The usage model: a structure for richly describing product usage during design and development

User-centered design plays an influential role in product differentiation, especially within competitive markets. In order for industrial designers and interaction designers to do their jobs effectively, a rich description of product usage and the resulting requirements is essential. Historically, product usage has been described in various ways, some more successful than others. Among the more common formats used to capture usage are use cases, scenarios, and concept-of-operations documents. Several years ago, the term "usage model" began to be used within Intel to describe product use in a stated context. While the concept of a usage model was appealing and intuitive, agreeing on its structure and content proved far more challenging. A usage model structure was established that contains three separate tiers: supporting data, overview, and usage details. This structure provides a common taxonomy across various teams and business units, allows reuse of usage model data where appropriate, and aids communication within and between product development teams. Far more than a simple collection of use cases or scenarios, the usage model provides a rich, deep picture of product usage that can be utilized by strategic planners, requirements engineers, industrial designers, architects, managers, and others throughout product planning, design, development, and validation.