Human factors in the IT specification process
Linda S. Macaulay, Chris Fowler, Andrew Hutt · ITNOW · 1986
Abstract The NEDO (1985) report [1] paints a picture of the failure of the UK IT industry to address adequately the information needs of the nation. British IT manufacturers and vendors need to respond effectively to this situation if they are to capture and preserve a significant share of both the UK and world IT market. The requirements of IT consumers are also changing. For example, there is a movement towards the employment of standard solutions as opposed to complete in-house developments. Consequently, a significant proportion of the IT market is now represented by ‘packaged solutions’ developed by IT vendors, which have meant that the role of the product marketeer has, in many respects, assumed increased importance over that of the product designer. In essence, the major concern has shifted away from the requirements analysis of a single and/or small class of user to that of an aggregate or ‘product community’. Recent research has tended to focus on improving the interface between designers and users in order to ensure the validity of the product with respect to the client’s functional requirements, and there has been a growth in research from IT manufacturers’ MMI laboratories on product usage dysfunctions at the level of the interface design of existing or known products. There is now a growing need for research to examine the incorporation of the human factors work into the design of new software products.