Prototyping
Updated:02:58 PM March 20, 2009
We use an iterative rapid prototyping process to develop effective user interfaces. This process consists of four phases:
1. Identify needs and establish requirements.
Our development projects typically begin with visits to sites where the system will be used and lengthy discussions with users and stakeholders In every case, before any prototypes are built, the human factors practitioners develop good understandings of the operation, the users, and the goals for the new system. During the later phases, we continually emphasize information requirements, (i.e., information the user must have to accomplish a task) and encourage the team to focus on requirements rather than "wishlists." When potential new requirements arise during the later phases, we have the team prioritize them so that the most important issues are addressed first and best.
2. Develop alternative designs.
Members of a design team propose ways to meet the requirements. In this phase, low fidelity prototypes (drawings on the whiteboard, doodles in notebooks, examples from other systems) are considered and evaluated by human factors, operational, procedural, programmatic, and engineering professionals.
3. Build interactive versions of the designs.
We render the best ideas from Activity 2 into interactive prototypes using a variety of tools such as Visual Basic, PowerPoint, Visio, and ODS Toolbox. Depending on the system, we use different levels of fidelity. We continually compare our prototypes to human factors design guidelines and standards. We hold periodic design reviews with human factors practitioners outside the design team.
4. Evaluate designs.
User representatives are asked to complete important operational tasks using the prototypes. We watch, listen, measure, and ask questions while they do this. The results of the evaluations are fed back into the prototypes and Activities 3 and 4 are iterated as needed. Sometimes the results require that we reconsider Activities 1 or 2 but these are the exception. We conduct these evaluations as part of our Early User Involvement Events (EUIEs) and CHI Validations. In addition, OT&E provides a final opportunity to test the system with users in a realistic environment.
