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Frequently Asked Questions about User Validation:
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Where can one get information about methods for user requirement analysis and early prototyping ?
A large number of techniques exist for user requirements engineering. Most of these have been developed for very specific domains, for example for expert knowledge elicitation in artificial intelligence, for marketing, for activity and task analysis in safety critical domains.
Several recent developments in the Telematics Applications domain can be observed. The MEGATAQ project has developed an 'open' methodology for user requirements analysis in the telematic engineering domain. A list of approaches and techniques for requirements analysis and early prototyping which have been proven in industrial use was developed by the RESPECT project , and a more directive methodology was developed by the INUSE project . The CODE project has developed support for user needs analysis to projects from the Transport sector. The Telematics Applications for Education and Training Usability Guide produced by C. Smith and T. Mayes contains a section about how to identify user needs. Innovative concepts of user requirements analysis are described in Communications of the ACM (1995). Holtzblatt & Beyer (1993) suggest contextual inquiry and refer to related customer-centered approaches.
References:
Communications of the ACM, 1995, 38(5), Requirements Gathering, The Human Factor.
Robin-Prévallée, Y., Gardes, Y., Robert, J.-M., Pavard, B., & Decortis, F. (1996). Guidebook for User Needs Analysis. TAP project TR 1103 Co-Ordinated Dissemination in Europe of Transport Telematics (CODE).
Holtzblatt, K., & Beyer, H. (1993), Making Customer-Centered Design Work for Teams. CACM, 36(10), 92-103, describe the contextual inquiry and analysis approach.
These and other more general references can also be found on our references page.
What is task analysis, and how does it help ?
Task analysis is an overall label given to a large number of different and indeed disparate approaches to the process of understanding what a user wants to do, has to do, or should do, in order to arrive at a certain result. Although task analysis has often been charged with having an academic, research orientated flavour, it is sometimes extremely helpful when designing the small details of an information application. Care should be taken to put task analysis in a contextual setting, and not to generate extremely detailed analyses independently of the context of use. Human behaviour is highly contextualised, and what is appropriate in one setting may not be appropriate in another.
A guide to task analysis edited by Kirwan & Ainsworth (1992) is a good book to start with (still up-to-date).
References:
Kirwan, B., & Ainsworth; L.K. (Eds.) (1992). A Guide to Task Analysis. London: Taylor & Francis.
This and other more general references can also be found on our references page.
What is Context of Use analysis ?
It is by now generally accepted that there are three dimensions which together sufficiently describe the possiblities for variation in patterns of use of an information technology product. These are: who will use it; what will they do with it; and where will they use it? These three questions can be asked more academically as:
A variety of checklists now exist which raise issues that will help with answering these questions. A particularly useful family of checklists grew out of the ESPRIT MUSiC project (see the HFRG Context of Use Analysis proforma, which is implemented as an Excell spreadsheet). The Baseline User Validation Assistant form incorporates a useful beginning set of questions that enables you to identify the salient aspects of the context of use.