|
"The global trend today is to allow customers design their own product on the Web while manufacturers assemble it for them. This is the converse of traditional DIY. Designing a Web-based Do-It-Yourself-Design system requires implementing usability throughout the system development life cycle."
We are all designers in a way. Design is a way of expressing our attitudes, feelings and even personality. Web-based design requires the customer to select product options from an array of choices and to configure a final product that they would buy. This not only allows direct interaction with the manufacturer, but the product usually meets customer requirements, thereby avoiding product wastage on the manufacturer's part.
To ensure that the product platform meets customer needs, we must test that the choices offered are satisfying to customers, the design task is easy to perform, the website features appeal greatly, the purchase can be made easily, the product meets quality attributes, and so forth. These are all usability issues and cannot be compromised in the setting up of such a system.
Mass customization may be an emerging trend but it's already here! What's more significant in today's e-business is satisfying the customers. Most CEOs today are concerned about this phenomenon as customers are increasingly more choosey, demanding and harder to satisfy. By getting to the customers directly through a company's usable website can commit customers to purchase, besides ensuring their loyalty.
Affective design of products is the in-thing. Products should not only be usable, but pleasurable to use as well. This means it should have both beauty and usability. Understanding user emotions plays a critical role in designing pleasurable products, while uncovering their needs can lead to easy-to-use user interfaces. Both matter greatly in creating products that sell in the global marketplace.
| |
 |
Senior Scientist
Dr Halimahtun has more than 25 years of experience in teaching
and research. Previously she was Professor of Cognitive Ergonomics
at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, and founding Director of the
Research Institute of Design and Ergonomics Applications.
Prior to that, she was founding Dean of the Centre for Applied
Learning and Multimedia. Presently, she is President-elect
of the Work With Computing Systems Group. Her past research
work includes usability engineering of design by customer
websites for mass customization, usability evaluation of speech
ATM, assistive device for medical rehabilitation, and virtual
collaborative systems for conceptual product design.
|
| 
