New Usability Standard Punches its Weight

The international human-centred design standard ISO 13407 is being revised and the final draft of the new version is soon to be published as ISO FDIS 9241-210.

What is ISO 13407? 

The international standard is widely regarded as the definitive statement of best practice for ensuring that interactive systems have usability at their heart.   Its use in the UK has been endorsed by organisations as diverse as the Usability Professionals Association, the Office of Government Commerce and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.  Internationally it has been influential in Europe, North America and Asia.

What has changed? 

The revised standard has been renumbered as ISO 9241-210 to bring it into line with other standards developed by the ISO Human System Interaction committee (TC159/SC4) but its core content remains largely unchanged – with one major exception.  The four key human-centred design activities are no longer just recommendations, they are ‘requirements’.  This means that people who wish to claim that they follow the ISO 9241-210 human centred design approach have to ensure that they:

• Understand and specify the context of use (including users, tasks, environments);
• Specify the user requirements in sufficient detail to drive the design;
• Produce design solutions which meet these requirements;
• Conduct user-centred evaluations of these design solutions and modify the design taking account of the results.

The revised standard also clarifies the critical role of iteration in design and emphasises that human-centred methods can be used throughout the design process – not just in testing at the end.

It also explains the role of human-centred design in promoting the sustainability of interactive systems – a theme picked up in the UPA World Usability day 2009.

Why is it important? 

As project editor (of the original as well as the revision), I believe the revised standard is significantly improved and the transition from guidance to a formal standard with requirements is very significant.  We have had ten years of the original human-centred design standard and we think the time is right to ‘take the gloves off’ and ‘punch our weight’.  We know human-centred design improves systems and products – now we no longer have to hide behind ‘recommendations’.

The earlier drafts were well received and attracted a significant positive vote.  No-one seems to have argued with our new tougher approach.  Times have changed and human-centred design is no longer considered a luxury – it is an essential part of making systems usable.  The final draft is due out soon.

Tom Stewart, Project Editor ISO 13407 and Executive Chairman of System Concepts Ltd

If you would like to find out more about international usability and ergonomics standards,please visit the standards section of our website.