USABILITY - THE NEW DIMENSION OF PRODUCT DESIGN

The mission of industrial design has traditionally been to support eng ineering and marketing by improving the look and feel of a product. Bu t a handful of pioneering companies-such as Thomson Consumer Electroni cs, Apple Computer, and Northern Telecom - are extending the parameter s of design, pushing to the forefront something that has been an after thought at most companies: a product's usability. In traditional desig n, usability largely concerned ergonomics - that is, embodying in phys ical forms knowledge about how people reach for, pick up, hold, and ot herwise use artifacts. But user-centered design goes beyond that to en compass the cognitive aspects of using a product, or how logical and n atural a product is to use, as well as the emotional aspects, or how p eople feel about using it. Thomson for example, has declared that all its entertainment products must be engaging, foster a sense of discove ry, and eliminate fear. And Northern Telecom has defined usability as simplicity, ease of use, and conspicuous customer value. Many companie s that shift to user-centered design will have to expand their design groups to include people with backgrounds in computer science, cogniti ve psychology, and visual design. And they will have to reorganize the design process to ensure that usability is designed into the product from the outset. With the gap between competing products narrowing in terms of performance and quality, the experience a product delivers is rapidly becoming the key to offering distinctive value to the custome r. Photographs of Thomson's System Link universal remote, Apple's Powe r-Book computer, and Northern Telecom' s Vista modular phone illustrat e how the new definition of usability can be incorporated into product s.