How User-Centered Design Helps in Product Development Process
Indeed, these can be put in a single statement that in today’s world the expectations of users are significantly higher! The applications that are being developed now have to go beyond the expectations of the clients to survive and come out victorious on the market.
That is where user-centered design commonly referred to as UCD comes into play. User-centered design is indeed a real philosophy that aims at the user as the central figure in the entire process of product design. This approach eliminates the common problem of designing a product that is only efficient to use but does not captivate the consumer. It is already in circulation and has application in some sectors such as in Banking sector, Real Estate, Media, among others.
Designing with users in mind can be described as having a set of glasses that allows you to view the process from the users’ perspective from before the development phase all the way to a product launch. Specifically, user-centered design helps designers and developers to better understand structural characteristics of products from the end-user’s perspective and, therefore, design solutions that are most desirable for the users and, consequently, create products with high user satisfaction rates, high acceptance rates, and, finally, organizational effectiveness.
Thus, the path in extending the usage of a user-centered design approach into the development of the product is rather an intriguing and challenging one. This is a multidisciplinary field that seeks to analyse and interpret user and everything that surrounds them including what they cherish and how they perceive interfaces. A perfect product design company should undoubtedly be capable of developing an identity and first branding, a design concept before the product is launched, or UX/UI for an MVP.
Today, our team of professional designers acquainted with all the tendencies in communication design, will draw upon their knowledge and reveal all the subtleties of the construction of a product based on user-centred design. Every aspect of UCD starting from the definition of the concept to the detailed process, better practices, and possible challenges that may be met along the way will be involved in the article to help you get a better understanding of how to create heartfelt products.
What Is User-Centered Design?
In essence, user-centered design is a paradigm that focuses implemented within processes of creating and developing products and solutions implementing user needs and experiences as paramount principles. It is a concept that is opposite to the conventional methods of manufacturing, which is more of creating a product through consecutive and adaptable steps while considerate of the recipients. However, what does it in fact imply, and how did this strategy lead to this influences today’s practice of developing digital goods?
Definition of User-Centered Design
User-centered design is a design principle that aims at engaging the users at every developmental stage of a product so that the final product meets or surpasses user expectations and solves their problems. This approach is not only focused on making products cheaper but it also addresses to making the experience overall more enjoyable.
One more fact worth to be noticed is that, Nielsen Norman Group's research reveals that projects including UCD from the beginning could increase the productivity of the users 10 times. Moreover, the same research proves that the usage of the user-centered approach that allows for designing a product without lots of demand of the user’s training is 75 percent less, thus proving the strategic importance of the user needs consideration in the initial stage of the design process.
The Evolution of User-Centered Design
However, the idea of developing product designs based on the users’ need is not a fresh concept. It originated in the 1980s as an attempt by Donald Norman working at the Cognitive Science Laboratory at the University of California at San Diego. Still, its application was not deep until the digital age, where UCD rose to become one of the most important concepts for product design, while turning into an industry norm.
Do you know that user-centered design was adopted as a policy by the Apple Inc. ? In the 1990s, such elements of Apple’s strategy as the emphasis on the user and simplicity in design can be attributed to the principles of UCD. Indeed, this focus has helped to shape Apple Inc. as the dominant player in design thinking and inspired other numerous firms to think in a similar manner.
Since UCD has grown over the years, it has affected not only the design of digital products but also the way organizations function and work. A report from Forrester Research reveal that, in general, the returns on investment in UX is a 100 times the amount invested. This phenomenal 9900% return on investment reveals that putter-on and many others call for user-centered methodologies not just as a matter of aesthetics and affinity for such initiatives but as a matter of survival.
Thus, the development of UCD from an idea to the process of design and development is a sign of a more significant change in culture toward user empathy, satisfaction, and technology inclusiveness. User-centered design that puts users first has brought about positive change in our society to make technology user-friendly, interesting, and purposeful, on the other side business has received the advantage of enhancing the product development lifecycle and market competition.
A Complete User-Centered Design Process
Of course, every product design company sets its own specific approach to the strategy of user-centered design. At Idealogic, for instance, we have such product design strategy that was defined through dozens of years and hundreds of successful cases. Organizing the process into Research, Design, Testing, and Launch phases guarantees that all developed products meet consumers’ expectations and are designed with the customer in mind.
