Abstract
In this chapter we provide an overview of the activities and artefacts of the user-centered design (UCD) methodology – a successful and practical approach to the design of software user interfaces. After tracing its foundational principles (early focus on users, empirical measurement using prototypes and iterative design) back to 1985s seminal paper by Gould and Lewis, we will highlight each of five central categories of design activities (Scope, Analyse, Design, Validate and Deliver) performed in UCD. Potential integration of UCD into two popular categorizations of software development (User Interface First vs. User Interface Later) will be explored and then demonstrated in a real life case study from the field of electronic engineering along with a practical takeaway regarding the relationship of UCD and eLearning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bernsen, N.O., & Dybkjær, H. & Dybkjær, L. (1998). Designing Interactive Speech Systems. From First Ideas to User Testing. London: Springer Verlag.
Biddle, R., Ferreira, J., & Noble, J. (2007). Agile development iterations and UI design. Proceedings of the agile, Washington, DC.
Brooke, J. (1986). SUS: A quick and dirty usability scale. In P. W. Jordan, B. Thomas, B. A. Weerd-meester, & A. L. McClelland (Eds.), Usability evaluation in industry (pp. 189–194). London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
Card, S., Moran, T., & Newell, A. (1983). The psychology of human-computer interaction. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Clark, H. H., & Brennan, S. E. (1991). Grounding in communication. In L. B. Resnick, J. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (Eds.), Perspectives on socially shared cognition (pp. 127–149). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Cooper, A. (1999). The inmates are running the asylum; Why high-tech products drive us crazy. Indianapolis: Macmillan.
Cooper, A., Cronin, D., & Reimann, R. (2007). About face 3: The essentials of interaction design. Indianapolis: Wiley.
Diefenbach, S., & Hassenzahl, M. (2011). The dilemma of the hedonic – Appreciated, but hard to justify. Interacting with Computers, 23(5), 461–472.
Dion, K., Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24(3), 285–290.
Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1980). Verbal reports as data. Psychological Review, 87, 215–251.
Gould, J. D., & Lewis, C. (1985). Designing for usability: Key principles and what designers think. Communications of the ACM, 28(3), 300–311.
Greenberg, S., Carpendale, S., Marquardt, N., & Buxton, B. (2012). Sketching user experiences: The workbook. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Holtzblatt, K., Wendell, J. B., & Wood, S. (2005). Rapid contextual design: A how-to guide to key techniques for user-centered design. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Jobs, S. (2007). http://www.european-rhetoric.com/analyses/ikeynote-analysis-iphone/transcript-2007/. Accessed 29 April 2012.
John, B. E. (2010). Reducing the variability between novice modelers: Results of a tool for human performance modeling produced through human-centered design. Proceedings of the 19th annual conference on behavior representation in modeling and simulation, Charleston.
Johnson, J. (2007). GUI bloopers 2.0: Common user interface design don’ts. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Johnson, J. (2010). Designing with the mind in mind: Simple guide to understanding user interface design rules. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann.
Kolko, J., et al. (2011). Exploring the magic of design: A practitioner’s guide to the methods and theory of synthesis (pp. 59–61). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Kuniavsky, M. (2003). Observing the user experience: A practitioner’s guide to user research. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Kurosu, M., & Kashimura, K. (1995). Apparent usability vs. inherent usability: Experimental analysis on the determinants of the apparent usability. Conference companion on human factors in computing systems (pp. 292–293). New York: ACM Press.
Laseau, P. (1980). Graphical thinking for architects and designers. Indiana: Wiley.
Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2010). Universal principles of design, revised and updated: 125 ways to enhance usability, influence perception, increase appeal, make better design decisions and teach through design (2nd ed.). Beverly: Rockport.
Mayhew, D. (1999). The Usability Engineering Lifecycle. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Meth, H. (2012). Reminer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavu6wX2bJc. Accessed 29 April 2012.
Nielsen, J. (1994). Heuristic evaluation. In J. Nielsen & R. L. Mack (Eds.), Usability inspection methods. New York: Wiley.
Nielsen, J. (2001). First rule of usability? Don’t listen to users. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010805.html. Accessed 29 April 2012.
Nielsen, J., & Molich, R. (1990). Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems: Empowering people, Seattle (pp. 249–256).
Norman, D. A. (1983). Some observations on Mental Models. In D. Gentner & A. L. Stevens (Eds.), Mental Models. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Pugh, S. (1990). Total design: Integrated methods for successful products engineering. Essex: Pearson.
Raskin, J. (2000). The humane interface: New directions for designing interactive systems. Amsterdam: Addison Wesley.
Saffer, D. (2007). Designing for interaction: Creating innovative applications and devices. Berkley: New Riders.
Sauro, J. (2011). A practical guide to the system usability scale. Denver: CreateSpace.
Shneiderman, B., & Plaisant, C. (2009). Designing the user interface: Strategies for effective human–computer interaction. Boston: Addison Wesley.
Simon, H.A. (1969). The Sciences of the Artifical. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Tullis, T., & Albert, B. (2008). Measuring the user experience. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wallach, D., Scholz, S.C. (2012). User-Centered Design: Why and How to Put Users First in Software Development. In: Maedche, A., Botzenhardt, A., Neer, L. (eds) Software for People. Management for Professionals. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31371-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31371-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-31370-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-31371-4
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)