Empirical Study on the Documentation Phase in the Human-Centered Design Process

Abstract

Documentation is an important artifact of the design process, especially when designing robust applications developed by companies with offices across the world. The documentation phase of the design process is how designers communicate their work to different teams, yet this phase is not described in the UCD process. While documenting, designers face several challenges, like identifying the right amount of information different stakeholders need. To overcome this and other challenges, the Interaction Design Team at Kronos analyzed the design process and interviewed different stakeholders to understand their expectations of the design documentation. As a result of these interviews, we changed our design process and the way we document. In this case study, we share on how we evolved our documentation, how it impacted our design process, and how it impacted our communication with stakeholders.