User-Centred Design in Web Projects. Case: Vekki Project

This bachelor’s thesis examines user-centred design in web projects. The thesis is a case study, which analyses the design and the production processes of Vekki Project. Vekki is an extranet between VKK (in Finnish, The Insurance Rehabilitation Association of Finland) and some Finnish insurance companies. It was created during the project between November 2006 and April 2008. The purpose of the research is to define the critical factors for user-centred design and to examine how these criteria are observed in Vekki Project.

The theoretical background of this thesis introduces the main theories and models of UCD (User-Centred Design) and usability. In addition a review of some former UCD studies is presented.

The empirical study was conducted between April 2007 and April 2008. The research methodology used was qualitative. The empirical material was obtained by observation and taking notes while participating in Vekki Project’s working groups and by examining project reports and documents.

The empirical material was analysed qualitatively. The material was categorized and analysed by the critical factors of user-centred design, e.g. iterative design and usability tests. In the empirical section the occurrence of the user-centred design criteria in the each phase of the project are presented.

As a result of the research it is discovered that the critical factors for user-centred design and usability in web projects are iterative design, collecting and documenting the user information, putting the user information into structural form and paying attention to usability already in the early phases of the design process. By reflecting Vekki Project on these criteria it can be concluded that the project was user-centred. Users participated and worked actively in the project groups, the design process was iterative and usability tests were conducted.