CUA of the Month – April, 2006

Mark Di Sciullo
"Our developers embraced usability and were supportive of defining the user interface requirements up front. They have a genuine desire to get the user interface right the first time, since they have to re-work everything if there's a problem."
 
Mark Di Sciullo
First VP of Usability Engineering & Design Content Management Systems
TD Waterhouse

A method to the madness: Usability processes make user-centered design systematic & reliable

by Jesse Berkowitz

"Usability is an absolutely essential part of technology," says Mark Di Sciullo. "As technology evolves, the focus is more on what customers want from an interface – whereas the other parts of technology are becoming commodities. E-commerce sites are the face of your organization, and you have to get them right."

TD Waterhouse offers products and services that let customers manage their own investments and personal finances. HFI introduced usability at TD Waterhouse several years ago, performing "expert reviews" during the redesign of an online trading application. HFI's CEO Eric Schaffer also gave a presentation on the importance of designing with the customer in mind.

The message was well received. Today, TD Waterhouse has institutionalized its own methodology for user-centered design.

"Usability became part of our software development cycle," says Mark. "Defining the user interface is one of the first steps for every project, even before we finalize the functional requirements. There is just as much importance placed on the user interface as on the system development."

Mark was pleasantly surprised by the receptivity to usability, particularly from developers.

"Our developers embraced usability and were supportive of defining the user interface requirements up front. They have a genuine desire to get the user interface right the first time, since they have to re-work everything if there's a problem," he says.

Certain redesign projects were necessary, though, as TD Waterhouse sought to improve many of its legacy systems. These included sites for retail brokerage and banking, institutional advisors, and active traders. It's critical that these platforms for placing complex trades and moving large sums of money are easy to use – both to attract/retain customers and to prevent errors.

To keep the redesign effort focused on users, Mark and his team created personas based on actual customer data. A persona is a concrete characterization of a representative user (e.g. "Jack Smith is a retiree managing his IRA" or "Laura Hodges is an active trader in New York City"). Personas synthesize the information contained in user, task, and environmental profiles and clarify the underlying design assumptions. A small set of personas lets Mark's team conceptually manage and prioritize many different user groups.

Applying usability principles to this extent requires management support, which Mark's group has earned.

"An organization must understand the concepts behind usability in order to support it. Usability can't just be lumped in with graphic design," he says. "At our company, usability is accepted as a valuable best practice, not just another item that adds time to the development process.

"I require that all the interface designers on my team be trained in user-centered design and earn their Certified Usability Analyst credential from HFI."

CUA of the Month

Each month we highlight the successes and achievements of a different member of our CUA community. If you are a Certified Usability Analyst and would like to be considered for CUA of the Month recognition, please send a brief professional bio to hfi@humanfactors.com

Privacy policy

Reviewed: 18 Mar 2014

This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Human Factors International, Inc., an Iowa corporation ("HFI") collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users (each, a "User") of its humanfactors.com website and any derivative or affiliated websites on which this Privacy Policy is posted (collectively, the "Website"). HFI reserves the right, at its discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at any time by posting such changes to this page. You understand that you have the affirmative obligation to check this Privacy Policy periodically for changes, and you hereby agree to periodically review this Privacy Policy for such changes. The continued use of the Website following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes an acceptance of those changes.

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HFI may use personally identifiable information collected through the Website for the specific purposes for which the information was collected, to process purchases and sales of products or services offered via the Website if any, to contact Users regarding products and services offered by HFI, its parent, subsidiary and other related companies in order to otherwise to enhance Users’ experience with HFI. HFI may also use information collected through the Website for research regarding the effectiveness of the Website and the business planning, marketing, advertising and sales efforts of HFI. HFI does not sell any User information under any circumstances.

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Personal Information as Provided by User

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Correcting, Updating, Accessing or Removing Personal Information

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Contacting HFI

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, you may contact HFI via any of the following methods:
Human Factors International, Inc.
PO Box 2020
1680 highway 1, STE 3600
Fairfield IA 52556
hfi@humanfactors.com
(800) 242-4480

Terms and Conditions for Public Training Courses

Reviewed: 18 Mar 2014

Cancellation of Course by HFI

HFI reserves the right to cancel any course up to 14 (fourteen) days prior to the first day of the course. Registrants will be promptly notified and will receive a full refund or be transferred to the equivalent class of their choice within a 12-month period. HFI is not responsible for travel expenses or any costs that may be incurred as a result of cancellations.

Cancellation of Course by Participants (All regions except India)

$100 processing fee if cancelling within two weeks of course start date.

Cancellation / Transfer by Participants (India)

4 Pack + Exam registration: Rs. 10,000 per participant processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the course (4 Pack-CUA/CXA) registration before three weeks from the course start date. No refund or carry forward of the course fees if cancelling or transferring the course registration within three weeks before the course start date.

Cancellation / Transfer by Participants (Online Courses)

$100 processing fee if cancelling within two weeks of course start date. No cancellations or refunds less than two weeks prior to the first course start date.

Individual Modules: Rs. 3,000 per participant ‘per module’ processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the course (any Individual HFI course) registration before three weeks from the course start date. No refund or carry forward of the course fees if cancelling or transferring the course registration within three weeks before the course start date.

Exam: Rs. 3,000 per participant processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the pre agreed CUA/CXA exam date before three weeks from the examination date. No refund or carry forward of the exam fees if requesting/cancelling or transferring the CUA/CXA exam within three weeks before the examination date.

No Recording Permitted

There will be no audio or video recording allowed in class. Students who have any disability that might affect their performance in this class are encouraged to speak with the instructor at the beginning of the class.

Course Materials Copyright

The course and training materials and all other handouts provided by HFI during the course are published, copyrighted works proprietary and owned exclusively by HFI. The course participant does not acquire title nor ownership rights in any of these materials. Further the course participant agrees not to reproduce, modify, and/or convert to electronic format (i.e., softcopy) any of the materials received from or provided by HFI. The materials provided in the class are for the sole use of the class participant. HFI does not provide the materials in electronic format to the participants in public or onsite courses.