If you have picked up this book and are browsing the Preface, you may well be asking yourself"What makes this book different from the large number I can find on amazon. com?". Well, the answer is a blend of the academic and the practical, and views of the subject you won't get from anybody else: how psychology and linguistics influence the field of requirements engineering (RE). The title might seem to be a bit of a conundrum; after all, surely requirements come from people so all requirements should be user-centred. Sadly, that is not always so; many system disasters have been caused simply because requirements engineering was not user-centred or, worse still, was not practised at all. So this book is about putting the people back into com puting, although not simply from the HCI (human-computer interaction) sense; instead, the focus is on how to understand what people want and then build appropriate computer systems.

Looks at the application design process, describing how to create user-friendly applications.

Developing today's complex systems requires more than just good software engineering solutions. Many are faced with complex systems projects, incomplete or inaccurate requirements, canceled projects, or cost overruns, and have their systems' users in revolt and demanding more. Others want to build user-centric systems, but fear managing the process. This book describes an approach that brings the engineering process together with human performance engineering and business process reengineering. The result is a manageable user-centered process for gathering, analyzing, and evaluating requirements that can vastly improve the success rate in the development of medium-to-large size systems and applications. Unlike some texts that are primarily conceptual, this volume provides guidelines, "how-to" information, and examples, enabling the reader to quickly apply the process and techniques to accomplish the following goals: * define high quality requirements, * enhance productive client involvement, * help clients maintain competitiveness, * ensure client buy-in and support throughout the process, * reduce missing functionality and corrections, and * improve user satisfaction with systems. This volume clearly details the role of user-centered requirements and knowledge acquisition within Scenario-Based Engineering Process (SEP) and identifies SEP products and artifacts. It assists project personnel in planning and managing effective requirements activities, including managing risks, avoiding common problems with requirements elicitation, organizing project participants and tools, and managing the logistics. Guidelines are provided for the following: selecting the right individual and group techniques to elicit scenarios and requirements from users; subject matter experts, or other shareholders; and ensuring engineers or analysts have the necessary skills.

Here is the first of a four-volume set that constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2007, held in Beijing, China, jointly with eight other thematically similar conferences. It covers interaction design: theoretical issues, methods, techniques and practice; usability and evaluation methods and tools; understanding users and contexts of use; and models and patterns in HCI.

Today many companies are employing a user-centered design (UCD) process, but for most companies, usability begins and ends with the usability test. Although usability testing is a critical part of an effective user-centered life cycle, it is only one component of the UCD process. This book is focused on the requirements gathering stage, which often receives less attention than usability testing, but is equally as important. Understanding user requirements is critical to the development of a successful product. Understanding Your Users is an easy to read, easy to implement, how-to guide on usability in the real world. It focuses on the "user requirements gathering" stage of product development and it provides a variety of techniques, many of which may be new to usability professionals. For each technique, readers will learn how to prepare for and conduct the activity, as well as analyze and present the data —all in a practical and hands-on way. In addition, each method presented provides different information about the user and their requirements (e.g., functional requirements, information architecture, task flows). The techniques can be used together to form a complete picture of the users' requirements or they can be used separately to address specific product questions. These techniques have helped product teams understand the value of user requirements gathering by providing insight into how users work and what they need to be successful at their tasks. Case studies from industry-leading companies demonstrate each method in action. In addition, readers are provided with the foundation to conduct any usability activity (e.g., getting buy-in from management, legal and ethical considerations, setting up your facilities, recruiting, moderating activities) and to ensure the incorporation of the results into their products.·Covers all of the significant requirements gathering methods in a readable, practical way·Presents the foundation readers need to prepare for any requirements gathering activity and ensure that the results are incorporated into their products ·Includes invaluable worksheet and template appendices·Includes a case study for each method from industry leaders·Written by experienced authors who teach conference courses on this subject to usability professionals and new product designers alike

This comprehensive volume is the product of an intensive collaborative effort among researchers across the United States, Europe and Japan. The result -- a change in the way we think of humans and computers.

* Improve your websites, software, hardware, and consumer products to make them more useful to more people in more situations. * Develop effective accessibility solutions efficiently. Learn: * The basics of including accessibility in design projects: - Shortcuts for involving people with disabilities in your project. - Tips for comfortable interaction with people with disabilities. * Details on accessibility in each phase of the user-centered design process (UCD): - Examples of including accessibility in user group profiles, personas, and scenarios. - Guidance on evaluating for accessibility through heuristic evaluation, design walkthroughs, and screening techniques. - Thorough coverage of planning, preparing for, conducting, analyzing, and reporting effective usability tests with participants with disabilities. - Questions to include in your recruiting screener. - Checklist for usability testing with participants with disabilities. Online at www.uiAccess.com/justask