User centred design (7.1)

Whole user experience

product or system must address the functional aspects and the emotional and psychological. It must address user, task, environment The user experience of a product or system depends on the designers understanding of user, task and environment.

Usability

the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object

Stage five of UCD- Launch

the launch is manages to ensure users experience a smooth transition from any legacy product. Once the prodyct is out, its important to gather feedback and metrics. This can inclyde further usability testing and ethnographic work with web analytics.

User studies

these focus on users, their activities and their social and cultural context. Often a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. detailed field research is important because it is a continual process which evolves with feedback from the user.

Usability experience

usefulness, like-ability, productivity, effectiveness.

Understanding the user, task and environment

"The user experience trinity" Designers need to understand the user, the task in relation to the product or system and the environment in which the product or system is used.

What is UCD

- Sometimes called "empathetic design" because of how designers pay close attention to potential users of a product. - Users are involved at all stages of the design process. Designers try to understand how users will interact/use the product. - Design team is put in direct contact with the users to better understand the users' thoughts, needs, values and beliefs.

Users must be involved throughout the entire design process and development.

- Users have to need to play an "active" part, they must be engaged in the design. This can be achieved through field studies, usability testing

7.1 Learning objectives

1. The designer needs to have a deep understanding of the user, task and environment 2. The process is iterative, led by the user and developed through user-centred evaluation. 3. The product must address the whole user experience. 4. UCD design teams are multidisciplinary 5. The five stages of UCD: research, concept, design, implementation, launch 6. Inclusive design

Fundamental principles of UCD

1. a design is based on explicit understanding of users, tasks and environment. 2. The users are involved throughout design and development 3. The design is driven and refined by user-centred evaluation 4. the process is iterative 5. the design addresses the whole user experience. 6. the design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives.

Inclusive design

Designers need to ensure that products are accessible to as many people as possible. They need to consider creating products that are suitable for users with disabilities for example.

multidisciplinary teams

Include anthropologists, ethnographers and psychologists. Anthropologists: An ethnographer: Psychologists:

Iterative process

Iterative process means that small improvements and adjustments are made throughout the course of the design process, therefore, users can be shown first, second, third prototypes and engage in discussions about user needs. When presenting sketches and ideas to users for their feedback, designers are asking them to imagine how the product will work and then provide feedback . Prototyping at every stage with an iterative process will result in more reliable user/client feedback.

User experiences

Person's perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service. Can change overtime due to changing circumstances

Usability testing

Should be carried out throughout the design process, used to test preliminary designs such as paper prototypes and electronic mock-ups

Multidisciplinary team

The design team often includes anthropologists, ethnographers and psychologists to advise the designers.

The five main stages of UCD

The five main stages of UCD ensure that the designer is focused on the user, the user's task and user environment. 1. Research learning 2. concept examining 3. Iterative design 4. Implementation 5. Launch

User studies: users, activities, social/cultural context

User: the client, user, target market. The focus of the UCD, study and interactions to ensure an inclusive design approach. Activities: user engages in activity, work, movement. The observations of this and the environment provides valuable data/information to the design team. Social and Cultural Context: User will connect with a demographic, which influences design thinking and decision making. The demographic may influence outcomes dependant on specific or special needs of the user and user group.

Stage three of UCD- iterative design

designing and usability testing mock-ups of your product through a series of repeated cycles. interaction design, information architecture, visual design and content is worked through in detail and the results feed back into the next design cycles ensuring the final user experience is simple and delightful.

Stage four of UCD- Implementation

development team often needs quick interaction solutions when they encounter unexpected technical constraints. There are accessibility check and testing to perform and final usability tests of the working product.

Stage two of UCD- concept examining

examining the needs of users and business, coming up with innovative solutions to address those needs. the visual design teams work on concepts for brand interpretation. Visual and interaction ideas come together for concept testing sessions with target users.

Stage one of UCD- research learning

learning about the people who will use the product, and the context in which they will use it. Ethnographic techniques (e.g. shadowing, diary studies, interviews, focus groups, benchmarking, usability testing)

Design teams

must come with different backgrounds and experiences to encourage a range of views and opinions. It must be multidisciplinary.