[Sigia-l] UML - still not fit for the UCD?

[Ruth Kaufman]

My organization does use UML for UCD on some projects. We don't use it 
as a technical specification language, but rather to aid in activities 
such as conceptual modeling. A conceptual model is a diagram (at day's 
end) of the concepts that the site is about, from a user's perspective. 
For example, a news site is likely to have Stories, Events, Email 
Alerts, Subscriptions, etc. The concepts are manifested in user 
objects, which can be expressed in UML as classes. (I'm not sure if 
I've expressed that 100% accurately -- I'm not a bona fide UCD 
practitioner, myself, but work closely w/them...) Calling out concepts 
and user objects does not imply any interaction design -- it just 
generates a collection of objects with which a user can interact. IMHO, 
it's a critical step in the process of designing large domains and web 
applications. It precedes interaction design. Along with use cases, 
conceptual models elucidate what you need in terms of spaces of 
interaction, help you analyze what kinds of variations you'll need for 
common templates, help you understand the relationships among objects 
(containers, synonyms, equivalent classes, etc.) Taking it a step 
further in operations, knowing what your user objects are and what 
properties they have can also inform your content development and 
management process. Why have authors write for screens when they can 
write for users?

In short, UML for UCD is/can be used for far more than translating use 
cases to wire frames.

HTH,
Ruth

PS, Re:
>> "The Usability and UML seminar in Scotland this month concluded that 
>> basic
>> UML (User Modelling Language) is seriously restricted, and 
>> restricting, in
>> modelling complex, collaborative human activities involving 
>> computer-based
>> systems...."

I thought UML stands for "Unified Modeling Language", not "User 
Modeling Language".

On Thursday, November 13, 2003, at 10:17 PM, Chris Chandler wrote:
>
> Luckily, the problem of use cases not fitting the needs of UI 
> designers has been documented and addressed very well in
> at least one place.

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stewart Dean" <stewart at webslave.dircon.co.uk>
> To: <sigia-l at asis.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 6:53 PM
> Subject: [Sigia-l] UML - still not fit for the UCD?
>
>
>>
>>
>> I'm after peoples experiences of UML as I'm wondering if I've given 
>> it too
>> hard a time in the past. I personally have had classes on UML and 
>> have used
>> it to communicate ideas to technical teams but is it true that some 
>> folks
>> use use cases as a main deliverable within user centered design?
>>
>> I have found that use case often take the focus off what the user 
>> wants to
>> do and instead focuses upon how technically things are going to be 
>> done
>> with servers being given equal status to some degree to users, i.e.
>> actors.  Defining technical solutions before defining the user needs I
>> consider working against user centered design. Can UML really be use 
>> to
>> define user interaction that isn't fraught with technical domination?
>>
>> My caution was echoed by this article in Usability news
>>
>> "The Usability and UML seminar in Scotland this month concluded that 
>> basic
>> UML (User Modelling Language) is seriously restricted, and 
>> restricting, in
>> modelling complex, collaborative human activities involving 
>> computer-based
>> systems...."
>>
>> full story.
>> http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article272.asp
>>
>> I'm interested in peoples war stories related to UML.  How have people
>> adapted UML or over come technical encroachment of people attempting 
>> to
>> empose UML?
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Stewart Dean
>>
>>
>>
>>
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