Usability is a field within systems development which doesn’t get the attention it might deserve. Above all, it’s considered time consuming and expensive by many people in the industry. The current information regarding low-cost alternatives to achieve a more usable system seems to be almost non-existent. This might lead to the difficult choice of ignoring usability aspects or placing large resources into looking in to all usability aspects. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if it is feasible to pick and choose between well known usability methods and principles in a way you see fit to work user centered with small means. To investigate this, I’ve been looking into commonly appearing usability methods and guidelines to implement some of them to an existing system. The case study, which I’ve been doing, is divided into the following smaller pieces; Identifying the starting point and problem areas, making user observations, performing a Heuristic evaluation, making improvement suggestions by doing a prototype, conducting user tests on the prototype. The result of this study shows that it can be feasible to pick and choose from existing usability methods to perform work aiming to improve the usability in an existing system. It also shows that working with usability doesn’t always have to demand huge resources and how general methods can be applied to a specific case.

Den här studien undersöker hur användarcentrerade metoder inom interaktionsdesignprocessen kan involvera medborgare i utvecklingen av offentliga e-tjänster. Genom en praktisk fallstudie på en befintlig offentlig e-tjänst, kallad Familjeportalen, kan studien bidra med en större förståelse för hur användbarheten i offentliga e-tjänster kan utvecklas och förbättras utifrån en medborgarcentrerad synvinkel. Genom att kombinera kvalitativa intervjuer med observationer har en kravspecifikation utarbetats som utgår från medborgarnas krav och behov i interaktionen med den befintliga e-tjänsten. Kravspecifikationen låg till grund för skapandet av en funktionell LO-FI prototyp som sedan testats och utvärderats av medborgarna. För att skapa en offentlig e-tjänst som fungerar för en heterogen målgrupp som medborgare utgör är det viktigt med att involvera representativa och diversifierade medborgare i designprocessen. Att involvera medborgarna i utvecklingen samt utvärderingen av en framtida prototyp har visats sig ge värdefulla insikter över hur en offentlig e-tjänst kan utvecklas och förbättras. / This study examines how user-centered methods in the interaction design process can involve citizens in the development of public e-services. Through a practical case study of an existing public e-service, called Familjeportalen, the study can contribute to a greater understanding of how the utility of public e-services can be developed and improved from a citizen-centered point of view. By combining qualitative interviews with observations, a requirement specification has been developed that is based on citizens' requirements and needs in interaction with the existing e-service. The requirements specification was the basis for the creation of a functional LO-FI prototype, which was then tested and evaluated by citizens. In order to create a public e-service that works for a heterogeneous target group that constitutes citizens, it is important to involve representative and diversified citizens in the design process. Involving citizens in development and evaluating a future prototype has been shown to provide valuable insights into how a public e-service can be developed and improved.