Usability and Software Development: Roles of the Stakeholders

Usability is a key issue when developing software, but how to integrate usability work and software development continues to be a problem, which the stakeholders must face. This study aims at developing a more coherent and realistic understanding of the problem based on 14 interviews in three case studies. The results indicate that usability during software development has to be considered with both a user interface focus and an organizational focus. Especially techniques to support the uncovering of organizational usability are lacking in both human computer interaction and software engineering. Further, the continued engagement of stakeholders, who carry the vision about the purpose of change, stands out as a critical factor for the realization of project goals.