Human readiness levels and Human Views as tools for user‐centered design

Abstract

The Human Readiness Level (HRL) scale is a simple nine‐level scale that brings structure and consistency to the real‐world application of user‐centered design. It enables multidisciplinary consideration of human‐focused elements during the system development process. Use of the standardized set of questions comprising the HRL scale results in a single human readiness number that communicates system readiness for human use. The Human Views (HVs) are part of an architecture framework that provides a repository for human‐focused system information that can be used during system development to support the evaluation of HRL levels. This paper illustrates how HRLs and HVs can be used in combination to support user‐centered design processes. A real‐world example for a U.S. Army software modernization program is described to demonstrate application of HRLs and HVs in the context of user‐centered design.