Getting Software RITE

In traditional software development environments, many designers don´t routinely put their software in front of users. If the ultimate measure of well-designed software is how effectively it serves its intended purpose, then validating that it does so is critical, and the sooner the better. Many user-centered design practitioners do this with usability testing. A formal usability test is a rather sciencey affair. It involves a number of different people in different roles. This paper deals with software design validation. This test-fix-test-fix cycle continues until the software starts to feel pretty tight. This approach is called RITE (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation).