Workshop Report:

The Business of Usability: Developing Metrics to Justify our Existence and Budgets

A UPA 2006 Workshop
Monday, June 12, 2006
Broomfield, Colorado, USA

This workshop brought together a group of experts on the topic of cost-justifying usability with a group of manager/director-level usability practitioners from all different industries, disciplines and geography. 

 

• Final Presentation
  A summation from the UPA 2006 Workshop.

Co-Facilitators

The following individuals facilitated the workshop.  Their responsibility was to lead each working group, document the proceedings of the workshop, and explain the purposes of each working session to the participants.

• Scott Butler, Progressive Insurance
• Laura Dove, Medtronic
• Rich Gunther, Ovo Studios
• Paige Valentine Gutierrez, Baylor College of Medicine
• Larry Marine, Intuitive Design

Expert Panelists

The following individuals served as our expert panel during the workshop.  These practitioners were selected based on their experience, publications, and perspectives on the topic of cost-justifying usability.  Their research seeks to explain the positive business aspects of usability, and they have been integral in the success of usability in the corporate world. 

Each expert delivered a short "position talk" at the beginning of the workshop.  The presentations that accompanied those talks are provided below.

• Randolph Bias, University of Texas (bias_presentation.ppt, 216kb)
  
• Nigel Bevan, Serco Usability Services (bevan_presentation.ppt, 723 kb)
  
• Kaaren Hanson, Intuit (hanson_presentation.ppt, 667kb)
  
• Arnie Lund, Microsoft (lund_presentation.ppt, 1.03Mb)
  
• Aaron Marcus, Aaron Marcus and Associates
  (marcus_presentation.pdf, 206kb)

Additional Reading

Links to additional reading on this topic:

• An Analysis of ROI Measurement and Metrics across Usability Professionals
• Business Benefits of Usability
• Selling Usability

 

Participants and Position Papers

The following people attended the workshop.  They were assigned to a working group with one of our expert panelists, who served as sounding boards for the perspectives expressed by their group, and a co-facilitator who took notes.

Position papers, notes from the group's work and their the final presentations made by each of the groups are linked below.

Working Group 1

• Expert Panelist: Aaron Marcus
• Co-Facilitator: Scott Butler (notes, group presentation)
• Tom McCann, Staples (position paper)
• Mary-Beth Rettger, The Mathworks (position paper)
• Jeremy Ashley, Oracle (position paper)
• Susan Wolfe, The Hiser Group (position paper)

Working Group 2

• Expert Panelist: Nigel Bevan
• Co-Facilitator: Laura Dove (notes, group presentation)
• Lene Byskov, PFA Pension (position paper)
• Jim Rudd, IBM (position paper)
• Ben Hoffman, The Hartford (position paper)
• Bob Moritz, Sprint (position paper)

Working Group 3

• Expert Panelist: Randolph Bias
• Co-Facilitator: Paige Valentine Gutierrez (notes, group presentation)
• Cindy Lu, HFEC (notes, position paper)
• Colin Bay, Intel  (position paper)
• Clyde Heppner, Sprint (position paper)
• Harshit Desai

Working Group 4

• Expert Panelist: Kaaren Hanson
• Co-Facilitator: Larry Marine (notes, group presentation)
• Madhuri Kolhatkar, Oracle
• Danny Wildman, DoubleClick (position paper)
• Randy Sieffert, Intel (position paper)
• Carl Myhill, GE (position paper)

Working Group 5

• Expert Panelist: Arnie Lund
• Co-Facilitator: Rich Gunther (notes, group presentation)
• Zoe Pappas-Cipriano, Lockheed Martin (position paper)
• Ken Becker, Intermec (notes, position paper)
• Russell Wilson, NetQoS (notes)

Selection Process

The participants for the workshop were selected from responses to a call for participation. Position papers were reviewed by members of the UPA "Usability in the Enterprise" research project, using a blind review process, for:

• Cohesiveness and clarity of thought
• Amount and breadth of work experience and research on the topic
• Thesis statement and general perspectives offered by candidate
• Ability to theorize on the topic

Thanks to those who helped with the review process.