Information Technology Reference
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proposed and the resources that enable it to be implemented. It is also possible to
refine the search by specifying the type of medium, a reference to a particular use
case, or the state and accessibility of the available information.
This automated translation of data represents a step in the transmission of the
real needs of users towards the technical design. Indeed, formalization in terms of
objects and access by criteria enable us to hope for a better understanding of the user
issues by the system designers. Furthermore, this implementation of use data could
be an interesting tool for the evaluation of prototypes. Indeed, the realization of the
experimental protocol on an existing device, then on a prototype (or two prototypes
separated with an iteration) allows us to create two databases of action-objective
sequences. The MASSIV tool will then enable us to compare the use of two systems
in relation to the same reference source of situations of use.
2.6. Conclusion
This chapter allowed the empirical and theoretical genesis of a methodology that
structures analysis for the design of an IIS to be presented. The methodology comes
from experimental work carried out in the context of the
P@ss-ITS
project involving
development of a multimodal traveler information system. Feedback from this
experiment enabled RAMSES to be built; a formal methodology for the collection,
analysis, modeling/specification and evaluation of specifications of an interactive
information system. This methodology combines the benefits of paradigms that
come from the ergonomics and software engineering, with the aim of helping the
design of systems useful and usable to varied populations in a great variability of
situations of use.
This study enabled us to validate the RAMSES method for the phase concerning
the transformation of users' real needs in functional specifications. It will be
advisable to validate its application in the context of a design project enabling its
complete deployment. Thus, the benefit of a tool for management of needs of the
final users (MASSIV) could be tested before even making prototypes. It would thus
be a matter of evaluating its benefit in terms of covering needs, facilitating inter-
player communication and/or the degree of transmission of use-oriented
specifications for the technical design.
A way to improve RAMSES would be to add iteration circles. As user-centered
approaches recommend [ISO 00], it is a matter of analyzing the real use of new
services by the panel of travelers - after the realization of a prototype - then in a real
situation. The evaluation would be carried out with MASSIV, which would then
enable us to verify the response to the needs for each iteration.
