Lifecycle-Embedded Usability

A Results-Oriented Approach for Ensuring System Usability

Martha Lindeman, Ph.D.
President, Agile Interactions, Inc., Columbus, OH

The GAINS approach to increasing system usability is a drill-down process that can be embedded in the system-development lifecycle. The word "GAINS" is an acronym indicating that user-interface designers have only Attraction, Information and Navigation to connect between end users' Goals and the project sponsor's criteria for Success. GAINS is a results-centered approach integrating the overlaps among the three more well-known approaches to user-interface design: (1) "user-centered" [focused on people], (2) "usage-centered" [focused on process], and (3) "feature-driven" [focused on technology]). Using any one of these three approaches causes problems that could be eliminated when the overlaps among them are considered. For example, Microsoft designers are using a results-oriented approach to drastically change the user-interface model for Microsoft Office, and information about the new Office 12 will be included among the real-life examples provided in the presentation.

Dr. Lindeman has been a consultant/trainer in rapid user-interface design since receiving her Ph.D. in 1985 from Harvard University in cognitive psychology. She created and repeatedly refined her GAINS design process in projects ranging from small 'on-the-fly' projects to very large projects that required a great deal of documentation and communication among team members. Her focus has always been on twin goals: (1) creating easy-to-learn, easy-to-use user interfaces, and (2) NOT adding time to the development process. In addition, user-interaction design often has to be done using project documentation rather than information drawn directly from expected end-users. The GAINS process has been successfully applied to the design of interactive systems in many different types of domains and to systems ranging from very simple to very complex. A Fortune 100 company has put the GAINS process into its web site for use by in-house designers.