May 7, 2012 @ 14:30, Room: 13A
Chair: Nigel Bevan,
Course 7: Assessing Usability Capability Using ISO Standards - Course
Contribution & Benefit: Learn how to assess usability maturity and identify areas where an organization needs to improve, either by using a workshop for process improvement, or a formal assessment of usability capability.
Abstract » The most commonly reported approach to usability process improvement is for an organization to start with usability testing as this has recognized value, even though the benefits are limited by the difficulty of making significant improvements late in the lifecycle. The perceived benefits of testing are then used to gradually justify activities earlier in the lifecycle.
The difficulty with this approach is that it usually only involves relatively junior management. When personnel change, or economies are being made in the organization the usability work can be vulnerable.
The course will suggest a more structured approach to usability process improvement, by auditing the extent to which the good practice embodied in ISO TR 18529 is implemented in typical projects, and identifying areas for organizational improvement.
The course recommends use of material from ISO standards not just because they are standards, but because they contain the most comprehensive and systematic information available, which represents the consensus of international experts in the field.
Each ISO 18529 activity can be assessed as not done, partially done, largely done or fully done, as part of systems development. This can be carried out relatively informally in a process improvement workshop, or as part of a more formal process assessment of usability maturity (analogous to the software process assessment that can be carried out using the SEI CMM - Capability Maturity Model).
This information enables an organization to decide how much improvement is desirable in particular areas, or on an activity-by-activity basis.
Case studies will be presented of assessments of different degrees of formality that have been carried out in three organizations.
The course is suitable for anyone interested in assessing usability maturity and improving usability capability. Basic familiarity with the area of user-centered design is assumed, but no prior knowledge of ISO standards is needed.
The difficulty with this approach is that it usually only involves relatively junior management. When personnel change, or economies are being made in the organization the usability work can be vulnerable.
The course will suggest a more structured approach to usability process improvement, by auditing the extent to which the good practice embodied in ISO TR 18529 is implemented in typical projects, and identifying areas for organizational improvement.
The course recommends use of material from ISO standards not just because they are standards, but because they contain the most comprehensive and systematic information available, which represents the consensus of international experts in the field.
Each ISO 18529 activity can be assessed as not done, partially done, largely done or fully done, as part of systems development. This can be carried out relatively informally in a process improvement workshop, or as part of a more formal process assessment of usability maturity (analogous to the software process assessment that can be carried out using the SEI CMM - Capability Maturity Model).
This information enables an organization to decide how much improvement is desirable in particular areas, or on an activity-by-activity basis.
Case studies will be presented of assessments of different degrees of formality that have been carried out in three organizations.
The course is suitable for anyone interested in assessing usability maturity and improving usability capability. Basic familiarity with the area of user-centered design is assumed, but no prior knowledge of ISO standards is needed.