Symposium: methods for usability

Everyone knows the frustrations that arise when setting up a new television or when trying to open the new high-tech RFID chip-enabled gym locker. These frustrations lead to consumer-anger, influence a company's financial performance and can make or break a brand. But how can designers or product developers prevent these frustrations and create usable products?

Increasing complexity of electronic products

The usability of consumer and professional electronic products has come under increasing pressure in the recent past. Products have more and more functions, are becoming smaller, and often have to work as part of a network. Think, for example, of the hard disk recorder that needs to be connected to the TV, the cable decoder and perhaps even a home-theatre system as well. To make matters worse, these products are developed under extreme time pressure, on a limited budget, and by teams that can be spread across the world.

Practical information on usability

The Design for Usability research project researched how best to contribute to the development of usable products. The main goal was to develop a methodology for user-centred product development that is applicable in practice. This is exactly where many existing methods for user-centred product development fall short: they do not take into account the hectic environment that day-to-day product development has become. In addition, most existing methods are focused on the development of software, web pages and ICT systems, not on physical electronic products.

Design for Usability symposium 'Methods & Tools'

During the third Design for Usability symposium, on 10 November 2011 (World Usability Day), product developers from the electronics multinational Philips and leading Dutch industrial design agency Indes will present how, in the recent past, user-centred product development has evolved within their companies. The results of the Design for Usability project will be presented, and during workshops, participants are given the opportunity to explore the methods and techniques developed. Participants will also receive the book 'Design for Usability: Methodology & Tools', to be published at a later date. The symposium has a maximum of 200 participants.

About the Design for Usability project

The Design for Usability project is a collaboration of the three Dutch Universities of Technology (TU Eindhoven, TU Delft, University Twente) and the companies Philips, Océ, Indes and T-Xchange. The project is funded by the Dutch government through the IOP-IPCR programme of AgentschapNL, which is part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Innovation.

Project leader Professor Daan van Eijk, "Societal relevance is of the essence for current scientific research. The Dutch government considers the Design for Usability project as a means to deal with a societal issue - the increasing complexity of electronic products - but also as a way to increase the competitive capability of the Dutch product development industry".

About World Usability Day

World Usability Day was founded in 2005 as an initiative of the Usability Professionals' Association to ensure that services and products important to human life are easier to access and simpler to use. Each year, on the second Thursday of November, over 200 events are organized in over 43 countries around the world. On this day, professionals in the field engage in discussion on the tools and issues central to excellent usability research, development and practice. A second aim of the day is to raise the general public's awareness.

More information

Date: 10 November 2011

Place: Media Plaza, Utrecht

Costs: 50 euro

Registration: www.aanmelder.nl/designforusability/subscribe

Contact

Symposium organizer

Moniek van Adrichem, +31 15 278 1321, m.e.vanadrichem@TUDelft.nl

Design for Usability project

Prof.ir. Daan van Eijk, +31 15 278 3619, d.j.vaneijk@tudelft.nl

Dr.ir. Jasper van Kuijk, +31 15 278 4956, j.i.vankuijk@tudelft.nl