Phase 1: Research
Target Audience: The first and possibly the most important of the steps for the user-centered design is to determine the patrons. Considering Grounded Theory as a kind of qualitative research, there is a list of questions that must be taken into account Southwell (2017): What are they interested in? What do they like or dislike? What aches them? How do they use devices? Notably, organizations that focus on design and strived on audience insight have been revealed to perform 2. 3 times better than the S&P Index over 10 years, with the reference made to Design Management Institute. This statistic also explains the bitter truth that the market has suffered a great loss due to the incorporation of user-centered design.
Customer Needs: The identification of the target market as well as the target audience ties jointly with the need to understand the needs of the customers. KPMG has released a report that identified users’ resistance to be the primary reason for 70% of failures, implying that there is little understanding of what users require in terms of a product. Getting in touch with your audience in various ways including questionnaires, interviews, and observation is equally effective and can have the desired result of leading your development efforts to the right direction, that of providing actual user satisfaction from the start.
Phase 2: Design
Conceptualization: Moving from the research process to the design phase, is the conceptualization, where ideas are actually put into plan. Construction of the right idea is an exceptionally significant step in the formation of the item since it defines its place on the marketplace. According to McKinsey & Company it was revealed that companies that invest in their design functions achieve revenues growth 56% more than companies that do not invest in design. In this stage, PD teams are generating and considering numerous solution ideas, based on previous investigations to guarantee that the final solution offering is innovative yet fundamentally meets the user’s needs.
Prototyping: Prototyping is the ability to take an idea and test what an actual product would be like as well as gain feedback from the actual users. For this you should construct what is known as the minimum viable product, or MVP, where we can just enlist the basic functions of the programme and get early customers to test. As stated by IBM, the process of deriving solutions out of a prototype entails half the comprehension attentiveness and development cost compared to distinct software formation. This efficiency gain proves that prototyping is a critical strategy in redesigning to ensure that the design is informed by the end-users’ needs.
Phase 3: Testing
Usability Testing: Usability testing helps to understand actual users, their strengths and difficulties they encounter when using your product. It is during usability testing when different techniques like A/B testing, interviewing and, analyzing the tasks are conducted to ensure that one gets a broad spectrum of feedback. This direct feedback is quite important to comprehend not only whether users are able to work with your product, but how they feel about it. Besides this, there is an insight on the UX Research Field Guide which points to the fact that even simple groups that are involved in the usability testing would be able to identify more than 85 percent of the usability problems.
Iteration: Iteration means progressive development and this is why iteration process is used in defining a process. It is the place where the developed product is tested several times, takes feedback, and optimizes it for the purpose of not only good functionality but also for the user-friendliness. This article now turns its focus on a significant area of iteration, that is the lifecycle. Since Agile methodology employs the use of iterations concerning the development process, there is a possibility it will cut the time taken to the market since both the development and testing phases happen concurrently. Perhaps the most apparent advantage of this strategy is that it accelerates the product cultivation process while increasing the probability that the product meets the consumers’ needs right from the start, reducing the chances of going through a lengthy and expensive cycle of fixing the product post its launch.
Phase 4: Implementation and Launch
Final Design Steps: At this last stage of the design process as the design starts to crystalize and the product is almost ready for release these key design activities are vital to fine tune the design and make it ease of use and ready for market. This phase involves polishing the look of the screen, making sure it complies with disability act and improving the aspect of usage based on the information that has been gathered in the previous research, design, and testing phase. At this stage, I would like to stress web accessibility as it does not only increase your product’s audience but also boosts the SEO and can prevent potential legal issues.
Launch and Support: Marketing the product is also a very important step but it also implies that there is still a lot more work to be done. The sustenance of the product’s efficiency is crucial after the launch and therefore requires support. Incorporation of users, collecting feedback after the application launch, and making updates and corrections frequently are the key strategies which help in maintaining the relevancy of the product among the users.
A report by Gartner showed that when customer support is constant and consistent, the client satisfaction is likely to increase by as much as 15% and at the same time the costs of support going down by 20%. That is why further support is crucial and, actually, should be provided continuously even after the program’s release. User-centered design is thus an iterated design improve and learn cycle when the product has been shipped which goes on for quite some time.
