The Feature

You Can Decide the New Look of Oracle Applications

July 26, 2006 on 9:10 pm | by Marian Crkon | In Worth Noting | Enter Comments |  Print |  Email

The Oracle User Experience groups are currently working on a new user interface of Oracle Fusion applications and all application users can help to decide what the applications will look and feel like by taking part in the process. The Oracle User Experience groups provide comprehensive usability engineering, interface design support, and user interface research for the entire corporation. Team members have experience in a wide variety of disciplines, including usability engineering, cognitive psychology, graphic design, interaction design, and computer science with a specialization in Human Computer Interface (HCI).

User Centered Design

Each Oracle User Experience group works in cross-disciplinary teams throughout the entire development cycle of Oracle products, in concert with software development and product management teams. The department follows a user-centered design methodology that includes the following activities:

• User requirements research
• Heuristic evaluations of existing products
• Definition of the user experience through sketches and interactive prototypes
• Iterative development and usability testing of interactive and visual design solutions
• Formal usability testing and competitive evaluations of products

Oracle’s long term investments include laboratory and academic research projects in areas such as information visualization, mobile computing, universal access, and distance learning. Advanced projects are carried out on-site and in collaboration with university partner labs such as Stanford University, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon.

Get Involved

To design software products with the look and feel that the customers desire, it is imperative to perform usability tests with [real-life] software users like you. Oracle is actively seeking software users of all skill levels to participate in their Usability Program. Participation in the program will contribute towards enhancing the ease and satisfaction of using Oracle software products.

If you are interested in participating in Oracle’s Usability Program, please take a few moments to complete either the Technical User Form or the End User Form. This information will help Oracle determine the types of software products you are already familiar with using. Any information you provide will be held in the strictest confidence (see Privacy Policy for details). Once you have completed and submitted the appropriate form, you will be added to our participant database. We will contact you directly when participant openings become available.

The User Experience Groups also provide plentiful career opportunities for those interested in a career in the usability field.

Read the Blogs

Check out the blogs by Luke Kowalski, Adam Winer, and Jonas Jacobi for more “behind-the-scenes” information about designing the applications’ new look and feel.

Listen to the AppCast

Listen to the Oracle’s Fusion User Experience is a Key Ingredient to their Customers’ Success in which Jeremy Ashley, Vice President of Oracle’s Applications User Experience and Luke Kowalski, Corporate UI Architect for Oracle, discuss how User Experience and User Centered Design are key in Oracle’s strategy to deliver quality experiences for its end users, ease of use, flexibility, and finally … the right business flows in the Fusion applications.

Information Source: Oracle Corporation > Oracle User Experience.