I was recently invited to speak at the Second Annual Symposium on Communicating Complex Information (SCCI). The goals of the conference, sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Special Interest Group on the Design of Communication (SIGDOC), were to clarify the state of the art when designing for the communication of complex information, identify current major research issues and define methodology to transform research into practical applications.
My presentation, “It’s Not About Usability”, described how usability typically refers to post-design measurement and testing. I argued that what’s needed to create complex systems that are both usable and useful is not usability but Design. Companies that attempt to address the issue of poor design by handing the problematic screens to usability professionals are treating the symptoms rather than the disease.
At D3 / Infragistics Services, our User Experience Architects, Designers and Developers collaborate in a research-informeddesign process that drives the creation of innovative applications based on a thorough understanding of the relationship between what users want (requirements they can express) and what users need (requirements they don’t realize they have).
I would love to speak to your organization. Send me email at krichardson@infragistics.com.
Kevin Richardson has been working in the area of user experience for over 20 years. With an advanced degree in Cognitive Psychology, he has experience across business verticals in the fields of research, evaluation, design and management of innovative, user-centered solutions.
Kevin’s experience includes web sites, portals and dashboards, enterprise software and custom business applications for medical, pharmaceutical, communications, entertainment, energy, transportation and government users.
On the weekends, you can find Kevin on his motorcycle, riding for Infragistics Racing at a number of different racetracks on the East coast.
