Institutionalization of Usability A Step-by-Step Guide

Eric Schaffer, ed. 2004. Pearson Education. [ISBN: 032117934X] 276 pages, including index.

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Usability Interface

Book Review:
Institutionalization of Usability A Step-by-Step Guide

Reviewed by Ruth Haworth

I work on usability research in a software development firm, and I’m at the stage where I want to find a way to get my company to put more resources into this area. We have done some interesting and very useful customer research over the past two years, including usability testing, and there is management interest in increasing and improving our efforts. All of a sudden I have in my hands a book that details the entire process of moving usability from ad hoc projects to a central part of the organization, written by someone who has been through this many times and can not only outline how to proceed, but also can foresee objections and obstacles and provide tips on how to overcome them.

Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-by-Step Guide by Eric Schaffer describes ways to show that a change to user-centered design is needed—which he calls a wake-up call—and explains how to attract an executive champion. He describes how to write a strategy for changing the development process, as well as how to create a development process that incorporates user-centered design. He describes the training that is required, both initially and on an ongoing basis. Many of the chapters contain real-life examples that enhance what he is saying.

However, as someone who is reading Institutionalization of Usability with the intent to actually follow its plan, I have a big problem. Schaffer envisions such a fully institutionalized system of usability that it feels impossible to achieve. He insists that it is necessary to hire consultants to design the usability initiative, and says that a budget of $500,000 is required for a large company. That’s just the start. He estimates that the total cost of institutionalizing usability is $1 million to $3 million per year. Along with the creation of a usability department, he says we also need to train staff in all departments in user-centric design; and ultimately put in place a Chief User Experience Officer, or CXO.

This is an ideal that is so far beyond what is possible in the near term that aiming towards it may doom the entire initiative. My first reaction was a kind of despair—it seems that user-centric development as Schaffer describes it is unaffordable and unfeasible. And yet, after reading the book, I’m convinced by Schaffer’s business acumen, common sense, and understanding of the software development process. When he cites the 1-3 million dollar figure he adds a footnote that this estimate is based on 20 years of experience working with hundreds of clients. He knows what needs to be done and how to do it.

Another issue is that Schaffer’s emphasis on the use of consultants, and his arguments that large consultancies should be used instead of small ones, may seem to be a conflict of interest, as he is the CEO of Human Factors International—a company that offers all these consulting services.

My final problem is a bit of a quibble. Much of Institutionalization of Usability is applicable to all usability, but parts are only of interest to website usability. This is a problem I have with much of the usability field. In addition, the book frequently implies that users are non-technical end-users. My audience is application developers and database administrators, and my product consists of command line utilities and programming APIs as well as user interfaces.

All things considered, Institutionalization of Usability is an important addition to the canon of usability literature.