EN ISO 9241-210:2019

Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems (ISO 9241-210:2019)

This document provides requirements and recommendations for human-centred design principles and activities throughout the life cycle of computer-based interactive systems. It is intended to be used by those managing design processes, and is concerned with ways in which both hardware and software components of interactive systems can enhance human?system interaction.
NOTE      Computer-based interactive systems vary in scale and complexity. Examples include off-the-shelf (shrink-wrap) software products, custom office systems, process control systems, automated banking systems, Web sites and applications, and consumer products such as vending machines, mobile phones and digital television. Throughout this document, such systems are generally referred to as products, systems or services although, for simplicity, sometimes only one term is used.
This document provides an overview of human-centred design activities. It does not provide detailed coverage of the methods and techniques required for human-centred design, nor does it address health or safety aspects in detail. Although it addresses the planning and management of human-centred design, it does not address all aspects of project management.
The information in this document is intended for use by those responsible for planning and managing projects that design and develop interactive systems. It therefore addresses technical human factors and ergonomics issues only to the extent necessary to allow such individuals to understand their relevance and importance in the design process as a whole. It also provides a framework for human factors and usability professionals involved in human-centred design. Detailed human factors/ergonomics, usability and accessibility issues are dealt with more fully in a number of standards including other parts of ISO 9241 (see Annex A) and ISO 6385, which sets out the broad principles of ergonomics.
The requirements and recommendations in this document can benefit all parties involved in human-centred design and development. Annex B provides a checklist that can be used to support claims of conformance with this document.

Ergonomie der Mensch-System-Interaktion - Teil 210: Menschzentrierte Gestaltung interaktiver Systeme (ISO 9241-210:2019)

Dieses Dokument legt Anforderungen fest und gibt Empfehlungen für menschzentrierte Gestaltungs-grundsätze und  aktivitäten für den gesamten Lebenszyklus rechnergestützter interaktiver Systeme. Er ist für Manager von Gestaltungsprozessen gedacht und behandelt Mittel, mit Hilfe derer sowohl Hardware  als auch Softwarekomponenten von interaktiven Systemen die Mensch-System-Interaktion verbessern können.
ANMERKUNG   Rechnergestützte interaktive Systeme sind in Größe und Komplexität unterschiedlich. Beispiele dafür sind Standard-Softwareprodukte, kundenspezifische Bürosysteme, Prozessleitsysteme, automatisierte Banksysteme, Webseiten und Webanwendungen sowie Verbraucherprodukte wie beispielsweise Verkaufsautomaten, Mobiltelefone und Digitalfernsehen. In diesem Dokument werden derartige Systeme im Allgemeinen als Produkte, Systeme oder Dienste bezeichnet, wenngleich aus Gründen der Vereinfachung manchmal nur ein Begriff verwendet wird.
Dieses Dokument gibt einen Überblick über menschzentrierte Gestaltungsaktivitäten. Es enthält weder Einzelheiten zu Verfahren und Techniken, die für eine menschzentrierte Gestaltung erforderlich sind, noch werden Gesundheits  und Sicherheitsaspekte im Detail behandelt. Obwohl Planung und Management einer menschzentrierten Gestaltung angesprochen werden, behandelt ISO 9241 210 nicht sämtliche Aspekte des Projektmanagements.
Die Informationen in diesem Dokument sind für diejenigen gedacht, die für Planung und Management von Projekten zur Gestaltung und Entwicklung interaktiver Systeme verantwortlich sind. Deshalb werden spezifische arbeitswissenschaftliche und ergonomische Fragestellungen nur in dem Umfang behandelt, der erforderlich ist, um es diesem Personenkreis zu ermöglichen, deren Relevanz und Bedeutung im Gestaltungsprozess als Ganzes zu verstehen. Dieser Teil der ISO 9241 bietet außerdem einen Rahmen für Fachleute auf dem Gebiet der Arbeitswissenschaft und der Gebrauchstauglichkeit, die in die menschzentrierte Gestaltung involviert sind. Detailfragen auf den Gebieten der Arbeitswissenschaft/Ergonomie, Gebrauchstauglichkeit und Zugänglichkeit werden ausführlicher in einer Reihe von Normen einschließlich anderer Teile der ISO 9241 (siehe Anhang A) und der ISO 6385 behandelt, die die allgemeinen Grundsätze der Ergonomie darlegt.
Die Anforderungen und Empfehlungen in diesem Dokument können für alle von Nutzen sein, die in die menschzentrierte Gestaltung und Entwicklung involviert sind. Anhang B enthält eine Checkliste, die verwendet werden kann, um Ansprüche auf Konformität mit diesem Dokument zu belegen.

Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système - Partie 210: Conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain pour les systèmes interactifs (ISO 9241-210:2019)

Le présent document spécifie des exigences et des recommandations relatives aux principes et aux activités de conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain, intervenant tout au long du cycle de vie des systèmes informatiques interactifs. Il est destiné à être utilisé par les responsables de la gestion des processus de conception et traite des manières dont les composants matériels et logiciels des systèmes interactifs peuvent améliorer l'interaction homme-système.
NOTE       Les systèmes informatiques interactifs présentent des différences de taille et de complexité. Ils comprennent, par exemple, les produits logiciels disponibles dans le commerce (prêts à l'emploi), les logiciels de bureautique personnalisés, les systèmes de contrôle des processus, les systèmes bancaires automatisés, les sites et applications Web, ainsi que les produits destinés au grand public, tels que les distributeurs automatiques, les téléphones mobiles et les postes de télévision numérique. Dans le présent document, ces systèmes sont généralement définis comme des produits, des systèmes ou des services, bien que, pour des raisons de simplicité, un seul terme soit parfois utilisé.
Le présent document donne un aperçu des activités de conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain. Il ne couvre pas de manière exhaustive les méthodes et techniques requises pour la conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain, ni le détail de tous les aspects liés à la santé ou à la sécurité. Bien qu'il couvre la planification et la gestion de la conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain, il ne traite pas de tous les aspects de la gestion de projets.
Les informations fournies dans le présent document sont destinées à être utilisées par les responsables de la planification et de la gestion des projets de conception et de développement de systèmes interactifs. Ces informations n'abordent donc les aspects techniques des facteurs humains et de l'ergonomie que dans la mesure où ces responsables ont besoin d'appréhender la pertinence et l'importance de ces données par rapport au processus de conception dans son ensemble. Ces informations fournissent également un cadre pour les professionnels des facteurs humains et de l'utilisabilité impliqués dans la conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain. Les questions détaillées liées aux facteurs humains/à l'ergonomie, à l'utilisabilité et à l'accessibilité sont traitées de manière plus approfondie dans différentes normes, y compris d'autres parties de l'ISO 9241 (voir Annexe A) et de l'ISO 6385 qui établit les principes généraux de l'ergonomie.
Toutes les parties impliquées dans la conception et le développement centrés sur l'opérateur humain peuvent tirer profit des exigences et des recommandations spécifiées dans le présent document. L'Annexe B fournit une liste de contrôle pouvant être utilisée à l'appui des déclarations de conformité du présent document.

Ergonomija medsebojnega vpliva človek-sistem - 210. del: Procesi načrtovanja interaktivnih sistemov, osredotočenih na človeka (ISO 9241-210:2019)

Ta standard podaja zahteve ter priporočila za načela in dejavnosti načrtovanja z osredotočenostjo na človeka v celotnem življenjskem ciklu računalniških interaktivnih sistemov. Namenjen je tistim, ki upravljajo postopke načrtovanja, in opredeljuje načine, s katerimi lahko komponente strojne in programske opreme interaktivnih sistemov izboljšajo medsebojni vpliv človek-sistem. Ta dokument podaja pregled dejavnosti načrtovanja z osredotočenostjo na človeka. Ne zajema podrobnosti metod in tehnik, potrebnih za načrtovanje z osredotočenostjo na človeka, niti ne obravnava podrobnosti zdravstvenih in varnostnih vidikov. Čeprav obravnava vzpostavljanje in upravljanje načrtovanja z osredotočenostjo na človeka, pa ne obravnava vseh vidikov vodenja projektov. Informacije v tem dokumentu so namenjene tistim, ki so odgovorni za planiranje in upravljanje projektov za načrtovanje in razvoj interaktivnih sistemov. Zaradi tega obravnava tehnične človeške dejavnike in vprašanja ergonomije le v obsegu, ki takšnim posameznikom omogoča razumevanje njihove ustreznosti in pomembnosti pri postopku načrtovanja kot celote. Podaja tudi okvir za strokovnjake na področju človeških dejavnikov in uporabnosti, ki sodelujejo pri načrtovanju z osredotočenostjo na človeka. Podrobni človeški dejavniki/ergonomija, uporabnost in vprašanja dostopnosti so podrobneje obravnavani v številnih standardih, vključno z drugimi deli standarda ISO 9241 (glej dodatek A) in standardom ISO 6385, ki določa splošna načela ergonomije. Zahteve in priporočila iz tega dokumenta so lahko uporabne za vse, ki so vključeni v načrtovanje in razvoj z osredotočenostjo na človeka. Dodatek B vključuje kontrolni seznam, ki ga je mogoče uporabiti za preverjanje skladnosti s tem dokumentom.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 20-Aug-2019
• Withdrawal Date: 28-Feb-2020
• ICS: 13.180 - Ergonomics
• ICS: 35.180 - IT Terminal and other peripheral equipment
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 122 - Ergonomics
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 122/WG 5 - Ergonomics of human-computer interaction
• Current Stage: 6060 - Definitive text made available (DAV) - Publishing
• Start Date: 21-Aug-2019
• Completion Date: 21-Aug-2019
• Ref Project: SIST EN ISO 9241-210:2020 - Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems (ISO 9241-210:2019)

