Jason Chong Lee

Towards Extreme(ly) Usable Software: Exploring Tensions Between Usability and Agile Software Development

Design is an inherently multidisciplinary endeavor. This raises the question of how to develop systems in ways that can best leverage the perspectives, practices, and knowledge bases of these different areas. Agile software development and usability engineering both address important aspects of system design, but there are tensions between the methods that make them difficult to integrate. This work presents a development approach that draws from extreme programming (XP), a widely practiced agile software development process, and scenario-based design (SBD), an established usability engineering process. It describes three key questions that need to be addressed for agile software development methods and usability engineering practices to work together effectively, and it introduces interface architectures and design representations that can address these questions.

Embracing agile development of usable software systems

The interdisciplinary nature of system design can lead to communication problems between developers in different fields. This is becoming evident in the emerging field of agile software development which has largely ignored or been unable to address usability. This work presents a development process and toolset that draws on extreme programming--an agile software development process, and scenario-based design--a usability engineering process. This approach will allow developers in both fields to better communicate and work together to efficiently design usable systems.

Examining the Foundations of Agile Usability with eXtreme Scenario-Based Design

The increasing use of agile methods to develop UI-intensive systems has led to a need to find ways of integrating usability into agile teams—reconciling the convergence and divergent points between the two areas. Agile usability researchers at Virginia Tech have partnered with Meridium, Inc. to develop and implement an integrated approach known as eXtreme Scenario-based Design (XSBD). Based on an analysis of core values and principles of both areas, and work from other agile usability researchers we identified four requirements that need to be met for an integrated approach to work effectively. We report on the results of using XSBD to develop a product at Meridium, summarizing how it addresses those requirements and draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the approach—making connections back to core principles of agile usability.

Evaluating eXtreme scenario-based design in a distributed agile team

Enterprise-level organizations, which often rely on distributed development teams, are increasingly interested in finding ways to adopt agile and usability-focused methods. Agile usability researchers at Virginia Tech have partnered with Meridium, Inc. to look at how eXtreme Scenario-based Design (XSBD), an agile usability approach developed at Virginia Tech, can be used in a distributed environment. We report on the use of this XSBD approach in a distributed team at Meridium and how it addresses the challenges of an integrated approach through streamlined usability and development practices and clearly defined communication and information sharing practices.

VTAssist: a location-based feedback notification system for the disabled

The needs of individuals with limited mobility have not been given as much importance as those of other users of internet-accessible mobile devices. Disabled users have information and service needs that are unique and a timely delivery of these services and information can be invaluable. This has motivated us toward the development of VTAssist, an application that attempts to provide critical location-based information about building accessibility to impaired users. This paper discusses our initial implementation of VTAssist and reports on preliminary evaluation results. Our results indicate that our system can help wheelchair users to better understand and navigate around environments.

Intelligent library navigation using location-aware systems: the Newman project

Finding resources in an indoor facility can be a difficult task, especially for patrons who are not familiar with what the facility has to offer. Current methods of indoor navigation involve the use of static maps, directions posted on walls and other traditional systems. However, as we see greater mobility of always-connected computing devices, we believe a better solution can be developed. As campuses and facilities begin to be covered with wireless internet access, we can access the web seamlessly from any location. In this paper, we explore the possibility of using a handheld device that can leverage that technology to search for and locate services and resources within a library. By displaying maps with directions and introducing several other features to aid library exploration, we believe we can reduce search and retrieval times as well as enrich the user experience.

Image is everything: advancing HCI knowledge and interface design using the system image

As the field of human-computer interaction matures, the need for proven, dependable engineering processes for interface development becomes apparent. Our continuing work in developing LINK-UP, an integrated design and reuse environment, suggests that a better understanding of the system image is key to the successful evaluation of design prototypes, and an aide in applying knowledge from the repository. This paper describes our ongoing work to enhance LINK-UP by developing and augmenting the system image to make it the central communication point between different stages of design and between different stakeholders. We report on a study of the new task flow that demonstrated the value of the system image within a broader design context. Overall, our findings indicate that the effective creation and use of knowledge repositories by novice HCI designers hinges on successful application of existing HCI design concepts within a practical integrated design environment.

Understanding usability: investigating an integrated design environment and management system

Purpose – Decades of innovation in designing usable (and unusable) interfaces have resulted in a plethora of guidelines, usability methods, and other design tools. The purpose of this research is to develop ways for novice developers to effectively leverage and contribute to the large and growing body of usability knowledge and methods.Design/methodology/approach – This work presents the first extensive usage evaluation of an integrated design environment and knowledge management system, LINK‐UP. Key to this effort is the central design record (CDR), a design representation meant to prevent breakdowns occurring between design and evaluation phases.Findings – The case study results show that a design knowledge IDE centered on the CDR can help novices make connections between requirements data, design representations and evaluation data and better understand how to leverage that information to improve designs.Research limitations/implications – Future efforts are focusing on exploring the utility of this ap...