Phases That Include User Input

Unlike the typical phases we have all seen in traditional development methodologies, a user-centered approach is based on receiving user feedback or input during each phase, prior to moving to the next phase. This can involve a variety of techniques, usability testing being only one of these.

Today, most major companies that develop technology-based products or systems have product lifecycles that include some type of usability engineering/human factors process. In that process, questions arise. These questions and some suggested methods for answering them appear in Figure 1-4.

Within each phase, there will be a variety of usability engineering activities Xote that, although this particular lifecycle is written from the viewpoint of the human factors specialist's activities, there are multiple places where collaboration is required among various team members. This leads to our next attribute of organizations practicing UCD.