Publishing on uselog is a part of my PhD research at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering in Delft, The Netherlands. My project focuses on identifying what factors in the product development process influence the usability of electronic consumer products?

Gap between literature and practice
There are a lot of usability theories and methods available, but it is not known whether and how these are applied in the development of electronic consumer products. That is why we are trying to shape an image of the practice of usability, and to identify things that positively and negatively influence usability. In total, three case studies are performed.

Study 1: four companies, four markets
In the first case study we explored how usability was dealt with in four industries: automotive, professional coffee equipment, copiers and fast moving consumer goods. This gave us insight on how usability is dealt with in different markets.

Study 2: five companies, consumer electronics market
The second case study was performed among five major international developers of electronic consumer products (i.e., mp3-players, navigation devices, mobile phones). This provided insight into how usability is dealt with by product development groups; barriers and enablers were identified in different categories: the development process, the team that performs it, the project they work in, their company, and finally the market the company is in. An all these levels barriers and enablers for usability can be found.

Study 3: four projects, one consumer electronics company
Finally, in the third study we investigated the development history of four products – with both good and bad usability – that have recently come on the market. In this last study, we took a more detailed look at the development and design process. And we saw what really turns on usability.