An overview of the user centered design process including the disciplines, methods used, and frequently asked questions.

1. An overview of
UCD
[User Centered Design]

2. i am aaron HURSMAN
i live in dallas, TEXAS
i do user EXPERIENCE
i work @RACETOWIN
i tweet @HURSMAN
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3. “ I can’t find anything on this site.
Why do I have to click so many times to do anything?
I hate this system, because it is impossible to use.
I like the old one better.
SOUND
This site so ugly, it hurts my eyes!
These fields should be filled in automatically.
This system is so clunky.
familiar? This is taking way longer than it should.
Why are all these fields required?
This isn’t what I thought would happen.
I must have clicked on the wrong thing
This system is missing a critical feature I need to do my job.
I’ll just have to find the data myself and dump it to a
spreadsheet.
Why are requirements taking so long to define?
When can I see what the system will look like?
This isn’t what I expected the screen to look like.
There aren’t enough details in this requirements specification.
The requirements specification is too detailed to consume.
Why isn’t anyone using the system?
Why aren’t we seeing the ROI we anticipated?
”
It was just user error.
That’s a training issue.
3

4. doing the same thing
over and over again and
expecting DIFFERENT
results?
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5. refresh
time to
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6. What IS
User centered design?
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7. What IS
User centered design?
User Centered Design (UCD) is an iterative
methodology that puts the user at the center of
all design decisions.
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8. What IS
User centeredisdesign?
UCD a DESIGN philosophy
User Centered Design (UCD) is an iterative
methodology that puts the user at the center of by a
and approach enabled
all design decisions. wealth of disciplines and
design methods.
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9. What IS THE
GOAL OF UCD?
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10. What IS THE
GOAL OF UCD?
The ultimate goal of UCD
is to optimize a user's
experience of a system,
product, or process.
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11. What IS THE
GOAL OF UCD?
UCD looks to realize
this goal by considering
the user perspective The ultimate goal of UCD
is to optimize a user's
during all phases of the experience of a system,
product, or process.
development lifecycle.
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12. What IS THE
USER PERSPECTIVE? 12
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13. USER perspective NO. 1:
NEEDS AND WANTS
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14. USER perspective NO. 2:
GOALS, MOTIVATION, AND TRIGGERS
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15. USER perspective NO. 3:
Obstacles AND Limitations
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16. USER perspective NO. 4:
Tasks, Activities, AND Behaviors
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17. USER perspective NO. 5:
Geography AND Language
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18. USER perspective NO. 6:
Environment AND Gear
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19. USER perspective NO. 7:
WORK LIFE AND EXPERIENCE
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20. Understanding the
perspective a user
brings to a system
enables us to design
that system to meet
their needs.
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21. What are the
UCD disciplines?
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22. What are the
UCD disciplines?
Visual
Design
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23. What are the
UCD disciplines?
Interaction
Design Visual
Design
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24. What are the
UCD disciplines?
Interaction
Research
Design Visual
Design
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25. What are the
UCD disciplines?
Information Interaction
Research
Architecture Design Visual
Design
25

26. What are the
UCD disciplines?
Information Interaction
Research
Architecture Design Visual Usability
Design
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27. What IS the
UCD PROCESS?
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28. What IS the
UCD PROCESS?
RESEARCH
EVALUATE
CONCEPT DESIGN
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29. What IS the
UCD PROCESS?
RESEARCH
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30. What IS the
UCD PROCESS?
ESEARCH
CONCEPT
30

31. What IS the
UCD PROCESS?
RCH
CONCEPT DESIGN
31

32. What IS the
UCD PROCESS?
EVALUATE
CONCEPT DESIGN
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33. How about an
example?
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34. Storyboard
Interviews Personas
Sketch
Hi-Fidelity Usability Paper
Prototype Testing Prototype
Usability Hi-Fidelity Usability
Testing Prototype Testing
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38. 38
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39. 39
http://bit.ly/dssJzn http://bit.ly/drlHoZ

40. 40
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41. 41
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42. What ARE the
BENEFITS OF UCD?
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43. What ARE the
BENEFITS OF UCD?
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44. What ARE the
BENEFITS OF UCD?
44

45. What ARE the
BENEFITS OF UCD?
45

46. What ARE the
BENEFITS OF UCD?
46

47. What ARE the
BENEFITS OF UCD?
47

48. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
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49. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does UCD take? Will it impact my project
timeline? Yes, but hopefully in a good way. UCD is an
alternative design approach that usually replaces
antiquated methods. That being said, UCD will be
tailored to your project, but it usually requires “front-
loading” additional effort early in the project. The
philosophy is to “fail fast” to uncover problem areas
earlier using UCD methods instead of discovering the
problems late in development stages of the project.
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50. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
It sounds complicated. Won’t I need a large team of
UCD experts? Not necessarily. The UCD process is
easy to teach and learn. A single UCD professional
can lead a team of resources including client team
members through the process. Although many of
the techniques have fancy names, the exercises are
not only easy to learn and execute, but they are
usually fun to perform as well.
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51. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
It sounds expensive. How much does it cost? One
of the benefits of the UCD approach is that total
development and maintenance costs are reduced. In
addition, an effective user experience promotes user
adoption and productivity. As a result, you are more
likely to realize your return on investment which may
include key performance metrics such as increased
company revenue.
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52. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to adopt the entire UCD process?
Absolutely not. Can it be customized? Absolutely!
Every project is unique and the UCD approach can be
tailored to the specific needs of the client, project,
team, and business objectives. UCD provides a
structured design framework but its flexibility allows
a project team to craft an approach that considers all
project factors.
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53. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it work with Waterfall and Agile project
methodologies? Yes, UCD is not dependant upon a
specific project management methodology. UCD
does lend itself better to agile methodologies,
because of similar philosophies of short iterations,
sprints, and speed to completion.
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54. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need all this? Isn’t all this just to make
stuff look pretty? UCD is comprised of a wealth of
disciplines. Visual and graphic design is a key
discipline, but an effective user experience is
dependant upon a well-round design that was a
aided by UCD. Of course, you can forego the User
Centered Design for more traditional design
approaches, but expectations should not be set any
higher than the results of past initiatives.
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55. FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Return on Investment (ROI) for UCD?
There is not return on investment for a design
methodology like UCD. The product, application,
system, or solution, on the other hand, should have
an ROI. UCD is an ROI enabler for a particular
initiative. Achieving certain user adoption levels is
normally a prerequisite to seeing any return on any
systemic investment. UCD is an ROI stimulant,
because its ultimate goal is user experience and user
adoption is the most significant benefit of UCD. 55

56. @hursman
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