Designing for usability---key principles and what designers think

Collaborative Practice Research

“…The researchers observe and interpret the actions and beliefs of practitioners and the practitioners do not take active part in the research process. Most of the empirical literature on systems development is based on practice studies (e.g., Aaen et al 991;Bansler and B0dker 1993;Benbasat, Dexter, and Mantha 1980;Boehm and Papaccio 1988;Boland and Day 1982;Ciborra and Lanzara 1994;Curtis, Krasner, and Iscoe 1988;Elam et al 1987;Gould and Lewis 1985;Kozar 1993;Krasner, Curtis, and Iscoe 1987;Madabusyhi, Jones and Price 1993;Markus 1983;McKeen 1983;Necco, Gordon, and Tsai 1987;Stolterman 1992;Tan 1994;Waltz, Elam, and Curtis 1993;White 1984;White and Leifer 1986).…”

Active and passive physicality: making the most of low fidelity physical interactive prototypes

“…Interaction was based on the Wizard of Oz technique (Maudsley, Greenberg, & Mander, 1993), the interface was operated remotely by the facilitator, the participant was asked to follow the 'think out loud' protocol (Gould & Lewis, 1983), the facilitator could react to what the participant was saying and interacting with on the foam prototype. Construction time: 6 days 2 hours.…”

The influence of socio-cultural background and product value in usability testing

“…1.2 Consumer ergonomics and usability testing Usability tests represent an important and widely used tool in product development (Jordan, 1998). Their aim is to identify design shortcomings throughout the product development process by evaluating the product or a prototype of it with prospective or real users and realistic tasks (Gould & Lewis, 1985). Typical measures collected in usability tests are effectiveness (extent to which typical user tasks are successfully completed) and efficiency of task completion (amount of resources that have to be spent to reach a task goal) as well as the satisfaction a user experiences by using the product.…”