Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-By-Step Guide

Allows readers to understand usability and how to make this concept of growing importance a reality throughout their organizations.

• The first guide to the institutionalization of usability -- making usability a core aspect of company culture so that resulting products are of higher quality
• Customers are beginning to demand usability; companies are finally beginning to see it as a competitive advantage
• From the founder and CEO of HFI, the leading usability engineering company in the world

Mainstream Usability describes a proven process for building user-centered software design into an organization. It shows how to make usability a part of the organizational culture. The instruction in this book is based upon author Eric Schaffer's more than twenty years running Human Factors International, Inc., the world's largest company specializing in usability engineering. In this book, he describes in detail HFI's latest process for setting up usability as an internal development mindset and competency, sharing insights from experience on what works and what does not. The book addresses specifically the organizational structures and communication channels that are needed, as well as staffing and infrastructure requirements. The result is a thought-provoking guide that enables readers to implement the state-of-the-art best practices in usability engineering.