James R. Rudd

User-Centered Design at IBM Consulting

IBMs traditions in human factors are rooted as far back as the 1950s. This article traces and describes how the challenges to the discipline have changed over the last 40 years, based on the personal and professional experiences of the authors. During that span of time, the focus of attention has shifted from traditional knobs and dials hardware, to system and application software, and now to consulting services. This article discusses these changes and describes how user-centered design (UCD) has become a key component of the IBM Global Services (GS) information technology consulting approach. The UCD component of the GS method is described and illustrated with 2 case study samples from recent engagements.

Twenty-two tips for a happier, healthier prototype

professional had the opportunity to take a lead role in software development. Enabled by a vigorous focus on software usability and the availability of a number of robust prototyping tools, corporate human factors groups are making significant positive contributions to software development through software prototyping. However, a successful prototyping effort requires more than a prototyping tool and a background in user interface design. It has been our experience that the success of a protoryping effort is dependent on many factors, some obvious, some not so obvious, and others learned only through postgraduate training at the School of Hard Knocks. Put your feet up, grab a cup of coffee, and let us share with you some of the lessons we’ve learned on the way to happier and healthier prototyping efforts. In no particular order:

Usability Engineering: A Consultant's View of Best Practices and Proven Results:

(Part 1 of this three-part series on Best Practices appeared in the winter 2007 issue.) The IBM Global Services Usability Engineering National Practice (UENP) group has focused on the application of industry-based, user-centered design (UCD) best practice techniques and principles to solve user interface and usability problems in a variety of industry contexts. UCD techniques and principles have been applied across different industries, application domains, and user interface styles. We have learned valuable lessons with regard to consistent and effective use of a rigorous, proven, and repeatable design process in system and Internet projects. The use of our design process results in cost-effective solutions for satisfied customer users. Although the findings generally apply to many styles of user interfaces and systems, this article shares some of our lessons, experiences, best practices, and results with a focus on recent Web-based projects.

Best Practices Applied to Web-Based Projects

User-centered design must be the foundation of all Web sites to ensure that visitors (and shoppers) keep coming back.

Usability Engineering: “Best of the Best” Best Practices

In the first two articles of this series, we focused on key challenges and a process for approaching user-centered design (UCD). In this third article, we describe and summarize the “best of the best” best practices for UCD activities and a case study in which the best practices were leveraged. We conclude with strategic recommendations for making UCD a more effective and efficient methodology in the software engineering life cycle.

Small Talk/V Digitalk, Inc. 5 Hutton Center Dr., 11th Floor, Santa Ana, CA 92707 714/513-3000

JAMES RUDD & SCOTT ISENSEE Performance The centerpiece of the Smalltalk development environment is the Classes Browser (see below). Here the user can easily access and inspect the classes and methods that make up the Smalltalk library. The integrated development environment provides interactive tools for the entry, editing, linking, file management, debugging, and execution of user-generated Smalltalk programs. The Smalltalk editor provides all the basic functions, and pop-up menus make it easy to issue editing commands. You can produce code rapidly with these tools and then run and test your program with each small increment of change. This is both helpful and rewarding. Code reuse is a major advantage when proto typing with Smalltalk. Classes can inherit behavior from existing classes in the system. The ability to inherit code cuts down on the code bulk and also imposes a logical structure on an application. You

Twenty-two Tips for a Happier, Healthier Prototype

With the recent development of a number of powerful end-user interface (EUI) prototyping tools, the typical software usability department has never before had such a golden opportunity to take a lead role in product development. However, there is more to establishing a successful EUI prototyping effort than simply possessing a background in EUI design and having access to a prototyping tool. Indeed, it has been our experience that the success of a prototyping effort is dependent on many factors - some obvious, some not so obvious, and others learned only through postgraduate training at the School of Hard Knocks. The purpose of this paper is to describe 22 tips we believe will help ensure a successful prototyping effort.

Manipulating Display Feedback Parameters for Enhanced Data Entry Performance

Despite its widespread use, little is known regarding the manner in which to implement performance monitoring systems to enhance CRT-based task design and employee productivity. For example, no empirical studies to date have investigated the effects of varied levels of CRT-based performance goals and feedback on data entry performance. Theories of learned helplessness, as well as empirical data, suggest that in cases of very difficult goals and very frequent feedback, performance will be negatively affected. A 3 (Goal Difficulty) × 3 (Feedback Frequency) completely randomized experiment, with 90 clerical workers serving as test participants, did not support this hypothesis. Instead, the performance of test participants who received the most difficult goals and most frequent feedback showed 25% higher performance scores than the average of the other groups and 12% higher than the next highest performing group. However, the performance of these test participants in the medium-difficulty goal/frequent feedback group was significantly lower than the average of the rest of the groups. Questionnaire data indicated that these test participants perceived the frequent feedback to be significantly more disruptive of their performance. These results are discussed in terms of their implication for the design of CRT-based performance tasks.