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Sobiesiak, Rick; Jones, Robert J.; Lewis, Scott M.
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669121pmid: N/A
This case study describes the application of user-centered design (UCD) principles to the development of a complex middleware software product-IBM's DB2(r) Universal Database. Motivated by trade press reviews highlighting ease-of-use problems, a multisite development team utilized IBM UCD to transform ease of use into a featured product attribute. This case study describes the initial application of UCD to DB21 and the positive business results that followed: critical acclaim, increased marketshare and user satisfaction, and increased support and adoption of UCD across the IBM database product family. Although ease-of-use objectives, target markets, and human factors practitioners' roles have evolved over 6 years and multiple versions of the product, DB2 continues to achieve positive results with UCD. In addition to the flexibility of the UCD methodology, other factors that influenced DB2's success included management support, resource commitment, cross-site communication and collaboration, detailed product specifications, and a focus on supporting user tasks.
Sawin, David A.; Yamazaki, Kazuhiko; Kumaki, Atsushi
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669122pmid: N/A
This article describes the application of user-centered design (UCD) principles to an existing product line in a focused attempt to reshape customers' attitudes about individual product offerings as well as the product brand as a whole. Examples of user research, design development, and validation are given to demonstrate the challenges of applying participatory design principles, and the methods used by the ThinkPad(r) UCD team to overcome those challenges. Special attention was given in three areas. First, the organizational design, or macro-UCD aspect of a successful product design effort is analyzed. Second, a mobile computer frustrations research project is reviewed as the baseline for the ThinkPad UCD effort. To address the frustrations, 4 UCD initiatives were conceived as part of a product-line redesign: a product line simplification based on common building blocks, a common user interface and aesthetic design language, a battery and power management improvement, and an intelligent user assistance architecture. Results are discussed in terms of improved brand equity, customer satisfaction, marketshare, and product cost savings. Key learning is discussed in terms of the success of the product realized through UCD as well as specific user engineering approaches that proved successful when applied to a mature commercial electronics product line.
Healy, Vivian; Herder, Richard
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669123pmid: N/A
The info information retrieval system was designed and developed for the XXVII Olympic Summer Games held in Sydney, Australia in September 2000. info provided journalists and broadcasters with information for planning their days at the games and producing their coverage of Olympic events. The user-centered design (UCD) team from the IBM Storage Systems Group was invited to work with the info system for the 2000 games and was able to do extensive UCD work, including working with journalists, broadcasters, and sports researchers from North America, Europe, and Asia. Throughout the development cycle the UCD team worked closely with the info programming team located in Madrid, Spain and with other teams in Sydney, Australia. Later, the UCD team joined a large cast of volunteers and professionals in providing support for info at the Sydney games. This opportunity allowed the UCD team to make observations and collect data on the usability of the system, and these indicate that info was indeed easy to use and that customers were very satisfied with the system. info's success was due to an extensive multidisciplinary team that included visual designers, human factors and human-computer interaction specialists, user research specialists, developers, marketers, IBM executives, and an active customer sponsor. The project demonstrates that application of UCD methods can improve product usability even when challenged with extremely dispersed teams and immovable deadlines.
Ominsky, Mark; Stern, Kenneth R.; Rudd, James R.
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669124pmid: N/A
IBM's 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.
Karat, Clare-Marie; Karat, John; Vergo, John; Pinhanez, Claudio; Riecken, Doug; Cofino, Thomas
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669125pmid: N/A
This article investigates the use of streaming multimedia narratives in Web entertainment. Based on experience gained during the user-centered design of a Web site for art and culture, evidence is provided that users want and like "less clicking, more watching" Web experiences where the point of view of experts, artists, or celebrities is presented in a narrative form. A study was conducted where users evaluated 2 prototypes of cultural tours that stream continuously for several minutes unless the user chooses to exercise control over the flow or to explore hotlinks that lead to extra information. Those tours were positively evaluated as both entertaining and engaging. By analyzing mouse activity, it was determined that users who interacted more tended to report less entertainment and engagement. It was also found that such "watchable" experiences are not necessarily a solitary experience and can be enjoyed by groups of people. Finally, users see the Web experiences as a highly enriching and accessible way to augment the cultural experiences and performances they enjoy in brick-and-mortar cultural institutions around the world, rather than as a substitute for them.
