User-centered design

UCD
User-centred design (UCD) is a framework of processes (not restricted to interfaces or technologies) in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end user of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process.
Adapting vs. changing

Models and approaches
Cooperative design
Participatory design (PD)
Contextual design

ISO Standards
The design is based on wants.
Users are involved throughout design and development.
The design is driven and refined by user-centered evaluation.
The process is iterative.
The design addresses the whole user experience.
The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives.

The main questions?
Who?
What?
How?

Elements
Visibility helps the user construct a mental model of the document.
Users should be able to find information quickly and easily throughout the document, regardless of its length.
Text should be easy to read: through analysis of the rhetorical situation, the designer should be able to determine a useful font style.
Language

Rhetorical situation
The audience is the people who will be using the document. The designer must consider their age, geographical location, ethnicity, gender, education, etc.
The purpose is what the document targets or what problem the document is trying to address.
The context is the circumstances surrounding the situation. The context often answers the question: What situation has prompted the need for this document?