Why, oh why, didn't we start earlier?
Over the years we have had countless calls from prospective
clients who see usability as a final add-on, the finishing
touch.
Maybe they think usability is like decorating the rooms in a new house.
When in fact it is a much more central task -- like thinking about people's needs
when architecting the
spaces they will inhabit.
True stories of hope and despair
Some calls come desperately late: "We've developed this new IT
system, and now we need to do something about usability...
can you have a look at some screenshots?"
Others are at least planning ahead: "Our contract says we have to deliver a
good level of usability, but we're only at the prototype stage,
so can you help us in few months..."
Any usability professional can tell you similar
stories. Yet human-centred design should start at the
concept stage.
Pig's ear to silk purse
Of course it's never too late to make usability
improvements. We have necessarily become expert at helping
people improve flawed designs at all stages of the development
process. We've helped people turn around projects that are
heading for embarrassing failure.
But sometimes we've been called in to evaluate systems that
are simply dire. Quite beyond redemption. And, sadly,
some of those have included mismanaged 'usability
input'... the wrong kind of input, or badly timed, or
simply ignored. MORAL: Early
changes are cheaper and quicker ! And they must be informed by
well-managed usability input. |
