Case Studies on End-User Engagement and Prototyping during Software Development
Today software reaches into almost every aspect of our lives, with mobile devices and their apps a major source of our everyday software experience. This trend has shifted our expectations toward a more user-friendly, intuitive and easy to use user experi
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Abstract Today software reaches into almost every aspect of our lives, with mobile devices and their apps a major source of our everyday software experience. This trend has shifted our expectations toward a more user-friendly, intuitive and easy to use user experience. Thus appealing user interfaces and an excellent usability become key to successful software products and services. However, great usability and user experience are not easy to develop, because system engineers traditionally design solutions without involving end users. On the other hand, current research suggests the involvement of end users in software development and the constant incorporation of testing and feedback to provide high-quality software and satisfying usability. Based on these facts, and with a rising awareness for user experience, companies are incorporating user-centered approaches, such as Design Thinking, which involve end users and other stakeholders in the development process. Most of these user-centered approaches are strongly based on early research and validation with end users and prototypes with different levels of fidelity. This chapter provides a look into the development process of three major software companies and presents an overview of their current practices concerning end-user involvement and prototyping.
1 Introduction Good usability and user experience are not easy to develop because systems engineers often design solutions without involving end users (Riley and McConkie 1989; Nielsen 1993). As a result, solutions are technically feasible but do not necessarily meet the needs and requirements of users. This phenomenon has often
F. Dobrigkeit (*) • S. Meyer • M. Uflacker Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering, Campus Griebnitzsee, 14482 Potsdam, Germany e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 H. Plattner et al. (eds.), Design Thinking Research, Understanding Innovation, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40382-3_12
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been proven in research studies (Budde et al. 1992; Rasmusson 2010; Norman and Draper 1986). Current research suggests the involvement of end users in software development to provide high-quality software and satisfying usability (Hornbaek 2006; Rasmusson 2010; Coursaris and Kim 2011). Besides highlighting the importance of end user involvement, current research also suggests the constant incorporation of testing and feedback (Hornbaek 2006). Since the awareness of good user experience is increasing, companies have been incorporating user-centered approaches such as Design Thinking. These approaches involve end users and other stakeholders in the development process. Most of these user-centered approaches are strongly based on early research and validation with end users and prototypes with different levels of fidelity. Hereby, the creation of prototypes allows for necessary testing before the products are fully developed (Budde et al. 1992; Riley and McConkie 1989). Additionally, uncovering conceptual errors in a
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