PPIG 2006 - 18th Annual Workshop
The Development Designer Perspective
Brent White, Lynn Rampoldi-Hnilo
Abstract: When creating a decision support tool to assist the selection of a software interface design it is crucial for the user experience team to understand how members of development make design decisions. How do developers think about design and what terminologies do they apply to the design process? Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with developers and product managers responsible for interface design decisions. Results indicated that members of development focused mainly on making new features consistent with their current applications and not innovating new interfaces. Development’s design decision making process relied heavily on input from peers and senior staff. Development’s terminology for categories that are factors in design (e.g., user type, user task, layout structure and data structure) differed from the version conceived by user experience. The synthesis of the two terminologies has created a basis for building a development decision support tool.