Design Research / Article 4. Feb. 2008, HCI Vistas Vol-IV Author: Atul Manohar

Abstract

User Centered Design methodology aims at getting inputs, and feedback from users and stakeholders at various stages of the development. The UCD team needs to interact with users number of times for identifying their requirements and for presenting the wireframes and prototypes of the solution. The luxury of meeting the users so frequently may not be feasible and affordable in the offshore software projects. You are constrained by the travel budget and unavailability of logistical support. In this context, participatory design workshops can prove very economical and effective, requiring minimum user interactions in the UCD process.

Introduction

Few years back, I was designing some consumer products for typical Indian household. I had set the objective as trying to solve the everyday problems for a typical Indian housewife. We were a team of 2 product designers and 1 graphic designer; the more we discussed about the real life problems an Indian housewife faces, finer pain areas were revealed. We decided to invite a few SMEs (Subject matter Experts) to help us design. The SMEs were real housewives. They gave us very innovative inputs, which actually helped us in enhancing our design concepts.

I think users can come up with brilliant design ideas. All humans are gifted with creative talent. Only difference is that they may not know the formal methods of designing and execution.

Can Users Design?

Yes, the users are often very knowledgeable about their requirements, problems and its possible solutions. It takes just a catalytic and inductive workshop coordinator (for the participatory design workshop) to tap their creative talents and unleash the tacit knowledge. Usually it takes lot of time and efforts to study the users. Direct involvement of users in the design process can drastically reduce the resource requirements.

Ask users to design and feel the difference!

What is participatory design?

User Centered Design process primarily aims at involving the users at various stages in the design process. The designers interact with users to understand their tasks, goals and the specific needs. Then they present various concepts and prototypes to the users for feedback. This activity repeats itself iteratively until you arrive at a satisfactory design solution. Such frequency of user involvement (as implied in the UCD process) may not be feasible in the offshore scenario. Participatory design workshop is a very effective technique in this difficult situation. It can also help reduce the number of user interactions.

• A participatory design workshop (4 hours of duration) with users and stakeholders can be equal to many user interactions.

Why is it so difficult to have frequent interaction with users in the offshore software development scenario?

There are various reasons-

• Difficulty to meet users so often (while working in the offshore model)
• UX teams have to manage with limited number of designers
• Direct and frequent user interactions are expensive due to geographically dispersed locations

Therefore, it is advised to plan for a participatory design workshop with prospective users, during the international visits for the offshore software projects. Participatory design is a simple technique of inviting a set of expert users, and initiating them into the designer’s role, and encouraging them to suggest design ideas. The workshop coordinator’s role here is most critical, as (s)he has to simply become a good facilitator. The users have to be encouraged to overcome their inhibitions and think creatively. They need to be provided with simple tools to express their ideas. The users should be kept in the driving seat for exploring maximum possibilities of solutions.

Involving the users in the design process surely gives rewarding outputs. I have designed specialized furniture in my earlier professional career. I strongly believe that a doctor will be able to conceptualize the operation theatre much better than a furniture designer or an architect.

Users know their work better than designers

• Designers usually take lot of time to understand and internalize the users’ needs
• Users are creative enough to come up with solutions
• Users can convey their ideas through sketches & verbal communication

How to use the design ideas?

The output of participatory design workshop will never be as finished as what trained designers will produce. Most users tend to take the technology for granted, as they are likely to be unfamiliar with technical and financial constraints. Professional designers and developers have to convert the raw design ideas produced by the users into practical and refined design solutions. Users tend to come up with ‘magic wand’ solutions, which is expected to perform on its own! They also come up with most impractical and crazy but highly innovative ideas. It gives us a clear picture of user perceptions, and expectations. Participatory design works wonderfully when the users are mostly expert users (Experts in their own domain).

Benefits of Participatory Design in offshore model

• Design will address the user concerns
• Effective results with minimum user interactions
• Early acceptance to the design
• Less changes during the development, testing and evaluation of the product
• Savings in travel, time and cost

Limitations of Participatory Design

• Users tend to take the technology for granted. Sometimes they get hooked on to impractical ideas (magic wand).
• They repeat their pain areas rather than giving design solutions. At times if the coordinator is not effective enough the workshop ends up as a major cribbing session about existing systems, politics, other environmental and family issues.
• Sometimes user expectations and business goals do not match.

References

1. Jonathan Grudin, John Pruitt, Personas, Participatory Design and Product Development: An Infrastructure for Engagement
http://research.microsoft.com/research/coet/Grudin/Personas/Grudin-Pruitt.pdf

2. Norman, D. A., & Draper, S. W. (Eds.) User-Centered System Design, New Perspectives. on Human-Computer Interaction, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986.

3. What is a participatory design workshop?

http://www.infodesign.com.au/usabilityresources/design/participatorydesign.asp

4. Participatory Design Resources

http://www.cpsr.org/issues/pd

Atul Manohar is Competency Leader at Satyam Computer Systems, (UXM User Experience Management group). He has 14 years of experience in the user oriented design field and worked on various Design and evaluation projects. He also has experience of building usability teams and strategizing the usability efforts for organizations. Contact Atul - atul_manohar@satyam.com , atul_man@yahoo.com

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