In this connection, it can be stated that product development with the help of user-centered design is rather obvious if done correctly. Of course, there is Idealogic for help if you need it!
Best Practices for User-Centered Design
Far from just a methodological choice, the use of user-centered design is a strategic decision that can improve a company’s product development outcomes and support its competitive advantage. There should be proper doses of UX standards that are to be followed to make certain that all the aspects of the application in question are utterly user-centered. Now, we will proceed to reveal to you more information concerning some crucial factors that could boost your UCD activities.
Involve Users Early and Often
Among the core principles of user-centered design is the one that stems from the acronym in which power users are involved in the process from the very beginning and at each successive stages of product development. That said, there are several advantages of this strategy. For instance, Adobe Design Trends reveal that products that are built with steady user feedback, are more in tune with users’ expectations meaning that user satisfaction and loyalty is greatly enhanced.
It also allows involved individuals to learn about goals and challenges of the defined users, their contexts of using the product, in order to enhance design solutions based on the empathy concept. Furthermore, this practice helps to minimize the cases of expensive redesigns and also guarantees the actual development stream is in harmony with the users’ needs. Thus, strategically recognizing users as co-authors, businesses can achieve stronger interactions with an audience, resulting in not only the usage of goods but their appreciation as well.
Use a Cross-Disciplinary Approach
A cross-disciplinary approach means maintaining the spirit of one team where each group – engineering, design, content strategy, and marketing can provide their input into the general project concerning the user perspective. For example, a designer may pay attention to the usability aspect of the product, a developer – to its functionality, and a marketer – to the communication concept; however, the synthesis of these professions results in a product that has all these features and does not only look appealing and intuitive but is also relevant to the users’ needs and value proposition.
This way all the touch points of the user are taken into account and results in better ideas, usable products and products that are more successful in the market. This approach has been widely practiced in design because users’ issues are complex and require solutions from various disciplines. In addition, McKinsey’s “The Business Value of Design” shows that organizations with effective cross-discipline integration have a higher probability of customer value capture along with value creation.
Prioritize Accessibility and Inclusivity
Cultural relation and inclusion can be considered as ethical and yet crucial parameters for the proper implementation of UCD strategy. Because of them, user-centered design ensures that as many people as possible within the targeted category can use the product. Additionally, while carrying out inclusive design measures, it is common to come up with inventions that enhance the usability of the product for all people.
For instance, speech recognition and text to speech facilities were invented to help the visually impaired but has now turned out to be a feature that is easily found in most gadgets being used in the society. This way, using accessibility and encouraging inclusion companies can increase their market and offer more innovations to raise user satisfaction on a higher level. However, inclusive design supports a brand image by proving its concern for society and equal treatment of all.
Iterate Based on Feedback
Another method, which is a key component of UCD, is the iterative process which is useful when addressing the refinement of products based on users’ feedback. Such a cycle of feedback, analysis, redesign and testing insulates products from marketing rhetoric and guarantees that they progress according to users’ needs and preferences. Iteration gives the option of changing the pattern in accordance with what is received from the actual usage, which is very important in the contemporary technologically advanced world where expectations of users and technologies are ever fluctuating.
Besides, repeating activities help to develop the learning and improvement climate within teams, thus, creating new ideas within the company. Thus, using iteration with products, companies can guarantee that they are relevant, convenient, and competitive in the long run.
Tools and Resources for User-Centered Design
In the world of user-centered design, having the right set of tools and resources is crucial for matching user needs. The tools mentioned below not only accelerate the design process but also enable the creation of products that can find a true home in users’ lives.
Sketch: Sketch is famous now for the contemporary features created to build interfaces according to the modern tendencies. It brings out the ease of work with enriched vector, making it possible for artists to work on detailed and scalable works. Another aspect of Sketch that has proven to be largely beneficial is the plugins: these add-ons can improvise the designers’ experience and productivity. Its collaborative features also make it easy for the teams to work and therefore guarantee the design of every feature to suit the user needs.
InVision: InVision is an application that moves designs from static to merely interactive, giving more information on function of the final product. Again, it permits all the designers and the stakeholders to interact with the prototyping device before it settles as the final output, provide feedback concerning its usability amongst other factors. This interactivity is particularly beneficial in generating design ideas and the consequent ability to predict whether the final output shall meet the required expectations.
