Breakout Session
Monday, October 28, 11:30-12:30PM
System Design as a Continuous Process--
Rather than Product Oriented
Presented by
Michael Nilan
School of Communications
University of Washington
nilan@u.washington.edu
Summary
In essence, this group discussed the idea of establishing a communications
environment among the system design people and the various users in order
to refine initial design requirements and to modify the system as changes
in user needs are articulated. An example design process would progress
as follows:
- Identify a representative sample of users suitable for several focus
groups organized around a particular problem or problem domain.
- Focus groups would articulate a series of problems/activities that they
normally engage in. For each problem/activity, a dynamic model would be
created that included the specific steps over time involved in recognizing
and solving the problem/activity. For each step, a list of all the
resources that are used (resources = information/data, links to others,
and computing functions) in order to proceed to the next step.
- The resulting dynamic user problem model(s) would become the
requirements for a system that would make resources available depending
upon where the user was in the problem solving process, i.e., the dynamic
model is the interface between users and resources. "Interface" here
means the structure of the representation that the user interacts with as
well as the logic for organizing the resources that users would seek.
- An additional interface feature would be a communication environment
(e.g., istweb.syr.edu "talk to us" feature) that would encourage users
to comment on the utility, coverage, layout, etc. of the interface and
content being accessed. Changes in the system would be based upon an
analysis of the user comments. Three characteristics are necessary for
the communications environment to work: (one) the opportunity for the
user to communicate must be ubiquitous; (two) the task required of the
user must be virtually effortless; and (three) the users must readily see
that their input is being listened to either through direct communications
and/or timely substantive changes in the system.
- Over time, after the initial system design is modified to meet user
needs and expectations, the same communication environment can be employed
to track changes in the users' problems and/or changes in their needs.
This kind of "evolutionary" or constantly re-designed system was discussed
as a service to users as opposed to current "product" orientations in the
rhetoric of software developers.
The group's discussions focused upon clarification of this approach, the
extent to which known user needs are sufficient for system design and
potential political manipulations of the approach.
Last Updated: Nov. 25, 1996