In college, one of the classes I enjoyed the most was on User Interfaces. What intrigued me about this class was not really what you would expect. I did enjoy learning about color schemes, use of sound, and creating useable widgets, but what I really enjoyed about the class was the focus on the end user. Following the completion of the class I had a new perspective on each piece of software that I built. I would like to think that the User Interfaces I build are more universally acceptable, but what I really concentrate on is creating software that meets the objectives of my end users but also meets them in a way that makes it simple for the end users to meet their end objectives.

In a large development project, often the development team does not consist of any end users. The end users are often consulted during the writing of the User Requirements and requested to sign the Functional Requirements, but they are not often spoken with again about the details of the application until they arrive in a training class. Overall, I do not consider this a flaw in the development process because on large global scale development projects, the less conversation with end users during development the more likely the project will be delivered on time. This is the reason why the User Requirements and Functional Requirements should be agreed upon and signed off on prior to development.

The one side effect of this process is that it is easy for the development team to be more concerned about delivering the project, then about ensuring that the application is useable by the end users when it is delivered. One of the aspects of my job that I really enjoy is conducting training classes. The reason why I enjoy this so much is because of the opportunity to interact with the end users who are actually using the application I helped develop. These sessions can be extremely enlightening because they tend to point out alternate ways that User Requirements could have been met. Furthermore, these sessions tend to highlight the inadequacies of the documentation that has been prepared for the end user.

There is a lot of documentation developed for a large-scale application. Most of it is very important, but only certain documentation is important to certain people. From a technology consultant view, I find that the most important documentation for me when I need to maintain or support a system is the Design Specification. This is my blue print of the system and is vital for me to be able to understand the inter-workings of the application. Unfortunately this documentation is mostly useless for the end user because it was not written in language designed for the end user.

I believe that the most important documentation for a successful implementation is the User Manual. A properly written User Manual will enable an end user with applicable examples, definitions, and workflow charts that explain exactly how they can use the application to meet their objectives. This is especially vital when a new application is replacing existing technology. The end users are accustom to performing certain steps in the existing application to successfully complete their responsibilities. The new application should not force them into a mode of self discover” to perform these same responsibilities.

The second area that is often neglected during the release of a new application is pre-go-live support. Following a training class, the end users are charged with learning the system before it will replace their existing system to minimize down time and confusion. Undoubtedly, the end users will need support during this time. A high quality User Manual should help in this area, but it will not be possible to meet all of the questions encountered through the course of learning the system. This initial exposure time to the application is when the end user forms their opinion of the application. A member of the design team must be assigned to helping the end user community through this transition time. They should have the ability to answer questions from an end user perspective as well as dedicate the time to giving timely responses. Like all first impressions, this pre-go-live time is essential in the forming of the system impression for end users.

Meeting functional requirements is obviously an objective in any development project. Staying focused on the goal of meeting these objectives while concentrating on enabling end users to succeed at using the application should be the primary objective.