Software for Use : A Practical Guide to the Models and Methods of Usage-Centered Design

by Constantine, Larry L.; Lockwood, Lucy A.D.

• ISBN13: 9780201924787
• ISBN10: 0201924781
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-07
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Summary

In the quest for quality, software developers have long focused on improving the internal architecture of their products. Larry L. Constantine--who originally created structured design to effect such improvement--now joins with well-known consultant Lucy A. D. Lockwoodto turn the focus of software development to the externalarchitecture. In this book, they present the models and methods of a revolutionary approach to software that will help programmers deliver more usablesoftware--software that will enable users to accomplish their tasks with greater ease and efficiency. Recognizing usability as the key to successful software, Constantine and Lockwood provide concrete tools and techniques that programmers can employ to meet that end. Much more than just another set of rules for good user-interface design, this book guides readers through a systematic software development process. This process, called usage-centered design,weaves together two major threads in software development methods: use cases (also used with UML) and essential modeling. With numerous examples and case studies of both conventional and specialized software applications, the authors illustrate what has been shown in practice to work and what has proved to be of greatest practical value. Highlights Presents a streamlined process for developing highly usable software Describes practical methods and models successfully implemented in industry Complements modern development practices, including the Unified Process and other object-oriented software engineering approaches

Author Biography

Larry L. Constantine, a pioneer of modern software engineering practice, is highly regarded as an authority on the human side of software development. A leading international lecturer, author, editor, and consultant, he has ten books and more than 120 published papers to his credit. Lucy A. D. Lockwood has more than a dozen years of experience in programming and project management. An international consultant, teacher, and writer, she chairs the User Interface Design Track of the Software Development Conference.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi	(2)
Preface	xiii
SECTION I TOWARD MORE USABLE SOFTWARE	1	(66)
1 SOFTWARE FOR USE: Usage, Usability, and User Interfaces	3	(18)
Upgrading Usability	3	(9)
Approaching Usability	12	(6)
Changing Contexts	18	(3)
2 BUILT-IN USABILITY: A Usage-Centered Design Approach	21	(20)
Interfacing with Users	21	(2)
Elements of a Usage-Centered Approach	23	(2)
Driving Models	25	(8)
Coordinated Activity	33	(8)
3 IN PRINCIPLE: Rules and Principles of Usage-Centered Design	41	(26)
Design as Dialogue	41	(4)
Rules and Principles	45	(1)
Usability Rules	46	(5)
User Interface Design Principles	51	(12)
Other Rules	63	(2)
Details, Details, Details	65	(2)
SECTION II ESSENTIAL MODELS FOR USABILITY	67	(80)
4 USERS AND RELATED SPECIES: Understanding Users and User Roles	69	(28)
Of Use and Users	69	(1)
Real Users and Others	70	(8)
User Role Models	78	(6)
User Role Maps	84	(2)
User Roles in Action	86	(3)
Structured Role Models	89	(8)
5 WORKING STRUCTURES: Task Modeling with Essential Use Cases	97	(28)
Work, Work, Work	97	(2)
Task Modeling	99	(10)
The Use Case Map	109	(6)
Building Essential Use Case Models	115	(4)
Application	119	(6)
6 INTERFACE ARCHITECTURE: Interface Contents and Navigation	125	(22)
Workplaces	125	(2)
Interface Contents	127	(8)
The Context Navigation Map	135	(6)
Application	141	(6)
SECTION III CREATING THE VISUAL DESIGN	147	(62)
7 DESIGNING THE DIALOGUE: Layout and Communication	149	(16)
From Abstraction to Expression	149	(1)
Communication Channels	150	(8)
Screen Real Estate	158	(7)
8 PRACTICAL WIDGETRY: Choosing and Designing Visual Components	165	(20)
Buy or Build	165	(1)
Iconic Communication	166	(4)
Menus	170	(9)
Selecting Selection Widgets	179	(6)
9 INNOVATIVE INTERFACES: Creative Interface Engineering and Custom Components	185	(24)
Creative Engineering	185	(4)
The Process of Innovation	189	(5)
Instructive Interfaces	194	(11)
Applied Innovation	205	(4)
SECTION IV COMPLETING THE DESIGN	209	(180)
10 EXPRESSING SOLUTIONS: Implementation Modeling and Prototypes	211	(20)
Fun Stuff	211	(1)
Prototypes and Prototyping	212	(6)
Mapping the Models	218	(7)
Implementation Modeling Illustrated	225	(6)
11 HELP ME IF YOU CAN: Designing Help and Helpful Messages	231	(34)
Even Experts Need a Lift	231	(1)
Use Cases for Help	232	(5)
Access and Presentation Techniques	237	(6)
Special Techniques and Modalities	243	(5)
Helpful Writing	248	(5)
Helpful Messages	253	(12)
12 ONCE A BEGINNER: Supporting Evolving Usage Patterns	265	(32)
Beyond Beginners	265	(2)
Skiing the Interface	267	(1)
Progressive Usage	268	(4)
Supportive Interfaces	272	(8)
Designing for Progressive Usage	280	(13)
Progressive Usage Applied	293	(4)
13 IN PLACE: Fitting the Operational Context	297	(20)
Unsound Context	297	(1)
Operational Modeling	298	(1)
Environmental Adaptation	299	(1)
Binding Context	300	(8)
Environment Profile	308	(5)
Putting Context in Place	313	(4)
14 SAME GAME, DIFFERENT FIELDS: Special Applications, Special Issues	317	(40)
Theme and Variation, Again	317	(1)
Web Design for Use	317	(13)
Web Wisdom Applied	330	(8)
Embedded Systems Applications	338	(16)
Other Special Interfaces	354	(3)
15 USAGE-CENTERED DESIGN APPLIED: The TeleGuida Case	357	(32)
Scaling Up	357	(1)
Telephone Tag	358	(1)
Gathering Requirements	359	(7)
TeleGuida Users and Uses	366	(12)
Toward a TeleGuida Prototype	378	(11)
SECTION V ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT	389	(74)
16 BETTER NEXT TIME: Improvement by Inspection and Review	391	(26)
Assessing Usability	391	(8)
Inspection Methods	399	(2)
Collaborative Usability Inspections	401	(12)
Focused Inspections	413	(4)
17 BY THE NUMBERS: Measuring Usability in Practice	417	(26)
Comparison Shopping	417	(1)
Measured Quality	418	(5)
User Interface Design Metrics	423	(3)
Essential Usability Metrics Suite	426	(15)
Metrics in Practice	441	(2)
18 TEST SCORES: Laboratory and Field Testing of Usability	443	(20)
History Testing	443	(1)
Testing, One, Two	444	(6)
Test Protocol	450	(6)
Testing Tactics	456	(4)
Why Test, Why Not	460	(3)
SECTION VI ORGANIZING AND MANAGING THE PROCESS	463	(70)
19 CODE AND YOU'RE DONE: Implementing Interfaces	465	(16)
Objects and Interfaces	465	(7)
Accelerated Development	472	(3)
Visual Development of Visual Designs	475	(6)
20 USING YOUR USERS: Users in the Development Process	481	(30)
Use or Abuse of Users	481	(4)
Requirements Dialogue, Requirements Dance	485	(4)
Going to the Source	489	(5)
Using Users	494	(4)
Joint Essential Modeling	499	(12)
21 GETTING ORGANIZED: Usability in the Larger Context	511	(22)
Organizational Units	511	(2)
Standards and Style Guides	513	(4)
Competing Constituencies	517	(5)
Experts and Expertise	522	(2)
Cultural Fit	524	(9)
Appendix A: Suggested Readings	533	(2)
Appendix B: Eleven Ways to Make Software More Usable: General Principles of Software Usability	535	(2)
Appendix C: Glossary	537	(8)
Appendix D: Forms for Usage-Centered Design	545	(4)
Appendix E: Subjective Usability Scales for Software (SUSS)	549	(2)
References	551	(10)
Index	561

