Why is user centered design important

It is very easy to forget this in a design process, as the human brain is not particularly skilled in being able to truly envision the perspectives of thousands or millions of other individuals. For this reason, a UCD process needs to take the investigative side of its approach very seriously.

The more research and understanding of the differences and peculiarities of potential users, the more of a rich frame of reference a design team will have when refining the generative aspects of their design process.

Companies such as Google or Facebook understand this in a very deep way — and due to their enormous resources, are able to mobilize a large army of psychologists, sociologists, behavioral specialists and many more in order to truly understand the complexities of their users.

Of course, most companies do not have the resources available to them that Facebook, Google or Apple might have. But by taking a more involved approach to understanding users — and developing designs that respond to and reflect their needs and desires — any company seeking to use digital technologies for serving their customers stands to benefit.

There are a number of different methods for collecting user research. The important part is that you are getting the information directly from the end-user. The user-centred design process typically focuses on using simple sketches, mockups or wireframes on parts or all of the designs.

This makes for a much faster and cost-effective design process, rather than building the end product and they having to make expensive changes if it isn't meeting user needs. As design solutions are assessed, feedback of results should be fed back to the designers quickly. The objective is to improve the design based on user feedback. Iterative design implies a process of design, evaluation, redesign.

Metrics are an integral part of having a long-lasting, effective design. Measurement is not about having perfect knowledge, but rather about creating a mechanism for understanding what needs to be improved, where to apply the limited usability, design, and development resources available to make the biggest impact to the user.

Typically, usability of a design is measured relative to user's' performance on a given set of test tasks. Residents and Visitors. Find services and information for Saskatchewan residents and visitors.

Find services and information for doing business in Saskatchewan. Find how the Government of Saskatchewan governs and serves the province. User-Centred Design and Why it is Important. Why user-centred design is it important The lack of user-centred design can cost time and effort and can greatly determine the success or failure of a project. From the user's perspective, it is the difference between completing a task or not. They should be offered various ways to find information for example call to action buttons, search option, menu, etc.

Legibility: Text should be easy to read. As simple as that. Language: Short sentences are preferred here. The easier the phrase and the words, the better. Typically the following areas are analysed to get a better idea of what your target users want: Persona: To visualise it better, a persona is created at the beginning of the process to have an example of a target, who you are trying to reach.

You can even come up with the name. It is a representation of a particular group of people with the same patterns; behaviour, needs, goals, skills, attitudes, etc. Persona helps to make right decisions about product features, navigation , interactions, visual design and much more. It helps you prioritise the design work, understanding what the user needs and what functions are simply nice to add and have. It is about problems persona has.

Here, small details both emotional and physical ones, matter. Use case: It is a series of steps for the persona to achieve the goal. Webcredible provides a handy guide to which technique to use and when: Popular user-centered design methods Source: WebCredible The user-centered design process answers crucial questions about users, about their tasks, goals and beliefs.

User-Centered Design and Agile Agile methods are becoming increasingly common in software design and development, with their collaborative customer focus and iterative, test -driven approach. Iterative Development: Early and frequent delivery of working software contributes to project visibility, reduces project risk via regular feedback, encourages continuous improvement and enables early realisation of business benefits, time to market.

Testing: Testing plays an integral role in every phase of the project life cycle. User testing is crucial for designing a product to ensure that you are working on the right thing at the right time. Transparency: As stated by Marc McNeill , all stakeholders are provided with maximum visibility into project progress.

Cost reduction: Costs are reduced because users can understand and use products without additional help. There is also a reduction in training costs. Moreover, there is no need to spend time and money on redoing things. Higher customer satisfaction: At the end of the day, the user receives what they want and how they want.

As you deliver what is requested in your target market, you guarantee increased sales. Risk reduction: As you work hand in hand with your user, you are sure you are going in the right direction. Productivity: As you always do what your user wants, there is less need to spend time on unnecessary things or features that users will not use or like.

Want to learn more? In this book, the authors speculate about central issues and questions involving designers, creators and users, when developing software. The 80's were kind of a primordium time when it comes to interactive systems and, as you can imagine, software design was not that good.

It quickly became clear that the visual part of the system was quite necessary. Part of the earlier work done with User Centered Design was adapting a language already expressed by users, highlighting their needs and skills to turn complex software into something understandable and usable. So, at this time, the user needed to be at the center of the process.

Designers began to think about the user's whole experience, hence the term user experience : powerful words that companies would use to differentiate themselves.

The years that followed were crucial in the interactive systems field. Not only because gradually, almost everyone began to have a computer at home, but also due to the globalisation of the world wide web. The opportunities to create new software and interactive systems were growing. More companies would focus on this field using the User Centered approach to deliver products with a good user experience.

As you can see from the image below, the popularity of the User Centered Design was at its peak about 20 years ago. From this point on, the User Centered Design process has become a sort of dogma that designers would follow without much questioning to achieve a good user experience.

But why has User Centered Design become so popular among designers? How does this approach possibly lead you to a better user experience? I think the answer lies in its principles. The UCD approach is entirely adaptable to different scenarios. Nonetheless, some User Centered Design key principles that should be present no matter the scenario:.

When users are at the center of the process , it is more likely that decisions made are not biased, made of assumptions or to rely only on information gathered from them. Since the UCD approach contemplates a lot of analysis and feedback, designers can make important changes right in the earliest stages of the design process. As you can imagine, applying this method avoids design modifications in more advanced stages, which ends up being beneficial in terms of costs.

David Benyon , a professor with over 25 years of experience in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, names 4 ways in which UCD can be helpful:. A UCD approach can potentially increase the sales of a product. Having the user involved in every phase of the process means that you have a better understanding of requirements and expectations. Once these are met, you're more likely to deliver a better product, which leads to more sales.

It leads to safer products. A product that is designed for specific tasks and contexts has fewer chances of human error. Because the design team is in closer contact with users, they develop not only a deeper understanding but also a stronger sense of empathy towards them. A UCD approach leads to more inclusive products.