[IxDA Discuss] user centered design -> overlapping circles -> boundary selection

[Mauro Cavalletti]

Eugene,

This soubnds correct to me. You might need one *system* and two different 
*interfaces*, one for the publishers and one for the warehouse. A single 
back-end and two slightly different front-ends. Does it make sense?

If I understand your design challenge, what really matters is sharing the 
same database that can manage inputs from diverse sources, and them present 
that data arranged propperly to the specific audience.  You can take a 
systematic approach that provides some level of standardization to the 
presentation layer in the two interfaces, meaning you can re-use elements of 
your layout or even complete templates, as the structure is somehow similar 
and the data is basically the same.

Mauro

Mauro Cavalletti
Creative Director
Organic, Inc.
San Francisco
(415) 581 5346
www.organic.com




>From: Liya Zheng <lzheng at liquidnet.com>
>To: 'Eugene Chen' 
><eugene at eugenechendesign.com>,discuss at lists.interactiondesigners.com
>Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] user centered design -> overlapping circles 
>->	boundary selection
>Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 13:44:30 -0400
>
>[Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted material.]
>
>Eugene,
>
>Do you think maybe you have one system that contains two different
>interfaces to serve the roles you've described?
>
>It sounds to me that building one interface to serve all the user groups,
>might make it harder for everyone to use it, and maintenance issues will
>arise in the future.
>
>Do you have the time and budget to do some user research so you can model
>your users (maybe in forms of personas)? An exercise like that may help you
>answer the question above and also helps you design a modular product that
>is easier to maintain.
>
>Good luck! Sounds like a fun and challenging project.
>
>Liya
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
>[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Eugene
>Chen
>Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 6:15 PM
>To: discuss at lists.interactiondesigners.com
>Subject: [IxDA Discuss] user centered design -> overlapping circles ->
>boundary selection
>
>[Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted material.]
>
>I'm working on some product strategy at the moment.
>
>Imagine a scenario like this:
>- Book publishers need a system that lets them communicate with the
>Warehouse and Authors.
>- The Warehouse needs a system that lets them communicate with Publishers,
>but they also have need a system to communicate with Stores and manage
>Inventory, etc.
>
>If you build the system for the Publishers, then the Warehouse now has to
>use two systems, which inevitably are going to have a lot of overlapping
>fields.
>
>To put it abstractly,
>- User A sits at the center of a circle of concerns that includes User B
>- User B sits at the center of a different circle, but theirs also includes
>User A
>
>The product starts out being designed for User A, but it doesn't seem fair
>in a way to ask or require User B to use this system that then is not a
>complete picture for them.
>Adding the features for B for the system intended for A seems like a
>slippery slope.
>
>
>The question is: on what principles to base the products boundaries?
>Strategically this leads to a question of which systems to compete with
>(subsume) vs. interface. And if to interace, then whether communication
>should be one-way or two-way?
>
>Thoughts?
>
>Eugene
>
>
>
>Eugene Chen  |  User Experience Research, Design, and Strategy mobile 415
>336 1783  |  fax 240 282 7452 web http://www.eugenechendesign.com  |  aim
>peastulip  |  skype eugene-chen
>
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