Relations

• Replaces: EN ISO 9241-210:2010 - Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems (ISO 9241-210:2010)
• Effective Date: 08-Jun-2022

Overview

EN ISO 9241-210:2019 (ISO 9241-210:2019) defines requirements and recommendations for human-centred design (HCD) of computer-based interactive systems. Published by CEN and aligned with ISO, it guides the planning and management of design processes across the product life cycle for hardware, software and services. It applies to a wide range of interactive systems - from off‑the‑shelf software and websites to kiosks, ATMs, mobile devices and process-control systems - and is intended for those responsible for design projects and for human factors/usability professionals.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Human‑centred design principles: the standard codifies principles such as designing from an explicit understanding of users, involving users throughout development, using user-centred evaluation, iterative development, addressing the whole user experience, and including multidisciplinary skills.
• Planning HCD: responsibilities, timing, resources and integration of HCD activities with overall project plans.
• Core HCD activities:
  • Understanding and specifying context of use (users, tasks, environments)
  • Specifying user requirements (deriving and validating user needs)
  • Producing design solutions (task and interaction design, prototyping)
  • Evaluating designs (user-based testing, inspection-based evaluation, long‑term monitoring)
• Conformance and assessment: guidance for demonstrating conformance, including a sample procedure and a checklist (Annex B).
• Scope limitations: the standard provides an overview of methods rather than detailed methods/techniques and does not address health/safety topics in depth.
• Sustainability: HCD considerations across product life cycles to support sustainable design choices.

Applications and who should use it

• Target users:
  • UX/UI designers and researchers
  • Human factors and ergonomics professionals
  • Product managers, project managers and development leads
  • Accessibility specialists and procurement teams
• Practical uses:
  • Embedding usability and accessibility requirements into product roadmaps
  • Structuring user research, prototyping and usability testing workflows
  • Ensuring iterative, evidence‑based design decisions for websites, apps, consumer electronics, control systems and services
  • Supporting procurement and conformance claims for usability and user experience

Related standards

• Part of the ISO 9241 series (see Annex A for overview) - consult other ISO 9241 parts for detailed usability and accessibility guidance
• ISO 6385 for broader ergonomics principles
• Use together with sector‑specific accessibility and usability standards to implement detailed methods

Keywords: ISO 9241-210, human-centred design, ergonomics, usability, interactive systems, user requirements, context of use, user evaluation, accessibility, UX best practices.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-februar-2020
Nadomešča:
SIST EN ISO 9241-210:2011
Ergonomija medsebojnega vpliva človek-sistem - 210. del: Procesi načrtovanja
interaktivnih sistemov, osredotočenih na človeka (ISO 9241-210:2019)
Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 210: Human-centred design for
interactive systems (ISO 9241-210:2019)
Ergonomie der Mensch-System-Interaktion - Teil 210: Prozess zur Gestaltung
gebrauchstauglicher interaktiver Systeme (ISO 9241-210:2019)
Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système - Partie 210: Conception centrée sur
l'opérateur humain pour les systèmes interactifs (ISO 9241-210:2019)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO 9241-210:2019
ICS:
13.180 Ergonomija Ergonomics
35.180 Terminalska in druga IT Terminal and other
periferna oprema IT peripheral equipment
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN ISO 9241-210
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
August 2019
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 13.180; 35.180 Supersedes EN ISO 9241-210:2010
English Version
Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 210:
Human-centred design for interactive systems (ISO 9241-
210:2019)
Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système - Partie Ergonomie der Mensch-System-Interaktion - Teil 210:
210: Conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain pour Prozess zur Gestaltung gebrauchstauglicher
les systèmes interactifs (ISO 9241-210:2019) interaktiver Systeme (ISO 9241-210:2019)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 1 July 2019.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2019 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 9241-210:2019 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3