UserTesting: UserTesting allows organisations to see first hand how users engage with designs or products that are under development. User tests help to work with real people belonging to the chosen audience segment and obtain information regarding usability, desirability, and functionality. Of note is that this platform is helpful in quickly pointing out any divergences between what the designer is hoping to achieve with a particular interface aspect and what the end users are expecting, making it possible to quickly make corrections that optimise the usability of a given aspect of the interface on the smartphone.
Google Analytics
Once you launch your product into the market, learning users’ behaviors is very crucial. Google Analytics gives quantitative information on users’ actions, interest level and conversion ratio. It paves way to discover more of the areas of strength, and the areas that needs to be enhanced. Through the use of this data, teams are able to make intelligent decisions as to how else the product can be tweaked to meet the users’ needs and consequently shape the intended action.
These tools collectively will go a long way in simplifying the entire process of designing and developing processes and products focused on the user right from the design phase of a project all the way to the analysis phase. When incorporating them into your processes, it becomes easier to design and generate products that have good usability, in the most profound sense of the firm’s objective – to satisfy user wants.
How User-Centered Design Can Benefit Your Business
It is possible to state that the nature of user-centered design remains rather simple to explain. Consequently, the companies that can incorporate this approach to their strategies get a lot of advantages. Here we will describe some of the key advantages of user-centered design in the development phase.
Reducing Development Costs
UCD is clearly beneficial in terms of cost when applied during the product development process. When the users are engaged at the system’s design stage, the problems are likely to be noted and solved at their initial stages and thus not very expensive to solve. The Nielsen Norman Group estimates that between $2 and $100 is returned on every dollar spent on UX, which only adds to the cost-efficiency of attempting to design for the users.
Furthermore, another of IBM’s discoveries was that the cost of fixing an error after the product’s release was one hundred times the cost of fixing the same error during the design process. In this regard, user-centered design is not just about cutting expenditure on corrective work, but actually helps to get products and services to market faster.
Driving Innovation
User-centered design is a technique that supports feedback and recycling that are core elements of innovations. Through continuous interactions with the users and their feedback, businesses can discover the latter’s wants and the new opportunities. Thus, linkages of products are drawn increasingly closer to the final consumers. On the same note, the adoption of new products and services is normally harnessed through innovation, which normally originates from the awareness of user’s needs, achieved through user experience design.
Reaching Wider Audiences
Another important aspect of application of user-centered design for business is that it is capable of spreading more and more, also making products more usable for as many people as possible. Incorporating accessibility as one of the core approaches of a project from the onset of every project makes UCD best practice so that your service or product does not alienate a large segment of your intended market. This approach makes your products accessible to more users enabling delivery of service or product from your business to those who may need it.
For example, a person who is driving a car or a mother / father with a child can find voice commands to be extremely convenient, although such options are originally developed for people with a disability. Therefore, the approach of user-oriented work means the access of companies to broader groups of consumers, which was previously limited by prejudice, in addition to compliance and ethical concerns. Businesses ensure that their products touch everyone because everyone gets to use them hence ensuring that no one is left out when creating a positive impact.
Idealogic - A Perfect Match for Building the Best Product
At Idealogic, we understand that the product development process is complex and requires more than just technical expertise. It requires the focus on the inclusion of the user within the design and development cycle. The human factor of the team is notably experienced and diverse, and thus we, for sure, know how to make every solution not only unique but also integrated.
These are the reasons we are a team, because we are convinced that collaboration is important and that the synergy created when a business partners with a team that is as determined as they are special. Our portfolio speaks louder than words, demonstrating projects that remove the push in terms of user satisfaction, engagement, and accessibility. With hundreds of successful cases behind us, we definitely know how to make your product work well!
Now, we encourage you to take the next step!
If you are looking to bring a vision to life and create a product that not only meets market demands but exceeds user expectations, then Idealogic is your ideal partner. Let's start this journey together, crafting functional and transformative solutions.
Contact Idealogic today and lets transform your ideas to an implemented reality.
Vision should not stay as a dream! Contact us right now, and together, we can create something truly remarkable.
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