IT210 1

Human-Centered Design (HCD)

An approach to system design that focuses on users’ needs, requirements, and social context to make products useful, usable, and meaningful.

Core Elements of HCD

The iterative activities: Understand, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test, then Iterate.

Form Follows Function

Design principle: a product’s shape should be guided by its purpose and use.

Affordance

The perceived possibilities for action an object or interface suggests to a user.

Feature

A specific attribute or capability intentionally built into a product.

Affordances vs Features

Affordances are what users perceive they can do; features are designer-defined functions.

Signifier

A perceivable cue (label, color, symbol) that indicates how to use an affordance.

Signifiers vs Affordances

Signifiers reveal or highlight affordances so users understand possible actions.

User Feedback

Information from users (opinions, behavior data, metrics) used to improve design.

Feedback Methods

Surveys, interviews, usability tests, analytics, support channels.

Conceptual Model

A simplified mental representation users form to understand how a system works.

Mapping

The relationship between controls and their effects (e.g., which switch controls which light).

User Abstraction

Process where users focus on key elements and form simplified, hierarchical mental models.

Benefits of HCD

Higher satisfaction, lower development cost, better accessibility, and increased adoption.

Symbolic Systems

Representations (personas, wireframes, diagrams) that model real systems for design and analysis.