Introduction

Unless an interface meets the needs of the intended users it will not meet the needs of the organization providing it. Web site development and application design should be user-centered. Chroma Design follows an user-centered design process as detailed here.

The first step in the process is Familiarization. This is followed by a User Trial and Prototype.

• We continue to move on the graph left-to-right and top-to-bottom.

Functions and Tasks

Part of the requirements definition includes identifying the functions that the project addresses and the tasks that the users must conduct in order to complete the functions. Chroma Design works with the stakeholders to identify critical tasks and frequently conducted tasks. The capture and prioritizing of the functions and tasks provide a framework for both the navigation and layout of the design. The functions and tasks can be captured on paper or in prototype form.

Guided Review

It is often best to begin with a guided review of the existing software or any designs, concepts, or models that may exist. Member(s) of the client's team who are familiar with the current state of the development conduct us through a guided walkthrough of the materials. This review gives Chroma Design insight into the current design, intent, proposed content changes, and scope of the design issues.

Evaluation

During the familiarization process Chroma Design's team concurrently begins to evaluate the design in terms of its usability. Recommendations based on this preliminary professional heuristic and usability evaluation are recorded in an Usability Matrix report for the purposes of effective tracking and incorporation into the new designs.

Familiarization

New design projects require an in-depth understanding of the project requirements and specifications. Accordingly, an initial visit with the project stakeholders is one of the first steps in each of Chroma Design's projects.

There are five key elements in the familiarization process:

• Functions and Tasks
• Guided Review
• Evaluation
• Identify Users
• Requirements

Identify Users

Define Users

To maximize the effectiveness of the product, the target audience and the intent of the project need to be explicitly defined. The characteristics of the end-users dictate many design elements. These range from minute design details to the general look and feel of the finished project.

Participants in User Trials

Identified users are the core element of the User Trials. Participants in user tests should be actual end-users, rather than their representatives or other facsimiles, if at all possible. It is important to determine the demographics of the intended users and to include participants from each user-domain or group. If users represent several different population groups, a sample from each group should be included. The preferred participants are people who have not been involved in the concept development or actual development process of the software.

Requirements

High-level Requirements

Facilities

The test environment for the project is optimized if the tests are conducted in the users’ own environment. In most cases that means that the user trials and discovery groups can be conducted in the user's own office. The minimum requirement is access to the software to be tested (preferably on the same type of equipment that will be used for the product) and a conference room for meeting. Special rooms and recording equipment are usually not needed, although recording may be considered for demonstration purposes.

User Trials

User-centered design requires a series of user trials to evaluate and validate the design concepts. Chroma Design custom-tailors the trials to optimize the benefit for our clients and their customers. The trials address an increasingly detailed understanding of the emerging design. Our trials are designed to get the best return for the expenditure.

There are a variety of elements that should be considered in the design of the trials. We have shown them as associated with particular trials for ease of visualization; however, they are involved in each of the trials. These include the following:

• Facilities
• Participants
• Trial Method
  • Facilitator role
  • Testing method

Prototypes

Prototypes are a cost-effective way to validate design concepts and decisions. Chroma Design's proven process includes the development of prototypes of increasing fidelity. The level of fidelity depends entirely on the client's requirements. In early development stages, or with a novel design issue, paper prototypes are the most effective; in other instances nearly beta-level prototypes are appropriate. Chroma Design works with the stakeholders and recommends the most effective and cost-efficient approach.

A typical process is presented here and includes three levels of user trials and resulting prototypes. Within Chroma Design's process, the prototype is taken to the stakeholders for validation, changes are made as necessary, and the resulting new prototype is subjected to a user trial.

Prototypes tend to fall into three categories and roughly represent the stages of development within our process:

• Conceptual
• Low Fidelity
• High Fidelity

Conceptual

In a conceptual prototype Chroma Design develops a prototype that captures the design intent of the product. The initial prototype generally addresses the frequent and critical user tasks, a concept-level version of the navigation, and may also include concepts that address the branding of the product. The conceptual prototype is of very low fidelity compared to the finished product. Conceptual prototypes are intended to be sufficient to test the concepts without incurring excessive development costs and are often presented on paper.

Presentation

User Trial Results

After each user trial, Chroma Design makes a presentation at an in-person meeting with our client. This meeting ensures that the stakeholders are fully engaged in the development process. By ensuring that all stakeholders are privy to design decisions and directions the focus is sharpened and development costs are reduced. The presentation includes the results and highlights of the usability and design work to date.

Discussion and Direction

Issues and recommendations for future development are presented. This is an open-table meeting, and suggestions are gathered from all the stakeholders for incorporation into future designs and tests.

Participants

Identified user participants are the core element of the user trials. Participants in user trials should be actual end-users; rather than their representatives or other facsimiles, if at all possible. It is important to determine the demographics of the intended users and to include participants from each user-domain or group. If users represent several different population groups a sample from each core group is included. The preferred participants are people who have not been involved in the concept development or actual development process of the software.

Low Fidelity

The low fidelity prototypes are more refined than conceptual prototypes and may include realization on the target platform, such as a Web browser for a Web-based application. The underlying coding, however, is minimal so as to facilitate changes and reduce development costs.

Reports

After each user trial a formal report is written for delivery to our clients during the presentation. Chroma Design's reports include an executive summary, a focus on key issues, and also an exhaustive list of the detailed recommendations. The reports are designed to be informative for management and easy for the development team to use.

Trial Method

User trials are the heart of user-centered design. They allow focused tests of current or redesigned software with the goal of completing user-oriented scenarios. These scenarios, designed in cooperation with the project's stakeholders, include the frequent and critical tasks that reflect the goals of the software's users. Chroma Design advocates user-centered, scenario-based testing and has developed and refined a process that is proven to be effective in identifying both the successes of the software and those areas that need improvement.

Facilitator Role

It is important that the facilitator be experienced in conducting this type of work. The role of the facilitator is to work with the participants but not to directly interfere or even to subtlety guide the users. Chroma Design's facilitator directs the trials, devises the trigger questions, and supervises the data gathering during the user trials.

Testing Method

Chroma Design custom-tailors the user trials for our clients. The core set of elements includes a combination of interviews, scenario-based user trials, discovery groups, and questionnaires. By judiciously selecting and tailoring our user trial tools we are able to provide our clients with scaled objective data as well as design recommendations and solutions.

High Fidelity

Once the design has been refined sufficiently to warrant a high-fidelity prototype Chroma Design develops a fully interactive prototype. The high fidelity prototype mimics the performance of an implemented system. This final prototype is taken to the stakeholders for validation, changes are made as necessary, and the result is subjected to an user trial. Final changes are then made to the prototype. At this stage the prototype is ready to be handed off to the development team for final implementation.

Final Presentation

Chroma Design has found that it is very effective to conduct a final presentation to all interested parties, at the invitation of our client.

In this briefing the final designs are reviewed and a “Way Ahead” for the production team is discussed. This face-to-face meeting permits our clients and all of the stakeholders to receive a first-hand description of the prioritized elements of their new design. It also permits the stakeholders and development team to discuss any issues that they may have.

On-going Support

Many of our clients are working with a developing product. Over time, corporate and user requirements change. We are available on an on-going basis to provide support to the design and development teams regarding any usability or design issues.

Delivery

The final product varies according to the needs of our clients. Chroma Design's typical deliverables include the following:

• Final Report
• Usability Matrix
• High-Fidelity Designs
• Information Architecture Documents
• Coded Prototypes