Abstract
Sizing UCD projects presents special challenges to consultants. Each project and UCD processes come with their own set of variables for which it is difficult to accurately estimate completion times. The goal of this workshop is to share best practices for effectively sizing UCD projects.
Workshop description
No matter how experienced the consultant, (s)he is continually faced with the challenge of how to effectively scope a UCD project so that the actual end time spent on the various activities reflects what was originally proposed. The process of estimating the time it will take to complete any given phase of a UCD project, not to mention the entire project, is affected by many variables, including the following:
- The inherently iterative nature of the UCD process,
- The unknown number of iterations that will be required for any given component,
- A limited knowledge of the client and their work practices, the extent to which they understand and "buy into" the design process,
- The specific makeup of the team (e.g., some team players may be more or less efficient, or more or less skilled),
- Various other unknowns about the product.
Ensuring the client understands that an estimate is just that--an estimate--also brings its own set of challenges. Often, clients misread or ignore that important word in the proposal, and instead assume that the cost 'estimates' are cost 'absolutes.'
Consultants and others responsible for sizing a UCD project have varying strategies for providing clients estimates for UCD work, including the following, among others:
- The case study approach
- A "per screen" formula
- Number of hours per task
This workshop will attempt to identify the strategies that have been effective for consultants and others responsible for sizing UCD efforts and/or develop a hybrid approach that stems from best practices.
Related to these challenges is the frequent need to communicate to the client the possibility of overage hours. Because of the difficulty of the sizing task, frequently, consultants will find they require more hours than originally estimated to complete the project. The consultants must decide whether and how to report the possible overage.
By bringing together consultants and others faced with these challenges, we hope all will leave with some concrete ideas and tools in hand for better estimating and managing UCD projects.
Details of the Day
The workshop will begin with a short introductory session where the facilitators will provide an overview of the common problems consultants face in sizing UCD projects. Several short, focused, small-group discussions will follow. Participants will rotate the groups in which they participate so that they have the opportunity to interact with most of the other workshop participants.
Each group will be asked to brainstorm the topic, record their ideas, solutions, problems, etc., on easel paper, and select a leader to review the group's discussion when the workshop group reconvenes. When possible, the facilitators will act as scribes while visiting each of the groups to ensure that everything possible is recorded.
At the end of the day, a final whole-group discussion session will take place to reflect on the day's activities and discussions and to identify best practices. The workshop leaders will close with final statements and a discussion of next steps.
Applying to Participate in This Workshop
A workshop is a closed session. Admission to a workshop requires an approved position paper from you addressing the issues suggested by the coordinator(s). Please send your position paper (which should be roughly 1 to 3 pages) to Janice James, janice@simplyusable.com. Position papers received by April 25 will be accepted or rejected by April 30, in time for you to register before the early registration deadline on May 2. Position papers received by May 24 will be accepted or rejected by May 29, in time for the May 31 registration discount. Papers received after May 24 will be evaluated at the facilitator's discretion.
Participant selection criteria
We invite 3-5 page position papers from consultants and others responsible for sizing and scoping UCD services. Participants will be selected based on the quality of submitted position papers containing the following pieces of information:
- A 'case study' description of one or more experiences, the challenges/problems/issues faced during the sizing, and/or scoping of the project, and attempts made to solve the problems faced. In addition, participants will be asked to describe the impact the problems/issues had on subsequent UCD projects.
- Desired outcomes of the workshop. In the final section of their position paper, participants will be asked to describe what they expect to learn and get out of the workshop.
- A general description of experience in sizing UCD projects.
- Example proposal, sizing and scoping documents, tables, and other tools used to scope, and size, UCD projects. These examples will be shared with workshop participants during the workshop, so confidential material should not be submitted or confidential references should be eliminated from or masked within the documents.
- An analysis of what worked or did not work
- Any lessons or best practices the participant would recommend based on this case study experience and others
- Questions the participant has for other consultants and hopes to have answered during the workshop
- A statement of the potential participant's goals for the workshop
- Biographical information, including capacity in which participant provides consulting services (in a corporation, in a small/large consulting firm, or as an independent)
Pre-workshop participant activities
Participants will be asked to bring to the workshop any tools (including, e.g., sizing “algorithms”) they have used in effectively sizing and scoping UCD projects. Please strike through any confidential references.
Pre-workshop facilitator activities
Prior to the workshop, the facilitators will have reviewed each participant’s position paper. The facilitators will publish the selected participants’ papers online (with permission from the participants and with password protection). Participants will also be asked to print the materials and bring them to the workshop for reference.
The facilitators will also collect a list of the questions participants would like to be answered, as well as a list of challenges and issues participants have discussed in their case studies and attempt to work those into the final topic areas for the workshop. The preliminary list of topics that will be discussed by the groups include:
1. What are the variables that limit our ability to effectively size and scope a UCD project?
- Iterative nature of the UCD process
- Unknown number of iterations per task and per component
- Number of problems discovered during usability tests
- Consultant’s limited knowledge of the client and their work practices
- Client’s limited knowledge of the UCD process
- Skills and work habits of the team
2. What are some proven existing strategies for effectively sizing and scoping UCD projects?
- Are there any that have proven to be effective?
- Which are ineffective?
- What are the pros and cons of each?
3. What are some proven existing strategies for effectively making task and project estimates for UCD projects?
- Fixed price
- Low/high range
- Best guess
- Hourly estimates for each task
- Padding vs. not padding
- One price for all vs. different prices depending on what factors?
4. Communicating with the client about possible overages—how, when, whether, and what to communicate?
Presentation of results during the conference
Posters and other materials summarizing the workshop findings will be available in the conference Commons area.
Post-conference dissemination of results
The workshop leaders will produce a white paper from the workshop for publication in User Experience and a synopsis for publication in The Voice. The workshop leaders will also make results available online to workshop participants.
Post-conference activities
If the workshop results prove sufficiently rich in breadth and depth, the workshop leaders will consider expanding the results into an edited volume.
Facilitators
Janice James is a Usability Consultant with over 15 years in the field of Usability Engineering. In her consulting practice, Simply Usable through Design, Janice provides usability research, evaluation, training, and user interface design services.
Carol Righi is president of Righi Interface Engineering. She has worked in the area of human-computer interaction since 1984, and currently is a consultant specializing in interaction design and usability engineering.
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