[ID Discuss] Interaction design == web design

[Pabini Gabriel-Petit]

Hello Michael

Michael Bartlett wrote: We build thick-client Windows software that is
effectively glue-ware between
> multiple applications in order to stream-line existing work processes.

***Sounds like interesting work.

> Something I'm battling with at the moment is confidence in spending money
on
> usability testing/HCI courses because I get the feeling that the industry
is
> very web-focused and we build thick-client Windows applications.

***The industry is quite Web focused right now, because that's where about
three-quarters or more of the work is now. (I learned this from the salary
survey I just ran.) If you do take courses, I recommend that you make sure
the teacher has a long history of working on Windows applications, so he or
she can at least answer your questions. Many excellent Web designers know
nothing about designing Windows applications. Having done both, I can say
that it's quite different from designing Web applications and often much
more complex.

Our application
> integrates with 1) Microsoft Word, 2) Outlook/Notes/Groupwise and 3)
> Enterprise Document Management Systems 4) PDF creation. So it was a lot
for
> the 3rd party that we used to get their head around.

***I'm sure there are professionals who have worked with the majority of
these applications.

> Also our software is collaborative in nature and a lot of what I've seen
on
> usability testing is a single user with an instructor whereas we have
> complex tasks that often involve mutiple authors editing documents over a
> extended period which is quite difficult to emulate in a typical 45-minute
> study.

***There are professionals who have worked on collaboration software before,
too. :-) You might try simulating interactions with other authors using a
sort of Wizard of Oz approach, where a person on the usability team
completes certain actions within the test scenario, taking the role of a
coworker.

It's also very challenging to recruit users for this as our clients
> (expensive lawyers!) aren't really able to provide us with their users as
> they are fee-earners and off-the-street recruits generally aren't familiar
> with the working environment in a legal firm and the additional 3rd party
> software that is involved in our scenarios and tasks.

***You might use law students who have worked as interns or paralegals in
law offices as your test subjects. They would be more available and more in
need of the remuneration. You should test with some real lawyers though. Fly
them into London for a night on the town as an inducement if you must. :-)

> I'm wary of sending
> 3-4 of my staff on such a course at the risk of their switching off
because
> its all "web web web".

***I'm sure there are courses with the emphasis on desktop applications that
you need. If you can't find one that satisfies your needs, you might
consider having someone do some in-house training developed just for your
team.

> I understand that usability is usability and that many of the same
> principles apply, but I feel that a lot of the web "stuff" (for lack of a
> better word - jet lag) is towards presentation of information (site-flow
and
> so on). Even the "application" aspect of the web seems to be a lot simpler
> than some of the challenges we face.

***Your perception is accurate. There is a great difference between the two,
but there are professionals who have done both. Hopefully, you'll be able to
take a course from someone with the qualifications you need.

Pabini
________________________________________

Pabini Gabriel-Petit
Principal & User Experience Architect
Spirit Softworks
www.spiritsoftworks.com