European foreword
This document (EN ISO 9241-210:2019) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 159
"Ergonomics" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 122 “Ergonomics” the secretariat of
which is held by DIN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by February 2020, and conflicting national standards
shall be withdrawn at the latest by February 2020.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes EN ISO 9241-210:2010.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of
North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the
United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO 9241-210:2019 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 9241-210:2019 without any
modification.
INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 9241-210
Second edition
2019-07
Ergonomics of human-system
interaction —
Part 210:
Human-centred design for
interactive systems
Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système —
Partie 210: Conception centrée sur l'opérateur humain pour les
systèmes interactifs
Reference number
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
©
ISO 2019
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
© ISO 2019
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address
below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Rationale for adopting human-centred design . 4
5 Principles of human-centred design . 6
5.1 General . 6
5.2 The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and environments . 6
5.3 Users are involved throughout design and development . 6
5.4 The design is driven and refined by user-centred evaluation . 7
5.5 The process is iterative . 7
5.6 The design addresses the whole user experience . 7
5.7 The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives . 8
6 Planning human-centred design . 9
6.1 General . 9
6.2 Responsibility . 9
6.3 Content of plan . 9
6.4 Integration with project plan.10
6.5 Timing and resources .10
7 Human-centred design activities .10
7.1 General .10
7.2 Understanding and specifying the context of use .12
7.2.1 General.12
7.2.2 Context-of-use description .13
7.2.3 Sufficient detail to support design.13
7.2.4 Context of use specified for design . .13
7.3 Specifying the user requirements .13
7.3.1 General.13
7.3.2 Identifying user and other stakeholder needs .14
7.3.3 Deriving user requirements .14
7.3.4 Resolving trade-offs between user requirements .14
7.3.5 Ensuring the quality of user requirements specifications .14
7.4 Producing design solutions .15
7.4.1 General.15
7.4.2 Designing user tasks, user–system interaction and user interface to meet
user requirements, taking into consideration the whole user experience .15
7.4.3 Making design solutions more concrete .16
7.4.4 Altering the design solutions based on user-centred evaluation and feedback .17
7.4.5 Communicating the design solution to those responsible for implementation .17
7.5 Evaluating the design .17
7.5.1 General.17
7.5.2 Conducting user-centred evaluation .18
7.5.3 User-centred evaluation methods.18
7.5.4 User-based testing .18
7.5.5 Inspection-based evaluation.19
7.5.6 Long-term monitoring .19
8 Sustainability and human-centred design .20
9 Conformance .20
Annex A (informative) Overview of the ISO 9241 series .22
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
Annex B (informative) Sample procedure for assessing applicability and conformance .23
Bibliography .33
iv © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www .iso
.org/iso/foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 159, Ergonomics, Subcommittee SC 4,
Ergonomics of human-system interaction.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/members .html.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 9241-210:2010), of which it constitutes a
minor revision. The changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:
— Figure 1 has been updated for clarity;
— additional information about accessibility has been added in 7.1;
— editorial changes have been made to align with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts in the ISO 9241 series can be found on the ISO website.
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
Introduction
Human-centred design is an approach to interactive systems development that aims to make systems
usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs and requirements, and by applying human
factors/ergonomics, and usability knowledge and techniques. This approach enhances effectiveness
and efficiency, improves human well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability; and
counteracts possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance.
There is a substantial body of human factors/ergonomics and usability knowledge about how human-
centred design can be organized and used effectively. This document aims to make this information
available to help those responsible for managing hardware and software design and re-design processes
to identify and plan effective and timely human-centred design activities.
The human-centred approach to design described in this document complements existing systems
design approaches. It can be incorporated in approaches as diverse as object-oriented, waterfall and
rapid application development.
The principles of human-centred design and the related activities have not changed substantially since
ISO 13407 was produced and have been validated by ten years of application. This document reflects
this by making requirements as well as recommendations.
vi © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
Ergonomics of human-system interaction —
Part 210:
Human-centred design for interactive systems
1 Scope
This document provides requirements and recommendations for human-centred design principles and
activities throughout the life cycle of computer-based interactive systems. It is intended to be used by
those managing design processes, and is concerned with ways in which both hardware and software
