Systematic creativity: a methodology for integrating user, market and engineering requirements for product definition, design and usability testing

Abstract

The rate of emerging technological innovations has exceeded the rate at which individuals can assimilate new technologies into their lives. Yet, businesses continue a breakneck pace for the development of new technologies resulting in the creation of products based on a particular type of technology, i.e., technocentric product development, rather than on its utility and usability, i.e., user centric product development. One reason for this misplaced focus on technology rather than on the intended users, may be that few methodologies exist to genuinely incorporate the user in the product development cycle, which would otherwise more tightly link users’ requirements to product design and usability testing. This is especially the case for software user interface development. This paper identifies a framework of a discrete number of specific data classes fundamental to incorporating the user into product development.