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Example 2: IBM
By Thyra Rauch
At IBM, our human factors specialists use a variety of user-centered design techniques throughout the
design and development process. Our push has been to move more and more to the front of the
process, working early with users and iterating on early design solutions. Paper prototyping is one of
those techniques used successfully by many groups in IBM at various points in the process. Here are
some examples from some of my recent projects.
When I began work with Tivoli Systems (a company later bought by IBM) several years ago, we had to
work very quickly on a novel project—a piece of software that our customers had no experience with.
The problems we were trying to address could be solved in a number of ways, so first we wanted to get
those thoughts down and run them by our customers.
Storyboards
Before we began prototyping, we often used storyboards to capture more of the scope and flow of the
design proposal. Storyboards are much like paper prototypes, but typically broader in scope and not
generally intended for input from the customers. We tend to do them on big sheets of paper that
capture the narrative of the customer stories, questions that need to be asked, issues that need to be
addressed, assumptions, user information, decision points, and the like. These documents become a
record for the team, and the ideas that we have captured on them remain to be explored later as
resources free up. We've gone back to storyboards as much as several years later because they are
such a rich source of information.
Paper Prototypes
Following our storyboarding exercises where we explored the domain, we created some very rough
paper sketches of several alternatives and went prepared, with a team comprised of human factors and
visual design specialists, to do some "design on the fly" if necessary. The beauty of this approach is
that we could do this kind of activity virtually anywhere: at our development lab, at the customer's site,
or at one of their trade shows or conferences. In many cases, none of the alternatives we had sketched
fully met the needs of the customers, so we did a lot of quick sketching, with the customers telling us
what to draw. In some cases, the customers got so excited they grabbed the pens and started
sketching themselves, which is part of the magic of this medium—anyone can participate.
Using rough forms such as the one shown in
Figure 15.1
, it's very easy to get people engaged in the
process. On one hand, it's good to go in with a straw man because:
It shows you have done your homework in the domain.
1.
2.
It gives them something to react to, which seems to be easier them coming up with something
from scratch.
3.
It scopes the level you want them to work at by providing an example.
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