User involvement in the design process: why, when & how?

Authors:
C. Dennis Allen;Don Ballman;Vivienne Begg;Harold H. Miller-Jacobs;Michael Muller;Jakob Nielsen;Jared Spool
Affiliations:
Word Perfect Corporation, 1555 North Technology Way, Orem, UT;Mead Data Central, P.O. Box 933, Dayton, OH;SunSoft, Inc., Boston Devel, Center, 2 Elizabeth Dr., Chelmsford, MA;TASC, 55 Walkers Brook Dr., Reading, MA;US West Advanced Technologies, 4001 Discovery Dr., Suite 280, Boulder, CO;Bellcore, MRE-2P370, 445 South St., Morristown, NJ;User Interface Engineering, 40 Dascomb Rd., Andover, MA
Venue:
CHI '93 Proceedings of the INTERACT '93 and CHI '93 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
1993

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Abstract

For years the CHI community has championed the importance of the user in system development. As many of us develop systems, we find that the concept of user involvement is not so easy to implement. Does one always strive to involve the user in the design process? Are there situations when the users should not be involved? What if the user is reluctant to change? How is user involvement handled when the user claims to know all the answers and wants to design the entire interface his or her way? What if the users, or even potential users are not available? How can user involvement be accomplished under these developmental restrictions?User Involvement, therefore, may be a goal - not a given, and how to effect user involvement is not as straight forward as the text books convey!To assist the process of user interface development, many techniques have been developed such as Heuristic Evaluation, Participatory Design, Cognitive Walk Throughs, Task Analysis and Rapid Prototyping. These techniques vary considerably in the extent of user involvement that they require. This panel will attempt to match the technique with the degree of user involvement that the developer is faced with or can achieve.The issues discussed in this session are important to the entire user interface community. Developers will be happy to hear that they are not alone; others have similar problems with users. They will learn which of the techniques are best suited for each development situation. Methodologists will gain greater insight into the breadth and depth of working with, and attempting to satisfy various types of users. They may be able to better refine the technologies we now have available to meet the needs of user interface developers.Members of the audience will be invited to participate as developers and methodologists.