Human-Centered Software Engineering - Integrating Usability in the Software Development Lifecycle

Human-CenteredSoftwareEngineering: BridgingHCI,UsabilityandSoftwareEngineering From its beginning in the 1980's, the ?eld of human-computer interaction (HCI) has beende?nedasamultidisciplinaryarena. BythisImeanthattherehas beenanexplicit recognition that distinct skills and perspectives are required to make the whole effort of designing usable computer systems work well. Thus people with backgrounds in Computer Science (CS) and Software Engineering (SE) joined with people with ba- grounds in various behavioral science disciplines (e. g. , cognitive and social psych- ogy, anthropology)inaneffortwhereallperspectiveswereseenasessentialtocreating usable systems. But while the ?eld of HCI brings individuals with many background disciplines together to discuss a common goal - the development of useful, usable, satisfying systems - the form of the collaboration remains unclear. Are we striving to coordinate the varied activities in system development, or are we seeking a richer collaborative framework? In coordination, Usability and SE skills can remain quite distinct and while the activities of each group might be critical to the success of a project, we need only insure that critical results are provided at appropriate points in the development cycle. Communication by one group to the other during an activity might be seen as only minimally necessary. In collaboration, there is a sense that each group can learn something about its own methods and processes through a close pa- nership with the other. Communication during the process of gathering information from target users of a system by usability professionals would not be seen as so- thing that gets in the way of the essential work of software engineering professionals.

The concerns of integrating usability, HCI and user-centered design techniques, tools and practices into the entire software engineering lifecycle The current gap between the SE and UE communities has prevented the transfer of UE techniques to the software engineering community. To a certain extent, this gap is also an obstacle for the validation and improvement of HCI and usability techniques Ideas about potential and innovative ways to cross-pollinate the two disciplines Successful and unsuccessful experiences in how to integrate usability into the software engineering lifecycle, in different sizes of organization Avenues for building a tighter fit between HCI and software engineering practices and research

Inhalt
Introductory Chapter.- An Introduction to Human-Centered Software Engineering.- Principles, Myths and Challenges.- Key Principles for User-Centred Systems Design.- HCI, Usability and Software Engineering Integration: Present and Future.- Surveying the Solitudes: An Investigation into the Relationships between Human Computer Interaction and Software Engineering in Practice.- Convergence or Competition between Software Engineering and Human Computer Interaction.- Requirements, Scenarios, and Use-cases.- Experience with Using General Usability Scenarios on the Software Architecture of a Collaborative System.- Linking User Needs and Use Case-Driven Requirements Engineering.- Guiding Designers to the World of Usability: Determining Usability Requirements Through Teamwork.- Transforming Usability Engineering Requirements into Software Engineering Specifications: From PUF to UML.- UCD, Unified and Agile Processes.- Which, When and How Usability Techniques and Activities Should Be Integrated.- Coping with Complexity.- Towards a Model for Bridging Agile Development and User-Centered Design.- Ripple: An Event Driven Design Representation Framework for Integrating Usability and Software Engineering Life Cycles.- UCD Knowledge and UI design Patterns.- Integrating User-Centered Design Knowledge with Scenarios.- Patterns of Integration: Bringing User Centered Design into the Software Development Lifecycle.- UI Design Patterns: Bridging Use Cases and UI Design.- UI Design Patterns: From Theory to Practice.