[IxDA Discuss] Rationale for *not* using UCD

[Yoram Chisik]

Peter,

I agree with what you say but I would add that UCD is a philosophy as well
as a methodology. 

You say "We've opted out of UCD for projects where we're personally
intimately familiar with the domain." But I would argue that you have not
opted out of UCD as much as skipped a number of the preliminary stages
(contextual inquiry, etc.)

UCD requires understanding of the domain from the user perspective and as
you said in cases where sufficient knowledge exists that one can proceed
with the design while adhering to the philosophy.  

The question should not be whether or not we want to use UCD but how do we
determine we have sufficient knowledge to proceed either at the outset of
the design or if we have decided to engage in some inquiries during the
inquiry process. 

Yoram

*************************************
Yoram Chisik
DCD candidate and sandwich maker extraordinaire
UB - School of Information Arts and Technologies
Free advice and opinions - refunds available. 
http://iat.ubalt.edu/chisik


-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Peter
Merholz
Sent: 02 February 2007 19:13
To: discuss at ixda.org
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Rationale for *not* using UCD

I honestly don't get what this discussion is all about.

UCD is an approach. A way of solving a problem. But it's clearly not  
the only way.

At Adaptive Path, we have a principle for our practice:
"More than anything else, our practice is focused on delivering  
results that satisfy the customer and meet their needs. This is true  
across all our lines of business.

(Adaptive Path, contrary to popular conception, is not a "user- 
centered design company." User-centered design is only one way to go  
about approaching our projects.)"

There are many design problems where UCD is not suitable. We've done  
many projects without UCD, and where we delivered good design. We've  
done many projects with UCD.

For us, the primary reason to engage in UCD is when engaging with a  
domain that we're simply not familiar with. UCD helps us get inside  
the heads of the users for whom we're designing.

We've opted out of UCD for projects where we're personally intimately  
familiar with the domain. For our work designing the Soundflavor  
application and website
<http://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000679.php>
we were the users. We have large music collections and need help in  
managing them. We don't need to go to users for insight in how to  
design such a tool. We can draw inspiration from our experiences.

Also, regarding Jared's study, I don't understand why people are so  
up-in-arms with his findings. Frankly, it makes all the sense in the  
world to me that there's no correlation between investment in UCD  
practice and success in delivering usable product. This has less to  
do with UCD practice, and everything to do with organizational  
behavior and psychology.

--peter
________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
List Guidelines ............ http://listguide.ixda.org/
List Help .................. http://listhelp.ixda.org/
(Un)Subscription Options ... http://subscription-options.ixda.org/
Announcements List ......... http://subscribe-announce.ixda.org/
Questions .................. lists at ixda.org
Home ....................... http://ixda.org/
Resource Library ........... http://resources.ixda.org