components of interactive systems can enhance human–system interaction.
NOTE Computer-based interactive systems vary in scale and complexity. Examples include off-the-shelf
(shrink-wrap) software products, custom office systems, process control systems, automated banking systems,
Web sites and applications, and consumer products such as vending machines, mobile phones and digital
television. Throughout this document, such systems are generally referred to as products, systems or services
although, for simplicity, sometimes only one term is used.
This document provides an overview of human-centred design activities. It does not provide detailed
coverage of the methods and techniques required for human-centred design, nor does it address health
or safety aspects in detail. Although it addresses the planning and management of human-centred
design, it does not address all aspects of project management.
The information in this document is intended for use by those responsible for planning and managing
projects that design and develop interactive systems. It therefore addresses technical human factors and
ergonomics issues only to the extent necessary to allow such individuals to understand their relevance
and importance in the design process as a whole. It also provides a framework for human factors
and usability professionals involved in human-centred design. Detailed human factors/ergonomics,
usability and accessibility issues are dealt with more fully in a number of standards including other
parts of ISO 9241 (see Annex A) and ISO 6385, which sets out the broad principles of ergonomics.
The requirements and recommendations in this document can benefit all parties involved in human-
centred design and development. Annex B provides a checklist that can be used to support claims of
conformance with this document.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https: //www .iso .org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http: //www .electropedia .org/
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
3.1
accessibility
extent to which products, systems, services, environments and facilities can be used by people from
a population with the widest range of user (3.1) needs, characteristics and capabilities to achieve
identified goals in identified contexts of use (3.10)
Note 1 to entry: Context of use includes direct use or use supported by assistive technologies.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-112:2017, 3.15]
3.2
context of use
combination of users, goals and tasks, resources, and environment
Note 1 to entry: The “environment” in a context of use includes the technical, physical, social, cultural and
organizational environments.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.15]
3.3
effectiveness
accuracy and completeness with which users achieve specified goals
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.12]
3.4
efficiency
resources used in relation to the results achieved
Note 1 to entry: Typical resources include time, human effort, costs and materials.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.13]
3.5
ergonomics
human factors
scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among human and other elements
of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to
optimize human well-being and overall system performance
[SOURCE: ISO 6385:2016, 2.3]
3.6
goal
intended outcome
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.10]
3.7
human-centred design
approach to systems design and development that aims to make interactive systems more usable by
focusing on the use of the system and applying human factors/ergonomics and usability knowledge and
techniques
Note 1 to entry: The term “human-centred design” is used rather than “user-centred design” in order to emphasize
that this document also addresses impacts on a number of stakeholders, not just those typically considered as
users. However, in practice, these terms are often used synonymously.
Note 2 to entry: Usable systems can provide a number of benefits, including improved productivity, enhanced
user well-being, avoidance of stress, increased accessibility and reduced risk of harm.
2 © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
3.8
interactive system
combination of hardware and/or software and/or services and/or people that users interact with in
order to achieve specific goals
Note 1 to entry: This includes, where appropriate, packaging, user documentation, on-line and human help,
support and training.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11: 2018, 3.1.5]
3.9
prototype
〈interactive system〉 representation of all or part of an interactive system, that, although limited in
some way, can be used for analysis, design and evaluation
Note 1 to entry: A prototype may be as simple as a sketch or static mock-up or as complicated as a fully functioning
interactive system with more or less complete functionality.
3.10
satisfaction
extent to which the user's physical, cognitive and emotional responses that result from the use of a
system, product or service meet the user’s needs and expectations
Note 1 to entry: Satisfaction includes the extent to which the user experience that results from actual use meets
the user’s needs and expectations.
Note 2 to entry: Anticipated use can influence satisfaction with actual use.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.14]
3.11
stakeholder
individual or organization having a right, share, claim or interest in a system or in its possession of
characteristics that meet their needs and expectations
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015, 4.1.44, modified — The example and Note 1 to entry have been
omitted.]
3.12
task
set of activities undertaken in order to achieve a specific goal
Note 1 to entry: These activities can be physical, perceptual and/or cognitive.
Note 2 to entry: While goals are independent of the means used to achieve them, tasks describe particular means
