Ameritech's usability laboratory: from prototype to final design

Abstract Abstract. Ameritech's human factors organization was established in 1989, and from the beginning its charter assumed that user-centred design, iterative usability testing, and beginning-to-end involvement in the product-system development cycle would be central to its work. This article describes the laboratory resources that were created to support the organization. It identifies the needs of the human factors professionals using the lab that served as requirements for the design of the resources, and the interim lab that was built where implementation approaches to some of these requirements were tested and refined. It describes the final laboratory, as well as three different kinds of portable labs. The laboratory is a critical corporate resource, and while it continues to evolve as it is used, it has already demonstrated its value to the human factors organization it serves.