Corporate Strategy and Usability Research: A New Partnership

Stephanie Rosenbaum, Tec-Ed, Inc.
Judee Humburg, Intuit, Inc.
Judith Ramey, University of Washington

Sunday, April 14 and Monday, April 15

Usability research findings can contribute strategically to the definition of a product family during early planning and design. Rather than waiting for user-testing of prototypes, we can learn about user task habits, preferences, and concerns to identify product opportunities and help define a product's business direction and market positioning. Early usability research methods can collect specific user data needed to plan the product scope, a compelling feature set, and early design prototypes.

This workshop expands on the organizers' previous CHI tutorials to explore how practitioners apply early and iterative usability research as a strategic tool: partnering with other groups in our companies, building cross-functional teams of usability, marketing, development, and support people. The workshop brings together practitioners who have:

Incorporated iterative usability research into the phases of the product planning and development process
Evaluated the trade-offs of investing limited usability resources during these phases
Tried to establish usability research processes and findings as contributors to the strategic planning efforts in their organizations
Attempted to build cross-functional teams to achieve this vision

We solicit case studies of successful and unsuccessful experiences, so participants can pool their insights; we'll learn as much -- or more -- from unsuccessful efforts. In your position/participation paper (3-5 pages), please describe your organizational environment, as well as what you have done to integrate usability research into your company's strategic planning, what methods you used, and how well your efforts worked.

This two-day workshop is limited to 15 participants.

Contact

Stephanie Rosenbaum
P.O. Box 1905
Ann Arbor, MI  48106 USA
E-mail: stephanie@teced.com
Tel: +1 313-995-1010
Fax: +1 313-995-1025

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