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Realising UCD

Realising UCD. It was there all the time!. Background 1 - DSTO. Design of a range of equipment for defence force use. In order to understand the environment that the equipment was used in, staff undertook jungle training course.

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Realising UCD

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  1. Realising UCD It was there all the time!

  2. Background 1 - DSTO • Design of a range of equipment for defence force use. • In order to understand the environment that the equipment was used in, staff undertook jungle training course. • Installation of systems and training in Vietnam provided major insight into human factors issues.

  3. Background 2 - AMC • Federal & state government funded centre designed to introduce microelectronics technology to SA industry. • Wrong – SME’s couldn’t justify cost, big defence corporates were doing it anyway. • Established an incubation facility with room for 6 start-ups and design/prototype facility. • Provided a service for clients who had ideas for products but not the design capability • Criteria for estimating potential. • Outsourced work to a number of external consultants.

  4. Developing a Methodology • Needed to develop a methodology to tie the project team together. • Design Continuum – Gianfranco Zacci. • Integrated design team methodology. • In pre-design stage spoke to stakeholders, marketing people and then eventually users! • Tested prototypes (usually foam models) with some users/stakeholders and used simulators to test functionality. • Projects ranged from electronic products such as irrigation controllers, metal detectors, POS terminals and tennis line calling systems to multimedia training CDROMs.

  5. Some Examples

  6. Design Team • Multi-disciplinary design teams. • Hardware product • Electronics engineer • PCB designer • Industrial designer • Programmer • Manufacturer representative • Multimedia training product • Content expert • Instructional designer • Graphic designer • Programmer • Video/audio production

  7. More Recent Times • Started a testing group for the Sydney CMC. • Software testing - CDROMs initially and then mostly web applications. • Usability testing. • Subsidy for SMEs from NSW government. • Usually no defined methodology used & developer/programmer thought it was a good idea so built it – usually not very well. • Testing was usually a last resort/afterthought. • Users?

  8. Development Lifecycle 1 • Clients would come to do testing just before going live with the product, find errors but it was too late or too expensive to fix. • This would include software and usability issues where marketing pressures would demand release by a certain date. • Having done this once or even twice clients begin to realise the importance of doing things early in the development lifecycle.

  9. Development Lifecycle 2

  10. Requirements • It has been reported that 50-65% of issues (error. Bugs etc) are due to the requirements generation stage for mistaken requirements, errors in requirements or incorrect implementation of requirements. • GIGO.

  11. UCD in Practice • Overall iterative approach • Requirement gathering • User/stakeholder focus groups • Ethnographic surveys • Alignment with business and technology requirements • Development • Expert reviews and user based evaluations • Wire frame prototypes • Short sharp evaluations during the lifecycle for quick cheap iterative fixes • UAT • Final test with users • Functionality, compatibility and performance testing

  12. The UCD Process Courtesy of Symplicit Pty Ltd

  13. Multidisciplinary Design Team With the greater emphasis on the human factor the typical design team consists of: • Project manager • Psychologist • Information architect • Graphic designer • Programmer • Software testers • Other experts such as instructional designer etc

  14. Other Aspects of UCD • Cultural • Gender • Internationalisation • Localisation

  15. Market Areas • Websites (Buy.com, Insurance) • Software applications • CDROMs • Emerging Technologies • Mobile devices • iTV • IVR (Suncorp) • In car systems • Speech systems

  16. Accessibility & UCD • When considering the needs of users should consider all users including those disadvantaged in some way. • By considering the needs of the disadvantaged user up front, the cost of implementation is only marginally more and often the product is better for those who are not disadvantaged. Wheel chair ramps into building are expensive (and often aesthetically bad) if added after the building is complete

  17. Examples

  18. Benefits to Others • Curb cuts not only help people in wheel chairs but people with pushers, skateboard riders, shopping trolleys etc • TV captions for people with hearing difficulties can also be used by people in gyms, learning another language, insomniacs. • Not just for people with disabilities eg people working in noisy environments, rural users etc

  19. Legislation • Many countries are introducing legislation that defines guidelines for the procurement, development and usage of information technology. • The US federal government has issued section 508 standards detailing requirements to ensure disabled employees and users of federal government services have comparative access to non disabled employees and users. • The standards cover: websites, software & operating systems, video &multimedia, self contained & closed products as well as desktop and portable computers.

  20. IT-Test Consortium • IT-Test is a consortium of RMIT, Vision Australia and a commercial company. • Funding from DoCITA to establish a test and consulting resource for Australian industry. • Provides consulting services during UCD/UD to ensure that products will meet the required requirements • Compliance testing of existing products to ensure they meet standards, particularly overseas standards eg Section 508 • Actively looking for work from overseas

  21. UCD and Universal Design (UD) 1 • Over the past few years there have been many discussions about the relationship between usability and accessibility. • More recently the debate has swung towards the differences (and similarities) between UCD and UD. • In UCD users are central to the process and are involved throughout the development lifecycle. The user group may be quite specific eg designing an interface for a military system or more general such as an interface for an eCommerce website.

  22. UCD and Universal Design (UD) 2 • UD is concerned with the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. • Is this really only UCD with a broader user base?

  23. Areas of Interest • Emerging Technology usage • Technology and the elderly • Multimodal interfaces, URC • Technology for people with learning difficulties • Passport system, Keyring • Technology and crisis in the medical system • Mobile devices, low cost, low resolution sensors • Universal design for Learning • eLearning QA Based on criteria covering Technical, Usability, Accessibility and Learning Effectiveness.

  24. Contact Details • Malcolm Raymond • Business Manager • RMIT IT Test Lab • 9925 8107 • 0418 418 982 • malcolm.raymond@rmit.edu.au

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