What is User Experience? - Northrop Grumman Corporation
What is User Experience? Bringing user-centered design into the product development lifecycle.
Why is User Experience important?
U
X design puts the user in the center of all project considerations. From the proposal process to the requirements writing to the testing process to the measurements of success at the end of the project, the user is the main focus. UX is not just a phase of the process, the graphical user interface or pretty pictures – UX is the ultimate goal of the development process. The UX process works with existing system development processes to ensure a structured, aligned focus to the needs of the product user in the real world. Bringing user-centered design into the product development lifecycle gives teams and customers a way to quantitatively and qualitatively track and evaluate product performance and usability leading to affordable innovation.
• UX design can increase operational effectiveness. A system or program with better ease of use increases operator speed and efficiency. Not only do error rates decrease with intentional UX design, but less mental stress is placed on the user, thus reducing cognitive load and increasing the operator’s ability to handle critical situations. With less effort required to learn and operate the user interface, more time and energy is available for the operator to focus on the mission. • UX design fosters efficiency both in a timely and economic manner. A well designed system reduces the costs, resources and schedule that must be allocated to training. Intuitively designed systems enable users to focus on their jobs rather than their software.
• UX design can augment human perception. Data is useless unless it can be turned into usable information by operators. Good UX design enables users to make more effective use of the data at their disposal to attain new insights and increase overall situational awareness.
What is the problem? The main concern for UX lies with the relationship between the user and the product developed. Systems do not work if users cannot make them work, and users often cannot make them work due to misunderstandings of users’ needs. Program teams cannot accidently stumble upon creating an effective system for users. A structured, user-centered process must be followed by a qualified team that includes user research and UX design experts. When teams fail to follow a usercentered process and lack the necessary expertise, the resultant
The UX Process works with existing system development processes to ensure a structured, aligned focus on the needs of the product user in the real world.
system will be geared toward the engineer rather than the end user. Systems created in this manner are difficult to learn, difficult to use, are prone to more errors and create cost burdens during the development, operational and sustainment phases of the product life-cycle. At best, non-intuitive systems require more training and resources which raise company expenditures; at worst they create mission critical failures with unacceptable consequences. Customers want a quality product that can reduce the need for training, improve solutions’ ease of use and reduce cost. With shrinking budgets, a stronger emphasis is placed on operational effectiveness and efficiency. Customers are looking to invest in solutions that can be efficiently operated by end-users from day one.
Northrop Grumman’s role in User Experience Northrop Grumman’s multi-disciplinary team applies commercial best practices to create user-centered solutions to hard problems. We work with users in their environment to get an understanding of what is needed and then help the program define success metrics for the system based on the needs of the user. Northrop Grumman UX practitioners work with the program team to incorporate the UX process
www.northropgrumman.com © 2014 Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation. All rights reserved. Approved for Public Release: 14-1208 IS10800514
with the program’s existing development and program management processes to ensure strong technical and user-focused outcomes. UX practitioners at Northrop Grumman follow a five phase process for creating an effective user experience – Discover, Imagine, Invent, Evaluate and Produce. We begin with a Discover phase that involves observing what users do, what they need, and how the program is put together to support the users’ experience. Then we enter a phase of Imagining potential solutions where everyone from the project team (including customers) comes together to brainstorm, collaborate and generate new ideas. New ideas are then evaluated for viability. Ideas that are operationally and technologically sound are carried into the Invent phase. Inventing involves creating a variety of interactive, immersive and realistic prototypes that allow
the team to understand how the product would work in an operational environment. We then Evaluate those prototypes to learn what succeeds and what does not. Once we have the design airtight and can be assured that our design meets user needs, we Produce the tangible and digital product and service artifacts. This process allows the UX and product teams to collaboratively produce the best possible product for the operator.
For more information, please contact: Northrop Grumman Information Systems 7575 Colshire Drive McLean, VA 22102 [email protected]
Why is User Experience important?
U
X design puts the user in the center of all project considerations. From the proposal process to the requirements writing to the testing process to the measurements of success at the end of the project, the user is the main focus. UX is not just a phase of the process, the graphical user interface or pretty pictures – UX is the ultimate goal of the development process. The UX process works with existing system development processes to ensure a structured, aligned focus to the needs of the product user in the real world. Bringing user-centered design into the product development lifecycle gives teams and customers a way to quantitatively and qualitatively track and evaluate product performance and usability leading to affordable innovation.
• UX design can increase operational effectiveness. A system or program with better ease of use increases operator speed and efficiency. Not only do error rates decrease with intentional UX design, but less mental stress is placed on the user, thus reducing cognitive load and increasing the operator’s ability to handle critical situations. With less effort required to learn and operate the user interface, more time and energy is available for the operator to focus on the mission. • UX design fosters efficiency both in a timely and economic manner. A well designed system reduces the costs, resources and schedule that must be allocated to training. Intuitively designed systems enable users to focus on their jobs rather than their software.
• UX design can augment human perception. Data is useless unless it can be turned into usable information by operators. Good UX design enables users to make more effective use of the data at their disposal to attain new insights and increase overall situational awareness.
What is the problem? The main concern for UX lies with the relationship between the user and the product developed. Systems do not work if users cannot make them work, and users often cannot make them work due to misunderstandings of users’ needs. Program teams cannot accidently stumble upon creating an effective system for users. A structured, user-centered process must be followed by a qualified team that includes user research and UX design experts. When teams fail to follow a usercentered process and lack the necessary expertise, the resultant
The UX Process works with existing system development processes to ensure a structured, aligned focus on the needs of the product user in the real world.
system will be geared toward the engineer rather than the end user. Systems created in this manner are difficult to learn, difficult to use, are prone to more errors and create cost burdens during the development, operational and sustainment phases of the product life-cycle. At best, non-intuitive systems require more training and resources which raise company expenditures; at worst they create mission critical failures with unacceptable consequences. Customers want a quality product that can reduce the need for training, improve solutions’ ease of use and reduce cost. With shrinking budgets, a stronger emphasis is placed on operational effectiveness and efficiency. Customers are looking to invest in solutions that can be efficiently operated by end-users from day one.
Northrop Grumman’s role in User Experience Northrop Grumman’s multi-disciplinary team applies commercial best practices to create user-centered solutions to hard problems. We work with users in their environment to get an understanding of what is needed and then help the program define success metrics for the system based on the needs of the user. Northrop Grumman UX practitioners work with the program team to incorporate the UX process
www.northropgrumman.com © 2014 Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation. All rights reserved. Approved for Public Release: 14-1208 IS10800514
with the program’s existing development and program management processes to ensure strong technical and user-focused outcomes. UX practitioners at Northrop Grumman follow a five phase process for creating an effective user experience – Discover, Imagine, Invent, Evaluate and Produce. We begin with a Discover phase that involves observing what users do, what they need, and how the program is put together to support the users’ experience. Then we enter a phase of Imagining potential solutions where everyone from the project team (including customers) comes together to brainstorm, collaborate and generate new ideas. New ideas are then evaluated for viability. Ideas that are operationally and technologically sound are carried into the Invent phase. Inventing involves creating a variety of interactive, immersive and realistic prototypes that allow
the team to understand how the product would work in an operational environment. We then Evaluate those prototypes to learn what succeeds and what does not. Once we have the design airtight and can be assured that our design meets user needs, we Produce the tangible and digital product and service artifacts. This process allows the UX and product teams to collaboratively produce the best possible product for the operator.
For more information, please contact: Northrop Grumman Information Systems 7575 Colshire Drive McLean, VA 22102 [email protected]
