에 도움을 받을까 아니면 방해를 받을까? 당신의 사이트 디자인을 테스트하고 다양한 사용자로부터 의견을 피드백하는 것이 당신의 디자인 의도가 충실히 구현되었는가를 판단할 수 있는 가장 좋은 방법이다.
GoodMorning.pe.kr. (Korean) Design>User Interface>User Centered Design
#28679
Interfaces for People, Not Products
Without cooperation among designers of digital products, the proliferation of complex information systems can lead to unintended consequences--chiefly user fatigue, frustration, and the confusion that results from dealing with a host of variant user interfaces.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2006). Design>User Interface>User Centered Design
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Internal Search: Seven Ways to Ensure Your Users Can Find Your Information
User Vision's top seven tips on how to ensure your internal search is capable of meeting the needs of your users.
Rourke, Chris. User Vision (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Search
#28216
Internet Users Visit 6 Websites Only
We now have over 75 million websites we can go to, but still we only visit six of them regularily, as we just learned from a study recently made public by Directgov. Their findings make us think of a new phase of the Internet.
Information Architects Japan (2006). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design
#26244
An Introduction to Personas and How to Create Them
There are many ways to identify the needs of users, such as usability testing, interviewing users, discussions with business stakeholders, and conducting surveys. However one technique that has grown in popularity and acceptance is the use of personas: the development of archetypal users to direct the vision and design of a web solution.
Calabria, Tina. uiGarden (2005). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design>Personas
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An Introduction to Personas and How to Create Them
Before embarking on any intranet or website design project, it is important to understand the needs of your users. It is then possible to identify the features and functionality that will make the intranet or website a success, and how the design can support users with different goals and levels of skill.
Calabria, Tina. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design>Personas
#27412
Introduction to the User-Centred Design Process
User Centred Design (UCD) is an approach to design where the end user is placed at the heart of the design and development process. It could even be described as a ‘Design Philosophy’. Knowing who your users are, what they want and if your system is fulfilling their needs is central to UCD.
Murphy, Fiona. Frontend InfoCentre (2006). Articles>User Centered Design
#26564
An Introduction to User Journeys
User journeys are a method for conceptualising and structuring a website's content and functionality. These journeys allow us to shift away from thinking about structure in terms of hierarchies or a technical build; instead you create a narrative around your user's needs.
Hobbs, Jason. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>User Experience
#24375
Involving Customers in Developing Usability Metrics
Usability metrics are standards to measure a product against and are critical to finding out whether the product is successful in the areas that are important to its users. You can miss critical observations during a usability test if you do not use metrics to test the product. This is especially true if you are testing a product for the first time and do not know what the test will uncover. This paper describes how to find out what users want out of your product and develop usability metrics through focus group and contextual inquiry research.
Hammar, Molly. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>User Centered Design>Usability
