Jun
17
Time to make usability a first-class citizen in the software development process.
A year or so ago, I met with a then-potential client, who we pitched our software development process to. I went through our usual routine of explaining the various techniques and methods involved, when the client stopped me on 1 specific slide.
"Requirements workshops? Prototype? User Experience?", he said. "Frankly, I am not sure we can justify the spend on that. We are fairly confident of what we need!" With that, he pushed a well-bound booklet called "System Requirements Specification", which some poor analyst had spent months preparing in an isolated cubicle.
Usability or User Experience (or whatever else you choose to call it), is a fledgling concept (in the larger field of Human Computer Interaction), that is all too often considered a "cost" on software projects. Things are certainly changing, with trend-setters like Google and Apple championing both the practical and aesthetic aspects of usability. However, there is still a distinct problem in how organisations (especially in the software industry) deal with usability.
Organisations that have a high focus on usability separate this function away from the core development team, usually employing people in specialist usability roles or worse, an isolated department. There are, of course, great advantages to having specialists in usability and user experience (as with any other discipline), but the problem lies in most developers taking the "not our problem" stance.
Although advanced usability skills require specialist learning and experience, there is no excuse for developers to not be familiar with basic usability concepts and apply them in their every-day role. The expansive literature that is available on usability makes it a breeze even for a novice to learn the basics.
At hedgehog lab, we expect every developer to be involved in the usability process, both at a design and implementation stage. We have no secret-sauce for training them. Just an open-mind, a constant thirst to learn, and some great usability books like the following,
- Don't make me think
- Elements of User Experience
- About Face
- Designing the obvious
- Information Dashboard Design
It is high-time that software developers listed usability and user experience design as a key-skill in their arsenal. Let's face it; very soon "usable" will cease to be a benefit or a USP and become the norm, and those software developers who do not embrace this concept will be left behind.
posted by Sarat Pediredla on June 17, 2008 at 8:02 p.m.
Interesting you consider usability fledgling in software development. Our consultancy (www.foviance.com) has been in business nearly 8 years and educating clients has been a fundamental component of our strategy. However I attended an event run by eConsultancy (a UK internet analyst http://www.e-consultancy.com/) yesterday called "The Future of Digital" and in each and every talk, usability and customer experience were talked about as being fundamental and critical to success.
Then in the session before last one of the invited panelists, whose identity I will not reveal to protect him from being considered a total fool, said something along the lines of: "yea, companies pay agencies big money to do usability testing in labs and you can achieve the same or more doing it yourself watching ten people for a couple of days."
These morons are the self same people who complain that they have low conversion, low loyalty (add your own measure of failure here) and consider developing inherently intuitive interfaces and systems as a cost the business simply doesn't need to pay.
I am convinced we will be involved in the same debate in another ten years and software and web properties will continue to fail. how many examples of great user experience equalling great shareholder value do we need?
Paul BlundenPaul (http://paul-blunden.com)