Abstract
With the rapid growth of mobile applications, it is hence important to consider both utility and usability during the development process. Therefore, this study aims to propose a systematic methodology that helps improve the development process through user-centered design. It is based on the guidance of ISO 9241-210, with some more details and techniques added. It comprises of five stages including: (1) Plan the human centered process: defining the role of each member so as to apply user-centered design to every single stage; (2) Specify the context of use: investigating user requirements, characteristics, and work processes, as well as enhancing compatibility through the use of skeuomorphism design; (3) Specify user requirements: following the theory of signs to identify the contents and representation of each function, as well as the corresponding expectations from users; (4) Produce design process: providing the options of design from sketching to prototype simulation; (5) Evaluate design against user requirements: planning user evaluation such as interviews, task analysis, and satisfaction survey based on user requirements in each design stage. Finally, a case study was conducted to verify the feasibility of the proposed methodology, and it was found that the application developed by the proposal methodology outperforms that developed by other methods in terms of user satisfaction. In addition, the time required for developing the application can be shortened. Further the conflicts between developer’s ideas and user’s expectations can be reduced. Developers may use the proposed methodology as a reference to design mobile applications that better satisfy target users. In addition, it can also be extended to serve as supporting tools for specific types of mobile applications.