Is Usability Relevant?
07/05/2008 in Usability, User Experience
I saw this on Boxes and Arrows
“- Journey to the Center of Design – Jared Spool
There’s a growing sentiment that spending limited resources on user research takes away from essential design activities. Is it time for user- centered design to evolve into something else? Or is there something else happening in our world of experience design that makes UCD obsolete? Jared Spool gives and entertaining and enlightening key note address at the 2008 IA Summit.(published 05/01/08)(published 04/25/08)”
I think it raises an interesting discussion point, on the business value of User Centred Design.
For a starter, I’ve sold UCD as a way to reduce time-to-market. The theory being – ask the user what they want, then do it, then test it again. The business don’t have to decide “what they think” the user wants, which is when I found a lot of time wasted.
How do other people approach this?
This is the link: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/ia-summit-2008-day-1
Rachel said on 15/05/2008
Maybe it depends on the maturity of the organisation, and their previous investment in usability? I can see how Apple (for example) may feel they’ve got the whole usability thing nailed – they’ve done a lot of research in the past, have well-trained, motivated and talented developers, who are designing products for their own demographic. They may well feel there’s no further ROI to be had.
But Apple are at one end of the spectrum and there are plenty of organisations at the opposite end.