of achieving goals.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.11]
3.13
usability
extent to which a system, product or service can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals
with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use
Note 1 to entry: The “specified” users, goals and context of use refer to the particular combination of users, goals
and context of use for which usability is being considered.
Note 2 to entry: The word “usability” is also used as a qualifier to refer to the design knowledge, competencies,
activities and design attributes that contribute to usability, such as usability expertise, usability professional,
usability engineering, usability method, usability evaluation, usability heuristic.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.1]
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
3.14
user
person who interacts with a system, product or service
Note 1 to entry: Users of a system, product or service include people who operate the system, people who make
use of the output of the system and people who support the system (including providing maintenance and
training).
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.1.7]
3.15
user experience
user’s perceptions and responses that result from the use and/or anticipated use of a system, product
or service
Note 1 to entry: Users’ perceptions and responses include the users’ emotions, beliefs, preferences, perceptions,
comfort, behaviours, and accomplishments that occur before, during and after use.
Note 2 to entry: User experience is a consequence of brand image, presentation, functionality, system
performance, interactive behaviour, and assistive capabilities of a system, product or service. It also results from
the user’s internal and physical state resulting from prior experiences, attitudes, skills, abilities and personality;
and from the context of use.
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-11:2018, 3.2.3]
3.16
user interface
all components of an interactive system (software or hardware) that provide information and controls
for the user to accomplish specific tasks with the interactive system
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-110:2006]
3.17
validation
confirmation, through the provision of objective evidence, that the requirements for a specific intended
use or application have been fulfilled
Note 1 to entry: Validation is the set of activities ensuring and gaining confidence that a system is able to
accomplish its intended use, goals and objectives (i.e. meet stakeholder requirements) in the intended operational
environment.
[SOURCE: ISO 9000:2015, 3.8.13, modified — Note 1 to entry has been replaced and Notes 2 and 3 to
entry have been removed.]
3.18
verification
confirmation, through the provision of objective evidence, that specified requirements have been
fulfilled
Note 1 to entry: Verification is a set of activities that compares a system or system element against the required
characteristics. This can include, but is not limited to, specified requirements, design description and the
system itself.
[SOURCE: ISO 9000:2015, 3.8.12, modified — Note 1 to entry has been replaced and Notes 2 and 3 to
entry have been removed.]
4 Rationale for adopting human-centred design
Using a human-centred approach to design and development has substantial economic and social
benefits for users, employers and suppliers. Highly usable systems and products tend to be more
successful both technically and commercially. In some areas, such as consumer products, purchasers
will pay a premium for well-designed products and systems. Support and help-desk costs are reduced
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ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
when users can understand and use products without additional assistance. In most countries,
employers and suppliers have legal obligations to protect users from risks to their health, and safety
and human-centred methods can reduce these risks (e.g. musculoskeletal risks). Systems designed
using human-centred methods improve overall quality, for example, by:
a) increasing the productivity of users and the operational efficiency of organizations;
b) being easier to understand and use, thus reducing training and support costs;
c) increasing usability (effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction)
d) increasing accessibility (for people from a population with the widest range of user needs,
characteristics and capabilities);
e) improving user experience;
f) reducing discomfort and stress;
g) providing a competitive advantage, for example by improving brand image;
h) contributing towards sustainability objectives.
The human-centred approach can lead to increased human-centred quality (usability, accessibility, user
experience, avoidance of harm from use) as defined in ISO 9241-220.
The complete benefits of human-centred design can be determined by taking into account the total life
cycle costs of the product, system or service, including conception, design, implementation, support,
use, maintenance and, finally, disposal. Taking a human-centred design approach contributes to other
aspects of system design, for example, by improving the identification and definition of functional
requirements. Taking a human-centred design approach also increases the likelihood of completing the
project successfully, on time, and within budget. Using appropriate human-centred methods can reduce
the risk of the product failing to meet stakeholder requirements or being rejected by its users.
Examples of outputs from human-centred design activities are illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1 — Examples of outputs from human-centred design activities
Activities Outputs from human-centred Examples of information con-
design tained in outputs
Understand and specify Context of use description — User group profiles
the context of use
— As-is scenarios
— Personas
Specify the user requirements User needs description — Identified user needs