Excerpts

Software for Useis a book for professionals under pressure, for those who work under the dual demands for high-quality software-based systems on the one hand and faster delivery with fewer resources on the other. This book shows how to use streamlined techniques to make software-based systems significantly more usable and useful regardless of whether these systems are installed on desktop computers, ensconced on large mainframe servers, embedded in industrial electronics, or accessed via the World Wide Web. It is written primarily for computer software and applications developers--the analysts, designers, engineers, and programmers who are responsible for producing software systems. In concept, perhaps, usability ought to be the bailiwick of usability specialists. In practice, however, developers of various stripes make the vast majority of the myriad decisions that shape and determine the ultimate usability of software-based products; it is for these frontline troops of the industry that this book was conceived. Usage-centered design, the approach taken in this book, originated with our own frustrating experiences as users of software and our recurring dissatisfaction with software that was unnecessarily awkward and difficult to use. The wealth of established knowledge about human-computer interaction was somehow not being fully translated into more usable products. As we studied how software-based products were being developed, we began to understand where things were going wrong and what needed to be changed in order to deliver better systems. Usage-centered design is a streamlined but systematic approach for devising software closely fitted to the genuine needs of users--software that is not only more useful and easier to use but also simpler and easier to construct. Usage-centered design is tailored to the high-pressure realities of modern software development. Using a few simple but powerful models, it provides a scheme for quickly understanding users in relation to systems, their working intentions in carrying out tasks, and the support they need from the system to perform those tasks. Its methods and models can be applied within almost any software development life cycle (SDLC) model and incorporated into almost any modern development practices, including various object-oriented (OO) approaches such as the Unified Modeling Language (UML). Usage-centered design is not partial to any one language or platform, being equally effective with rapid iterative development using the latest integrated visual development environments or with character-based control systems running on specialized hardware. A major part of our message to designers and developers of every ilk is simple: Usability is not rocket science. It is often hard work and invariably requires great attention to detail, but, given a few basic conceptual tools, you, too, can learn how to recognize problems in usability and how to improve the usability of the systems you develop. Professor Woody Flowers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has given cameras to middle-school students, who then must photograph hard-to-use things and explain the problems. If untrained teenagers can manage the basics of usability, competent adults ought to be able to master the essentials. Quite honestly, we think the model-driven approaches explained in this book can be of value to almost any professional with responsibility for product design and development, and that includes a full range of design specialists, from user interface and interaction designers to ergonomicists and human factors engineers, from graphic artists and industrial designers to human-computer interaction specialists and usability testers. In our experience, the most important prerequisite is not a particular academic degree or level of applied experience, but the willingness and ability to approach the material with an open mind. In our own design work and