User-Centered+Design+(UCD)

-Donald A. Norman
= = =User-Centered Design (UCD) and User-Environment Design (UED)=

When developing a product, many companies will focus largely on the desires, boundaries, and requirements of the user. It is a design philosophy called User-Centered Design (UCD). It puts the person, not product, at the center of the design process concentrating on multiple factors (including learning, perception, memory etc.) as they interact with the interface. This type of design attempts to create the most optimal user interface. UCD accommodates how users want, can, or need to work by not obligating the user to change his or her work habits in order to work with the interface. It is a problem solving multi-step process requiring designers to go out to the real world to test the final product with users. The beginning of the product cycle tends to start with this and user participation is critical. Despite the stages necessary to go through, the outcome for designers is fulfilling their goals of creating a product for their users. This is a type of good design not only benefits users (they have a user friendly product), but the companies/designers themselves since they will reap the monetary gains.

=UED Basics= UED uses a number of focus areas (areas within a system that support certain parts of the work being done) that work on collecting the basic functions of the program and supports that one overall area of the work.
 * based on the underlying structure and sequence of the work itself.
 * a shared resource for designers, developers and project managers.
 * constructed before user interface design takes place.
 * similar in some ways to a website navigation map.

=Key Terms= >
 * purpose statement: short and to-the-point statement in basic English that outlines the purpose of the focus areas.
 * functions: these are what enable the user to actually complete the work, and are set off either by the user or by the system itself. Functions are more often than not identified with a short, easy-to-recognize phrase.
 * objects: in this context, objects are 'things' that the user visually perceives and and has the ability to manipulate in the actual focus area.
 * links: just like the internet, these are key highlighters that relate to other important focus area directly related to the topic.

Despite, UCD being frequently viewed as more of a computer and paper interface design philosophy, it also grealy applies to other applications. There are tons of products that require user interaction such as the dash board of a car or even service processes. If it is applied to multiple users, this form of interaction is usually referred to as the "user experience". It questions users tasks and goals, concerning itself with usefulness and usability, in order to development the perfect design.

Some questions a designer involved with UCD may ask him or herself are:
 * Who are the users of this 'thing'?
 * What are the users’ tasks and goals?
 * What are the users’ experience levels with this thing, and things like it?
 * What functions do the users need from this thing?
 * What information might the users need, and in what form do they need it?
 * How do users think this 'thing' should work?
 * How can the design of this ‘thing’ facilitate users' cognitive processes?

There is also Cooperative Design, which is part of UCD in that it involves designers and users equally. It is part of a Scandinavian custom and was later adopted by North Americans. In North America, the form of Cooperative Design implemented is called Participatory Design, which also focuses on user participation.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-centered_design [|http://www.stcsig.org/usability/topics/articles/ucd _web_devel.html#what_is_UCD] Benyon, Davie and Phil Turner and Susan Turner. __Designing Interactive Systems.__ Essex: Addison-Wesley, 2005.