User requirements specification
— Derived user requirements
— Required design guidance
Produce design solutions User-system interaction specifi- — Scenarios of use
to meet these requirements cation
— Low-fidelity prototypes
User interface specification
— High-fidelity prototypes
Implemented user interface
Evaluate the designs Evaluation results — Usability-test report
against requirements
Conformance test results
— Field report
Long-term monitoring results
— User survey report
NOTE  More detailed information on each output can be found in ISO/IEC TR 25060.
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
5 Principles of human-centred design
5.1 General
This document provides a framework for human-centred design. It does not assume any particular
design process, nor does it describe all the different activities necessary to ensure effective systems
design. It is complementary to existing design methodologies and provides a human-centred perspective
that can be integrated into different design and development processes in a way that is appropriate to
the particular context. All the human-centred design activities identified in Clause 7 are applicable (to a
greater or lesser extent) at any stage in the development of a system.
Whatever the design process and allocation of responsibilities and roles adopted, a human-centred
approach should follow the principles listed below (and described in 5.2 to 5.7):
a) the design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and environments (see 5.2);
b) users are involved throughout design and development (see 5.3);
c) the design is driven and refined by user-centred evaluation (see 5.4);
d) the process is iterative (see 5.5);
e) the design addresses the whole user experience (see 5.6);
f) the design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives (see 5.7).
5.2 The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and
environments
Products, systems and services should be designed to take account of the people who will use them as
well as other stakeholder groups, including those who can be affected (directly or indirectly) by their
use. Therefore, all relevant user and stakeholder groups should be identified. Constructing systems
based on an inappropriate or incomplete understanding of user needs is one of the major sources of
systems failure.
The extent to which products are usable and accessible depends on the context, i.e. the specified users,
having specified goals, performing specified tasks in a specified environment (see ISO 9241-11). For
example, the kind of interface that provides good user experience for a young person downloading
music on a phone may be completely inappropriate for accessing corporate data on a PDA (personal
digital assistant). The characteristics of the users, tasks and environment are called the context of use.
Guidance on how to gather relevant information is provided in 7.2. The context of use is a major source
of information for establishing requirements (see 7.3) and an essential input to the design process.
5.3 Users are involved throughout design and development
Involving users in design and development provides a valuable source of knowledge about the context
of use, the tasks, and how users are likely to work with the future product, system or service. User
involvement should be active, whether by participating in design, acting as a source of relevant data
or evaluating solutions. The people who are involved should have capabilities, characteristics and
experience that reflect the range of users for whom the system is being designed. The nature and
frequency of this involvement can vary throughout design and development, depending on the type of
project. The effectiveness of user involvement increases as the interaction between the developers and
the users increases.
When custom-made systems are being developed, the intended users and the tasks performed can be
directly linked to the development process. The organization procuring the system has the opportunity
to have a direct influence on the design as it emerges, and those who are actually going to be working
with the future system can take part in evaluating proposed solutions. Such involvement and
participation can also increase user acceptance and commitment.
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ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
When generic or consumer products are being developed, the user population is dispersed and products
can be targeted at groups of users with particular characteristics. It is still important that users or
appropriate representatives be involved in development so that the user and task requirements
relevant to the intended user group(s) can be identified for inclusion in the system specification to
provide feedback through testing of the proposed design solutions.
5.4 The design is driven and refined by user-centred evaluation
Feedback from users is a critical source of information in human-centred design. Evaluating designs
with users and improving them based on their feedback provides an effective means of minimizing
the risk of a system not meeting user or organizational needs (including those requirements that
are hidden or difficult to specify explicitly). Such evaluation allows preliminary design solutions to
be tested against “real world” scenarios, with the results being fed back into progressively refined
solutions. User-centred evaluation should also take place as part of the final acceptance of the product
to confirm that requirements have been met. Feedback from users during operational use identifies
long-term issues and provides input to future design.
NOTE The term “user-centred” is used here to emphasize that this evaluation is made from the user's
perspective.
5.5 The process is iterative
The most appropriate design for an interactive system cannot typically be achieved without iteration.