Lai, Jennifer; Mitchell, Stella; Viveros, Marisa; Wood, David; Lee, Kwan Min
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669126pmid: N/A
The advent of mobile devices and the wireless Internet is having a profound impact on the way people communicate, as well as on the user interaction paradigms used to access information that was traditionally accessible only through visual interfaces. Applications for mobile devices entail the integration of various data sources optimized for delivery to limited hardware resources and intermittently connected devices through wireless networks. Although telephone interfaces arise as one of the most prominent pervasive applications, they present interaction challenges such as the augmentation of speech recognition through natural language (NL) understanding and high-quality text-to-speech conversion. This article presents an experience in building an automated assistant that is natural to use and could become an alternative to a human assistant. The Mobile Assistant (MA) can read e-mail messages, book appointments, take phone messages, and provide access to personal-organizer information. Key components are a conversational interface, enterprise integration, and notifications tailored to user preferences. The focus of the research has been on supporting the pressing communication needs of mobile workers and overcoming technological hurdles such as achieving high accuracy speech recognition in noisy environments, NL understanding, and optimal message presentation on a variety of devices and modalities. The article outlines findings from the 2 broad field trials and lessons learned regarding the support of mobile workers with pervasive computing devices and emerging technologies.
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669127pmid: N/A
This article provides evidence that diagrams in procedural instructions can help as well as hinder performance depending on how the diagrams are designed. Results suggest that diagrammatic instructions for performing one-time mechanical manipulation tasks that are designed according to specific rules are superior to equivalent instructions presented as a combination of text and diagrams. Tasks were completed quicker with fewer errors. One important factor is that these types of tasks do not require learning or memorization. The goal for the instruction designer is to create diagrammatic instructions in accordance with Carroll's (1990) minimalist principles as well as verifying that each step occurs in either an internal or external representation (Zhang, 1997). Contrary to what is presented in the literature, this series of experiments provides evidence that if the diagrams are well designed they can be perceived, understood, and performed quicker than the same information in a text and diagram format.
Polkosky, Melanie D.; Lewis, James R.
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669128pmid: N/A
Previous empirical research in subjective time estimation and applied work in auditory interface design imply that designers can use auditory stimuli during system processing to manipulate users' perception of its duration. Two experiments investigate the effect of system response time (SRT) duration and rate of change of an auditory waiting cue on participants' subjective time estimates and perceived affect. The results showed that perceived SRT duration and ratings of perceived anxiety, stress, and impatience increased as ticking rate increased. However, with a slow rate (2-sec ticking), participants underestimated the duration of SRT, but indicated a significant increase in negative affect as compared with silent conditions. These results suggest that interface designers may reduce the subjective duration and negative affective states of SRT through carefully chosen, slow tempo system processing tones. The results of this research also stress the importance of thoughtful, informed interface design that makes contact with the empirical literature of the cognitive sciences.
doi: 10.1080/10447318.2002.9669129pmid: N/A
User-centered design practitioners have often relied on discount usability engineering methods using heuristics. Top 10 lists of design and evaluation heuristics have proliferated during the 1990s, leading to a plethora of heterogeneous heuristic guidelines for a multitude of user interfaces. A simple, unified set of heuristics that might be applicable across different technologies, understood between disciplines, and equivalent to metrics used to measure ease of use can be beneficial. Lead, follow, and get out of the way (LF&G) theorizes that the optimal human-computer interaction (HCI) experience is analogous to a facilitative learning relation-Like a good teacher, mentor, or coach, the usable user interface leads the user to successful completion of tasks and goals; follows the user's progress and provides appropriate feedback and information when needed; and gets out of the way of the user to allow efficient and effective completion of tasks as the user attains mastery of the system, its concepts, and operations. A set of 18 heuristics grouped under the 3 general principles of the title are provided for use across the tasks of design guidance, development refinement, and end-user evaluation of computer systems. This article provides background into the development of LF&G, case studies on its use in real-world product design and development, and directions for further research needed to develop this approach into an empirically based method for defining, describing, designing, and predicting the ease of use of interactive human-computer systems.
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