Lessons learnt from an HCI repository

This paper describes how repository concepts have been put into practice in the Inland Revenue - the UK Tax Office - which has a managed network of 45,000 MS-Windows PCs. In 1993, the organisation started to implement a comprehensive HCI Programme. An HCI Framework and a Style Guide were written, usability evaluation techniques were tried out, and an HCI repository implemented. The repository includes interlinked MS Windows Help Files of the HCI documents, the organisation's Data Strategy documents and various HCI information such as usability metrics by project, examples of completed HCI work, typical resource requirements and costs for HCI methods, standard keyboard assignments, toolbar icons, etc. The format proved so effective that it has become the recognised vehicle for many of the organisation's strategy documents and procedure manuals and is now accessible to several thousand staff via 30 Local Area Networks. The purpose of the repository is to provide standards, guidance, methods, templates, checklists, etc., to help people do their work more effectively; and to enable people to feedback their experiences to improve its contents. The Inland Revenue implementation indicates that it is best to start small and simple and respond to user requests for information and functionality. However, the need to motivate people to take the time and trouble to feedback their experiences to the repository is recognised as a major cultural challenge. Repositories can be useful to any community which undertakes purposeful activity. This includes Ergonomics/HCI specialists within an organisation, within a country, and across the world. However, to exploit the potential of a respository a community must adjust its organisations and intitutions; and community members must come to a new understanding of their role. Individuals must learn to place greater priority on working together and on feeling back their experiences into the improvement cycle.