NOTE 1 In this context, iteration means repeating a sequence of steps until a desired outcome is achieved.
NOTE 2 In development methods that consist of mini-development cycles, human-centred activities can be
iterated for individual parts of the system and again at a macro level across the whole product, system or service.
Iteration should be used to progressively eliminate uncertainty during the development of interactive
systems. Iteration implies that descriptions, specifications and prototypes are revised and refined
when new information is obtained in order to minimize the risk of the system under development
failing to meet user requirements.
The complexity of human–computer interaction means that it is impossible to specify completely and
accurately every detail of every aspect of the interaction at the beginning of development. Many of the
needs and expectations of users and other stakeholders that will impact on the design of the interaction
only emerge in the course of development, as the designers refine their understanding of the users and
their tasks, and as users are better able to express their needs in response to potential solutions.
Iteration of proposed solutions incorporating feedback from a user perspective provides a means of
mitigating risk.
EXAMPLE 1 Feedback from a user perspective is used to update the intended context of use, to revise the
requirements and to refine proposed design solutions.
EXAMPLE 2 The requirements specification is refined iteratively by using scenarios, early mock-ups, and
prototypes, to obtain feedback from users on whether these incorporate the user requirements correctly and
completely.
The interaction between human-centred and other aspects of the design can also result in the need
for iteration — for example to take account of the manufacturability of a product, the impact on the
production environment or changes in the market-place.
5.6 The design addresses the whole user experience
User experience is a consequence of the presentation, functionality, system performance, interactive
behaviour, and assistive capabilities of an interactive system, both hardware and software. It is also a
consequence of the user's prior experiences, attitudes, skills, habits and personality. There is a common
misconception that usability refers solely to making products easy to use. However, the concept
ISO 9241-210:2019(E)
of usability used in ISO 9241 is broader and, when interpreted from the perspective of the users'
personal goals, can include the kind of perceptual and emotional aspects typically associated with user
experience, as well as issues such as job satisfaction and the elimination of monotony.
Designing for the user's experience involves considering, where appropriate, organizational impacts,
user documentation, on-line help, support and maintenance (including help desks and customer contact
points), training, long-term use, and product packaging (including the “out-of-box experience”). The
user's experience of previous or other systems and issues such as branding and advertising should also
be considered. The need to consider these different factors and their interdependencies has implications
for the project plan (see Clause 6).
Users' strengths, limitations, preferences and expectations should be taken into account when
specifying which activities are carried out by the users and which functions are carried out by the
technology.
NOTE 1 In safety-critical and mission-critical systems, it can be more important to ensure the effectiveness or
efficiency of the system than to satisfy user preferences.
Design decisions related to this allocation of function determine the extent to which a given job,
task, function or responsibility is to be automated or assigned to human performance. The decisions
are based on many factors. These include the relative capabilities and limitations of humans versus
technology in terms of reliability, speed, accuracy, strength, flexibility of response, financial cost, the
importance of successful or timely accomplishment of tasks, safety, and user satisfaction (both short-
term, e.g. as comfort and pleasure, and long-term, e.g. as health, well-being and job satisfaction). Basing
such decisions solely on those functions the technology is capable of performing and then simply
allocating the remaining system functions to users is likely to result in an ineffective design. Allocation
of function is further described in 7.4.2.2.
Representative users should generally be involved in these decisions.
NOTE 2 “Representative” in this context means corresponding appropriately to the target end-user population.
The resulting human activities should form a set of tasks that is meaningful as a whole to the users.
This is particularly important for custom-made organizational systems where system use supports
major elements of the users' jobs. For further guidance, see ISO 9241-2 and the ISO 10075 series.
5.7 The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives
Human-centred design teams do not have to be large, but the team should be sufficiently diverse to
collaborate over design and implementation trade-off decisions at appropriate times. The following
skill areas and viewpoints can be needed in the design and development team:
a) human factors and ergonomics, usability, accessibility, human-computer interaction, user research;
b) users and other stakeholder groups (or those that can represent their perspectives);
c) application domain expertise, subject matter expertise;
d) marketing, branding, sales, technical support and maintenance, health and safety;
e) user interface, visual and product design;
f) technical writing, training, user support;
g) user management, service management and corporate governance;
h) business analysis, systems analysis;
i) systems engineering, hardware and software engineering, programming, production/
manufacturing and maintenance;
j) human resources, sustainability and other stakeholders.
8 © ISO
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