Tutorial: 32. Conceptual Design: From User Requirements to User Interface

Kathy Potosnak, Interface Concepts

Benefits
You will learn the purpose and value of conceptual design as the basis for a user interface. You will gain hands-on experience with a user-centered conceptual design framework that will guide you step-by-step when creating or modifying a conceptual design for a product.

Origins
This is a new tutorial for CHI 98.

Features

• how to start with user requirements and get to a user interface design
• the seven steps of the conceptual design framework
• contents of a conceptual model
• constructing a user interface model to clearly and accurately convey the conceptual design to users
• benefits of this simple, cost-effective approach

Audience
Anyone who participates in product design activities.

Presentation
Lecture interspersed with several large group and small team exercises.

Instructor
Kathy Potosnak is principal consultant of Interface Concepts, a user interface consulting firm she established in 1995. She developed and refined the conceptual design framework based on 14 years of experience in human-computer interaction. Previously, Kathy was employed at Adobe, Aldus and Ashton-Tate, where she was responsible for user interface design across entire product lines. She received her Ph.D. in engineering psychology from Johns Hopkins University, has published over 30 articles and taught numerous UI design courses. She is co-founder and past chair of the Puget Sound SIGCHI chapter and a member of SIGCHI, HFES, IEEE-CS and UPA.

Related Tutorials

• 10. Structured Observation: Practical Methods for Understanding Users and Their Work in Context (Sunday)
• 17. Getting Started on a Contextual Project (Sunday afternoon)
• 25. Contextual Design: Using Customer Work Models to Drive Systems Design (Monday)