Develop A User Centered Design of Insurance

Question: Discuss about the Develop A User Centered Design of Insurance . Answer: Aim The aim of the project is to develop a user-centered design for solving the problem of under-insurance of daily use appliances of common people. Most of the users ignore that fact these appliances can be insured and use them without proper insurance. Hence, if the appliances somehow get damaged or destroyed, these users cannot get back the fraction of the price they paid for the appliances. On the other hand, some insurance companies cheat the users and pay less money in the event of destruction of an usable appliance. In order to solve these problems, this project is planned to develop a user-centered design that will address the issues discussed. Context of Use Two different user groups of this software are the consumers and the insurance companies. The contexts of use of this software are shown in the following table. Consumers Insurance Companies Goals/Role in System The consumers should use this software in order to ensure that their daily use appliances are all properly insured and the insurance companies are not cheating them by any means. The companies should use this software in order to maintain a clean relationship with the customers as well as avoid mishandling of the customers insurance money. Tasks Using this software, the consumers should update their insurance statuses as well as requirements regarding investment or return of insurance money. Moreover, they can keep themselves updated with the changing insurance policies and fluctuating values of money. The companies can keep an updated records of the customers including their investment or withdrawal histories. This will also enable them to calculate the available balance for each customer and classify customer requests based on priorities. Physical Environment The customers can use the software anytime from their home or outside based on the device used. If a dedicated mobile app is developed for supporting the software, the user can access it anytime anywhere. The company should only have access to the software inside office premises. The software should contain sufficient amount of personal information of the clients and as a result, the software should not be used outside in order to prevent leak of secure information. Technology and Artifacts The main target technology for consumers is smartphone. It has been seen that many of the customers do not have access to computers but a vast majority has access to smartphones. Hence, if the software is developed for smartphone, more consumers can be earned. The targeted technology for the companies is computer. Using the computer, the company can efficiently use the software and store necessary data in virtual storage interfaces. Social Environment Interaction feature may be added so that consumers can interact with each other using the software. There can be chat option inside the software where interaction is possible. The company will handle a lot of confidential information and hence, no chat options are required. Necessary interactions can be conducted face to face inside office premises. Problems The main problem is that most of the consumers are accustomed to the use of such a software and hence, the design should be made as simple and user-centric as possible. The main problem is that most of the insurance companies have sufficient tech support. Hence, they need to update their technical setup and ensure sufficient maintenance in order to support the new software. Moreover, they also require data security in order to protect confidential and personal information of the customers. Application of UCD Principles There are certain UCD principles that are to be followed while developing a user-centered design for a particular purpose. In the provided case study, a user-interface design is to be created for solving the problem of under-insurance of home appliances of a user including bed, computer, books, cooking utensils, electrical appliances and others. However, the implementation is not possible without complying with the basic UCD principles. The compliance details with the UCD principles are as follows. Principle 1 This principle states that the design is based on the explicit understanding of users, tasks and environment. As the name of the assignment suggests, all the designs must be centered around the user. In other words, the design should be made purely based on the basic understanding and knowledge of the user, tasks and the use environment. In this case, the users as well as the insurance companies must fully understand the working of the design and be able to apply their knowledge in handling the design in the right manner. Principle 2 This principle states that users are involved throughout the design and development. Users must be involved throughout the course of the design and development. However, since active participation may not be possible, passive participation is suggested. This can be done by releasing demo versions that can be used and tested by the users. Further modifications of the design will then be possible following the user feedbacks regarding bugs or improvements. Principle 3 This principle states that the design is driven and refined by user-centered evaluation. The design will definitely be driven and refined by user-centered evaluation. As mentioned in the previous principle, demo versions of the design should be release for the users to test. After testing, they can provide feedbacks regarding existing bugs or issues. Following these feedbacks, suitable changes can be made to the design. Principle 4 According to this principle, the overall design process is iterative. Development of user-centered design is always iterative in nature. During the development life cycle, the development is done through a number of iterative processes. This helps to remove bugs and identify errors during the development process. If in one iteration, an error is detected, changes are made and the iteration is repeated. The development is complete when the final iteration does not show any more errors. Principle 5 This principle states that the design will address the whole user experience. Since the design is user-centric, it must be able to address the whole user experience. Users will be only interested in the design if it enhances user experience and provides great value during its operation and handling. In the opposite case, the users will not accept the design and the project will be a failure. Principle 6 According to this principle, the design team include multidisciplinary skills and perspectives. Any team requires multidisciplinary skills and perspectives in order to provide a number of approaches to the same project. Some perspective may be right but is not feasible for the project. A variety of skills and perspectives will solve this issue and enhance the quality of the project outcome.