Marilyn M. Mantei
Abstract
New software engineering techniques and the necessity to improve the user interface in increasingly interactive software environments have led to a change in traditional software development methods. Methodologies for improvement of the interface design, an overview of the human factors element, and cost/benefit aspects are explored.
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Index Terms
- Cost/benefit analysis for incorporating human factors in the software lifecycle
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Reviews
Justus D. Naumann
This paper adds specific human factors engineering steps to the software development life cycle. The authors call for a market analysis, using focus groups, prior to the feasibility study; production of a videotape mock-up of the product interface and analysis of user reactions to it, followed by task analysis done by a human factors specialist; a prototype, which they define as screen layouts and screen transitions; user testing and evaluation of the prototype; user testing of the product just prior to release; and a post-release user survey. They provide fairly detailed descriptions and cost estimates for each of their recommended human factors design steps, using a hypothetical system taken from one of the examples in Boehm's COCOMO model. Their decomposition and detailed cost breakdowns, especially of the focus-group and user-survey steps, may be useful to practicing project planners and managers. The tangible benefits of human factors design mentioned are reduced training costs, reduced error costs, and avoidance of design changes. The intangible benefits of human factors designed software derive from the fine tuning with respect to the user that these additional steps produce. The paper ends with an abbreviated cost/benefit analysis of the example system. The analysis seems to conclude that the recommended human factors approach is justifiable only on projects of 32,000 delivered source lines or more, which is a medium-sized or large development project. The authors state that their intent was to “fill the current gap that exists between the human-computer interaction research papers and the pragmatic needs of the software developer.” The paper is clearly between research and practice, but the gap is still large.
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