The UCD Decision Matrix: How, When, and Where to Sell User-Centered Design into the Development Cycle

Richard Gunther - Rockwell Software
Jeff Janis - Progressive Insurance
Scott Butler - Progressive Insurance & Ovo Studios

Abstract

There are many factors that contribute to the success of an organization’s User-Centered Design (UCD) program. UCD practitioners have reported successes and failures when engaging, working with, and following up with their development “customers”. These successes and failures are highly correlated with organization size, the mission and makeup of the UCD team, the diversity of the tools available to the UCD practitioner, and at what stage of the product development lifecycle a particular product is in. One hundred UCD practitioners were surveyed about their successes and failures in implementing a user-centered design process in their organization. The UCD Decision Matrix was developed from the results, and allows UCD practitioners to access information about how user-centered design teams are structured, the successes and failures practitioners have had, and where they position methodologies in the development lifecycle.

Questionnaire Responses

1) What kind of developers do you work with?

Proportion of corporate practitioners versus consultants

2) How big is your organization? If you are a consultant, use the size of your typical client.

Company size

3) How long have UCD activities been taking place in your organization?

Age of UCD competency within companies

4) Briefly describe the makeup of your UCD team. Include number of team members, your mission, and the specialties that are represented on your team:

Team composition summary to see what team members respondents have on their UCD teams.

UCD team size summary to see how many members respondents have on their UCD teams

Qualitative analysis of mission statements to determine the quality of the team's mission definition.

Item analysis of mission statements to see what kinds of missions teams are taking on.

Use the groups below to view mission statement data for different demographics.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

5) Which of the following processes or tools do you have in place?

Overall frequency of process and tool implementation by process and tool type. Use the groups below to view process and tool implementation patterns for different demographics.

Breakdown of comments about how implementing processes and tools has helped make for successful engagements with development teams

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

6) What has been the most successful UCD methodology you have used with development teams?

Overall frequency of most successful UCD methodology. Use the groups below to view process and tool implementation patterns for different demographics.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

7) Describe any problems or resistance you encounter while interfacing with development or management in your organization.

Overall frequency of problems trying to engage a development team.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

Overall frequency of problems working with a development team during UCD activities.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

Overall frequency of problems during UCD activity follow-up or resolution.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

8) Indicate which of the following user-centered design activities you conduct, how many you conducted in 2000, and when you typically conduct them in a product's development lifecycle.

Respondent data for user-centered design activities are summarized by:

Overall number of respondents who reported performing each activity in year 2000.
Average number of activities that respondents reported performing in year 2000.
When respondents reported performing activities across the development lifecycle.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

9) After completing a UCD activity, describe the kind of follow-up process you engage in with the development teams you work with.

Summarized Respondent Data for our multi-part question concerning follow-up for UCD activities.

9A: Overall frequency of following up with a development team.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

9B: Overall frequency of holding follow-up meetings with a development team.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

9C: Overall frequency of documenting resolutions after UCD activities..

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

9D: Overall frequency of tracking the percentage of UCD activities that are actually implemented.

By Organization Size	By Interaction Scope	By Group Age	By UCD team size
Small Medium Large	Corporate Consultant Both Corporate and Consultant	Less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years	1-3 Members 4-6 Members More than 7 members

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