Institutionalization of Usability : A Step-by-Step Guide

Rating:
Summary: More integrated usability design
Review: A nice management level explanation of the importance of usability design and how to incorporate it organically into the entire iterative design process. Schaffer emphasises finding the right people, starting at senior management, as much as the tasks that the people then do. The 'institutionalisation' in the title refers to this emphasis. He contrasts this with standard usability texts that focus on the methodology instead of the people who have to perform it.

Speaking of methodology, he devotes an entire chapter to it. He shows a figure of the old way, where the design of a technical solution was done first, followed by a design of the interface that would overlay it. He suggests reversing this order. Not bad, and probably valid in most cases. But there is one important case where the old way is still viable. Research. Where it is not certain that a solution exists. By necessity, investigation and implementation of a solution should come first. Because if it cannot be done, interface design is moot. Granted, most of his book refers to a commercial product, so the rejoinder could be that a research situation is outside the book's scope. But just keep this in mind when reading it.

He also includes a very topical section on the challenges of offshore staffings. (Indians, anyone?) It is certainly possible, though not trivial, to integrate such staff into the entire design cycle, in his experience. Of course, some American readers will find this unsettling. But it should not be a surprise. As offshore staff gain in experience, inevitably they will be able to do this.

Rating:
Summary: Good book if you need to educate your company
Review: I read and highlighted this book with the promise of my manager to read it after me (or at least the highlighting!). I am hoping the book will move up the management structure and make a difference. I believe the book is somewhat remedial if you have been in the usability world for very long, but if you are trying to influence an organization and educate them as to the value, methodology and how-to of usability, this book will help.

Rating:
Summary: How to make doing usability right an institutional feature
Review: The usability of computer interfaces is like art, essential, but difficult to quantify. However, with the proper approach, both can be taught and the best principles of usability can be formalized into a process. Creating such a process is not easy, requiring an ongoing commitment. Schaffer identifies four phases in the process of making usability issues a fundamental component of software design. They are the startup, setup, organization and long-term operations phases.
Like all startup phases when creating a process, institutionalizing usability begins with a change in mindset. This is often a response to a disaster, but the best people are proactive and realize that good usability is good business. As is the case in nearly all areas of software development, implementation of a process requires an executive champion, someone who understands the value and continues to insist that the proper quality be maintained. There is no question that this is the most important precondition to making usability an institutional requirement.
Schaffer steps through each of the phases, breaking them down into specific components. Issues such as standards, staffing, staff training, implementation strategies, planning and tools used in testing are covered in detail. In all cases, he gives detailed explanations of what to do and repeatedly emphasizes that a proactive strategy is generally the best one. I found his charts of boring to cool versus confusing to usable to be amusing and quite accurate.
As the population using computers has shifted from those with a great deal of computer expertise to the population in general, the height of the usability bar has been dramatically raised. Even computer experts are growing more impatient when using computers, expecting things to work quickly, accurately and be visually obvious. Therefore, making things easy to use is now as much a business necessity as the underlying function of the software. This book will teach you the ways to do it right once as well as how to formalize the process so that you do it right every time.