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User-centered design (UCD) is a philosophy and a process. It is a philosophy that places the person (as opposed to the 'thing') at the center; it is a process that focuses on cognitive factors (such as perception, memory, learning, problem-solving, etc.) as they come into play during peoples' interactions with things. UCD seeks to answer questions about users and their tasks and goals, and then use the findings to drive development and design (Katz-Haas). Image File history File links Merge-arrow. ...
It has been suggested that User Centered Design be merged into this article or section. ...
For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...
Illustration of a physical process: a geyser in action. Process (lat. ...
Cognitive The scientific study of how people obtain, retrieve, store and manipulate information. ...
In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. ...
For other uses, see Memory (disambiguation). ...
Learning is the acquisition and development of memories and behaviors, including skills, knowledge, understanding, values, and wisdom. ...
Problem solving forms part of thinking. ...
Generally, an interaction is a kind of action which occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. ...
All Saints Chapel in the Cathedral Basilica of St. ...
Purpose UCD answers questions about users and their tasks and goals, then use the findings to make decisions about development and design. UCD seeks to answer the following questions:
• Who are the users of the document?
• What are the users’ tasks and goals?
• What are the users’ experience levels with the document, and documents like it? Look up Experience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article discusses the general concept of experience. ...
• What functions do the users need from the document?
• What information might the users need, and in what form do they need it? The ASCII codes for the word Wikipedia represented in binary, the numeral system most commonly used for encoding computer information. ...
• How do users think the document should work?
(Katz-Haas)
Elements
Visibility Visibility helps the user construct a mental model of the document. Models help the user predict the effect(s) of their actions while using the document. Important elements (such as those that aid navigation) should be emphatic. Users should be able to tell from a glance what they can and cannot do with the document. In Meteorology, ability is a measure of the nothingness at which an object or light can be seen. ...
A mental model is an explanation in someones thought process for how something works in the real world. ...
Table of geography, hydrography, and navigation, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ...
Accessibility Users should be able to find information quickly and easily throughout the document, whether it be long or short. Users should be offered various ways to find information (such navigational elements, search functions, table of contents, clearly labeled sections, page numbers, color coding, etc). Navigational elements should be consistent with the genre of the document. ‘Chunking’ is a useful strategy that involves breaking information into small pieces that can be organized into some type meaningful order or hierarchy The ability to skim the document allows users to find their piece of information by scanning rather than reading. bold and italic words are often used. A table of contents, usually headed simply Contents, is a list of the parts of a book or document organized in the order in which the parts appear. ...
(For general information about sections in the MediaWiki software, see m:Help:Section. ...
A color code is a system for displaying information by using different colors. ...
A genre [], (French: kind or sort from Greek: γÎνος (genos)) is a loose set of criteria for a category of literary composition; the term is also used for any other form of art or utterance. ...
Chunking may mean: Chunking (psychology), a short-term memory mechanism and techniques to exploit it Chunking (writing), a method of splitting content into short, easily scannable elements, especially for web audiences Chunking (computing), a memory allocation or message transmission procedure in computer programming Chunking (computational linguistics), a method for parsing...
A hierarchy (in Greek: , derived from — hieros, sacred, and — arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people, where each element of the system (except for the top element) is a subordinate to a single other element. ...
Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...
Bold Bold, see Bold (disambiguation). ...
Look up Italic, italic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Legibility Text should be easy to read: Through analysis of the rhetorical situation the designer should be able to determine a useful font style. Ornamental fonts and text in all capital letters is hard to read, but italics and bolding can be helpful when used correctly. Large or small body text that is also hard to read. (9-11 pt sans serif and 11-12 pt serif is recommended.) High figure-ground contrast between text and background increases legibility. Dark text against a light background is most legible. A font can mean: A member of a typeface family; or digital font - file format that encapsulates a typeface family in a database. ...
Capital letters or majuscules (in the Roman alphabet: A, B, C, ...) are one type of case in a writing system. ...
Look up Contrast in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Language Depending on the rhetorical situation certain types of language are needed. Short sentences are helpful. Unless the situation calls for it don’t use jargon or technical terms. Many writer will choose to use active voice, verbs (instead of noun strings or nominals), and simple sentence structure. For the glossary of hacker slang, see Jargon File. ...
Voice, in grammar, is the relationship between the action or state expressed by a verb, and its arguments (subject, object, etc. ...
A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to glitter), or a state of being (exist, live, soak, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. ...
(Katz-Haas)
Rhetorical Situation A User Centered Design is focused around the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation shapes the design of an information medium. There are three elements to consider in a rhetorical situation: Audience, Purpose, Context. An audience is a group of people who participate in an experience or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any medium. ...
Purpose in its most general sense is the anticipated aim which guides action. ...
Audience The audience is the people who will be using the document. The designer must consider their ages, geographical location, ethnicity, gender, education, etc.
Purpose The purpose is how the document will be used, and what the audience will be trying to accomplish while using the document. The purpose usually includes purchasing a product, selling ideas, performing a task, instruction, and all types of persuasion.
Context The context is the circumstances surrounding the situation. The context often answers the question: What situation has prompted the need for this document? Context also includes any social or cultural issues that may surround the situation.
References User Centered Design and Web Development by Raïssa Katz-Haas: [1]
Designing Visual Language: Strategies for Professional Communicators by Charles Kostelnick, David D. Roberts and Sam Dragga
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