(A) requirements analysis method in agile UCD process for bridging user tasks and application features

Abstract

In software development, it is important to mediate various concerns coming from user experience (UX) designers and application developers. In Agile User-Centered Design (Agile UCD), there is a special role called specialist who is dedicated to implement application features as well as to monitor user experiences. However, the specialist normally has difficulty in linking user tasks to be accessed via a user interface (UI) into application feature entities. In addition, the specialist may also have some unsettled usability risks that might result in the failure of meeting certain usability criteria and passing acceptance tests. To alleviate these difficulties of the specialists in Agile UCD, this thesis proposes a usability-pattern-based requirement-analysis method. This method uses standardized and common representations of requirements specification to bridge the gap between user tasks and related application features of a UI. It also provides a guideline to allow the specialist to reduce usability risks in an early stage by reflecting usability factors of UI design patterns to an application design. A case study has been conducted to show how users can effectively specify user tasks and application features on UI workflows. It also shows how easy and practical it is to understand the common representations as well as to apply to usability patterns.