INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN-CENTERED PRODUCT PLANNING AND DESIGN

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1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter is concerned with designing products and systems using a methodology called human- centered design (Rouse 1991, 1994). Human-centered design is a process of ensuring that the con- cerns, values, and perceptions of all stakeholders in a design effort are considered and balanced. Stakeholders include users, customers, evaluators, regulators, service personnel, and so on.

Human-centered design can be contrasted with user-centered design (Billings, 1996; Booher 1990; Card et al. 1983; Norman and Draper 1986). The user is a very important stakeholder in design, often the primary stakeholder. However, the success of a product or system is usually strongly influ- enced by other players in the process of design, development, fielding, and ongoing use of products and systems. Human-centered design is concerned with the full range of stakeholders.

Considering and balancing the concerns, values, and perceptions of such a broad range of people presents difficult challenges. Ad hoc approaches do not consistently work—too much drops through the cracks. A systematic framework, which is comprehensive but also relatively easy to employ, is necessary for human-centered design to be practical. This chapter presents such a framework.

 

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