User-centered approach for NEC product development

Abstract

We present the work we have done on the universal design of our products, solutions, and services. We consider universal design to have three aspects: accessibility, usability, and innovation. General universal design is composed of only accessibility and usability. NEC Group universal design includes the concept of innovation, which means that our products provide new value to our customers. We use a user-centered design process to make our products more user-friendly, easy-to-use, and innovative. We present two cases in which we applied user-centered design. One is the flight information board at the international passenger terminal of Tokyo International Airport, which features high accessibility and usability. The color, font, and character size were designed to accommodate people with impaired color vision and the elderly. The design process also took into account the location and environment in which the boards were set up. The information is laid out to correspond with how important it is, so passengers can quickly find the information they need. The second case is the robust and durable laptop computer "ShieldPRO." Through observation and information sharing, we learned more about the conditions in which it is used, which enabled us to expand the market. Customers are able to use computers in new application where computers have not been used before, and they can benefit from new value: in other words, innovation. We also interviewed developers and marketers who used this design process and found that user-centered design was effective for improving development efficiency and maintenance as well as for improving sales. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.