[Usability Maturity Model] [13407] [Application] [Summary of UMM]

Taking the approach to user-centred design originating in Norman and Draper (1986), ISO TC159/SC4 Ergonomics of human-system interaction tasked a working group under the leadership of Tom Stewart with the development of guidance for project managers.  This was published as ISO 13407:1999 Human-centred design processes for interactive systems.  ISO 13407 lists the following principles for human-centred design:

• the active involvement of users and a clear understanding of user and task requirements
• an appropriate allocation of function between users and technology
• the iteration of design solutions
• multi-disciplinary design.

It specifies the following activities:

• planning of the human-centred design process
• specification of the user and organisational requirements
• ·understanding and specification of the context of use
• production of design solutions
• evaluation of designs against requirements.

                As the work on ISO 13407 progressed, a formal liaison was established with ISO/IEC JTC1/SC7 Software Ergonomics, the committee leading the development of process models and process assessment methods for systems and software lifecycles. This liaison, and work on the EC INUSE project (Earthy, 1996), identified the need for a structured presentation of user-centred design activities for use in process assessment, resulting in the Usability Maturity Model (UMM).

Overview of ISO 13407

Title	ISO 13407 Human-centred design processes for interactive systems
Date	July 1999
Scope	Guidance on human-centred design activities throughout the life cycle of interactive computer-based systems.
Contents	The rationale for a user-centred design process. A description of the four core principles of human-centred design.  Planning of the user-centred design process.  Description of the four activities which should take place during a system development process.  A listing of current process and product standards for user-centred design.
Purpose	ISO 13407 aims to help those responsible for managing hardware and software design processes to identify and plan effective and timely user-centred design activities.  It complements existing design approaches and methods.
Audience	Those managing the design process.  All parties involved in human-centred system development, including the end-users of systems are expected to find the standard relevant.
Requirements	Any development process which claims to have met the recommendations in ISO 13407 shall specify  the procedures used, information collected and use made of the results.

The clauses of the standard are as follows:

Introduction

1          Scope

2          Terms and definitions

3            Structure of this International Standard

4            Rationale for adopting a human-centred design process

5            Principles of human-centred design

            5.1            General

            5.2            The active involvement of users and a clear understanding of user and task requirements

            5.3            An appropriate allocation of function between user and technology

            5.4            Iteration of design solutions

            5.5            Multi-disciplinary design

6            Planning the human-centred design process

7            Human-centred design activities

            7.1            General

7.2            Understand and specify the context of use

7.3            Specify the user and organisational requirements

7.4            Produce design solutions

7.5            Evaluate designs against requirements

8            Conformance

 Annex A (informative)Guidance on other relevant standards

Annex B (informative)Example of a structure for a usability evaluation report

Annex C (informative)Sample procedure for demonstrating conformance to this International Standard

Bibliography

Lloyd’s Register of Shipping and Process Contracting Limited © 2003