Usability engineering from the supplier's point of view

Many software development projects in the telecommunications industry face time and resource limitations which compromise human factors efforts. Due to this, the usability methods proven to produce effective, consistent user interfaces, such as those recommended by Nielsen (1993), cannot always be applied completely. Joint usability engineering with customer human factors experts, centered on iterative prototyping, can achieve evident improvements in usability despite these obstacles. The presentation describes an Ericsson Hewlett-Packard Telecommunications (EHPT) project, in which the character-based user interfaces of four standard network element management applications were improved to be consistent and task-oriented. Time pressure forced usability methods to be performed at a minimal level. A direct relationship between EHPT's human factors experts and a customer's (Royal PTT Nederland NV) human factors team, which acted as a channel for user input in the project, was established. The partly joint, partly parallel work of the two teams was a flexible solution to the time and resource limitations for usability engineering in the project. Initial feedback from end-users indicates that improvements in usability have been achieved. The lessons learned during the project are presented as pragmatic suggestions for usability survival in the time-pressured environment common to telecom software development projects.