Human-Centred Processes

Jonathan Earthy, Brian Shackel, Hazel Courteney, Simon Hakiel, Brian Sherwood-Jones and Bronwen Taylor

ABSTRACT
HCI is not usable by software engineering and needs to be more aware of its own context of use. Representatives from different sectors of industry will present a variety of approaches to the packaging HCI for industrial use. These approaches are based on the definition of and provision of support for the processes by which products are made to be human-centred. The similarities and differences between the presented approaches will be explored. Process issues in HCI will be discussed.

KEYWORDS:

Human-centred, Process, Software Process Improvement, Humanware, ISO 13407.

INTRODUCTION
One of the most important problems for HCI is its own usability by the systems development community. If we assess HCI against ISO 9241, part 10 Dialogue principles, 1996 (quoted in the italicised headings below) we generally find the following:

3.2 Suitability for the task:HCI does not support project managers in the effective and efficient development of a usable product.
3.3 Self-descriptiveness:Feedback from HCI activities and any explanations of results are not immediately comprehensible to developers.
3.4 Controllability:Methods and techniques can only be used in standard, expensive and time-consuming fixed steps.
3.5 Conformity with user expectations:HCI is not a programming tool, Rapid Application Development tool or a library of style guides.
3.6 Error tolerance:Techniques are either overly-sensitive to minor changes in detail or generate apparently context-free output.
3.7 Suitability for individualisation:HCI appears to propose the use of the same methods for all applications.
3.8 Suitability for learning:HCI seems to change itself regularly and to work to meet different goals from those of system development.