User-centred design for large software projects
Categorised under: Information architecture, Usability & user-centered design, Web development
A few days back, I posted a question to the AIfIA mailing list about User-centred design for large software projects, as follows:
They [software development firm] are still using the “waterfall method” of software development (requirements, design, develop, test, deploy), and I suggested that this wasn’t likely to deliver a product that would be valuable for the end users (although it might be delivered on-time and on-budget, if lucky).
Can anyone point me towards some articles and/or books that would present a user-centred view, specifically for these technology-obsessed folks?
I had a flood of great responses, which I’m going to try and summarise in this post. (See the end of the post for the list of those who so generously responded.)
User-centred design resources for large software projects:
- Rational Requirements and analysis literature
- Microsoft: User-Centered Design Principles
- IBM: What is User-Centered Design?
- User Engineering section of IBM’s Ease of Use site.
- Making a Business Case for User-Centered Design, JoAnn T. Hackos, Center for information Development, 2001
- MIL-STD-498 (US Department of Defence evolutionary development principles)
- Alistair Cockburn’s pages on the Crystal Methodology
- Larry Constantine‘s work (speaks to tech folks, especially if they are rational rose or O-O types)
- Collection of Constantine & Lockwood‘s articles
- Agile Alliance
- DSDM (“DSDM uses an iterative process based on prototyping and involves the users
throughout the project life cycle.”) - Jesse James Garrett’s Elements of User Experience (“We have a modified *spiral model* that includes users, but we also have an *Elements of User Experience Model* that directly reflects JJG’s work)
Thanks to: Thomas Vander Wal, Meg Houston Maker, Charles Dowdell, Peter H. Jones, Christina Wodtke, John O’Donovan
James Robertson is the Managing Director of 