User-Centered Design: Principles, Process, Examples

The user centered design process prides itself on being a research-focused practice. There are six stages that designers go through when developing a product. These stages include:
 

Specify the Context of Use

Before beginning to develop a product, the UX designer must research the ideal user and their needs. By observing their lives, the designers are able to get a broad picture of some of the challenges these users face.

Many of these observations are done in the form of interviews. These interviews give the designer insight into what specific goals users intend to meet and how they would like to achieve them.

From here, the designers can then understand the use cases of their product and begin designing.
 

Indicate Business Requirements

After interviewing users, the designers have a better sense of what is most desirable to them. During this phase, designers begin to research financially feasible solutions for the user.

Once a solid design idea has been formed and tested, the designers consider the business requirements that must be upheld. Since the primary goal of most products is to produce user loyalty and increase long-term revenue, the business requirements should be addressed over time.

Before implementing the product, the designers may ask a few questions to help them modify the design. Some of the questions may include:

• What partnerships need to be made?
• What resources do we need to help develop this project?
• What is our revenue stream like?
   

Design Solutions For Concepts and Finished Designs

This stage of the UCD process involves generating ideas, testing and refining solutions based on user requirement and input. When working through this stage, it is important to keep users involved so that the product can be continuously changed to meet their needs.

Testing out ideas on users helps designers discover which feasible ideas help the user and which do not. Since the user’s needs change over time it is important to keep testing ideas to ensure that they are still relevant solutions.

This phase will continue until the designers and users are happy with the result.
 

Evaluate the Design

At this point in the UCD process, designers conduct usability testing with actual users of their product. This stage gives the designers insight into how the users would actually interact with the product and understand how to tweak it to better suit them.

It is recommended that this stage is conducted as soon as possible. The faster that user feedback is received, the faster the designers can understand their product from the user’s point of view.
 

Implementation 

The implementation phase allows designers to finally bring their solution to the market. Within this phase designers focus on a few key steps:

• Building partnerships
• Altering their business model
• Piloting their idea
• Receiving a reliable solution

The best way to do this is by researching the user and launching a prototype within their natural setting. This step will look very different depending on the type of product that is being designed.

For example, the implementation phase for a product that is designed for a younger user may involve user interviews, observing the user in their personal life and community settings.

By observing the user, the designer is able to put themselves in their shoes. Once this stage is implemented, the design is likely to change to best fit the user’s needs and meet business goals.
 

Deployment 

The final stage of designing, before releasing a product, aims to understand if the product will have the desired impact on the user. Assessing this factor will differ depending on the goal of the product.

If the product is meant to alter user behavior, factors such as user feedback will greatly help the designer understand the outcome of their work. Alternatively, the assessment may be as simple as understanding whether or not the product generated revenue.

Ultimately, the designers will compare these assessments with their business goals and alter them before deploying the product. This stage will not be considered complete until the product is as accessible as possible for the intended users.

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According to a 2018 study, 17% of information technology (IT) start-ups fail due to a lack of implementation of user-centred design. To add, other studies have deemed UCD to be responsible for roughly 30% of business owners’ success.

With these statistics in mind is it important to note the various areas in which UCD greatly benefits the outcome of a product’s success.
 

Avoids Common Mistakes

Some of the most common mistakes associated with IT project failure can be avoided with the use of user-centered design. Three major reasons that projects typically fail include:

• Having poorly defined requirements
• Conflicting politics between stakeholders
• Poor communication (between users and developers)

Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., a behavioral psychologist who specializes in user experience design, claims that UCD is directly correlated to these three reasons. User research, user testing, and interviews are all UCD elements that help solve software issues that appear in failed IT projects.

Additional reasons for failed projects include unmanaged risks and unrealistic project goals. Factors such as money pressures, poor project management, and inability to manage project complexity were also noted to be common mistakes UCD can improve.
 

Improves the Development Process

Many companies that have shifted to a UCD process have found that it greatly benefits their team and developmental process. One notable example is Microsoft.

They began developing their software to fit the user’s needs instead of being primarily technology-driven. During this process, the team was able to be more creative in their design.

As a result of their new approach, the team found that they were more productive, more creative, and saw more success in terms of business goals.
 

Enhances ROI

For every dollar spent on a project, nearly 10% is wasted due to inadequate project management. With this in mind, it is important to recognize that the use of UCD can provide a great return on investment (ROI) if properly executed.

User research allows designers to identify problems before they arise and gives them a chance to find solutions in the early stages of development. By avoiding these problems, UCD helps save time and money.

To add, enhancing user experience makes it more likely that users will enjoy a product. With less confusion around navigating the product, users will be more inclined to purchase the product, therefore, increasing sales.

Finally, users who appreciate a product’s design are more likely to turn into long-term consumers. This helps drive company ROI while satisfying the needs of the user and building a strong brand reputation.
 

Boosts Competitiveness

User centered design also increases the competitiveness of companies with similar products. Users are more likely to choose a product that was designed with the user in mind compared to one that wasn’t.

Since UCD is entirely research-based, it will usually give companies who use it an advantage. This is mainly due to the fact that higher quality research makes it easier to connect with the user and appeal to their needs.

Additional benefits to UCD can include giving customers a sense of ownership of the product and manufacturing more effective and safer designs.

Due to bad usability, roughly 70% of online businesses fail. In fact, 88% of people indicate that they would not return to a site following a bad user experience. For this reason, many companies have begun implementing UCD into their designing processes.

Below are a variety of examples that have demonstrated great use of the key principles of UCD.

Trello

Products that include features without a purpose confuse the user and make it more difficult for them to navigate it. One company that is great at avoiding this issue is Trello.

Trello is a collaboration tool that helps you stay organized with its simple design. The interface only displays features and elements that benefit the user. Users can navigate the site easily due to the intuitive design Trello provides.

Instacart

When using the Instacart app, the user will immediately notice that they have designed their interface with well-defined text to accommodate users who are visually impaired. To add, they have also applied UCD to the cart section of their page.

Users are able to add items to their cart directly from the main page. This feature is much faster in comparison to services that require the user to view their cart when increasing the amount of an item they already selected.

Yelp

This app is designed to help users find local business reviews and make reservations. Yelp has enhanced its design by including usability features in the navigation section of its site.

While exploring the Yelp app, the user can navigate through a list of restaurants within their map feature. This allows the user to find an exact location of a business as easily as possible.

Duolingo

This language learning app takes simplification to a new level. Its simplistic interface allows users to learn a language easily through the process of completing tasks.

Duolingo turns language learning into a game by letting users advance to new categories after completing a section. This process helps keep the user engaged while meeting their goal of learning a new language.

Spotify

Spotify is a leading example of turning the needs and desires of users into a highly valuable product. Before their service was available, users usually purchased their music on a song-per-song basis.

For most, purchasing music in this way was not financially feasible.

Spotify created its service to address this issue and provide users with an easier way to access music. Since its development, users can now access music in one place for a standard monthly fee.

Apple

The design process of a website and mobile app should be focused on making information quickly accessible. There is no better example of this principle than Apple’s web pages.

Apple designs each of its web pages to provide information in a visible manner. Users can better understand factors, such as product types, features, and speculations, due to their sleek and organized display.

Accessibility should always be a top priority as it greatly impacts user experience and can change how users view your brand.

Rover

This company knows how to value the trust of its users- especially when it comes to their pets. Rover allows users to book a sitter and review online photo updates during their absence.

This added detail helps them appeal to their users by showing them that they understand how hard it is to leave your pet with someone else. Through this UCD, users are more inclined to view Rover as a trusting site and one they would like to invest in.

MailChimp

Personalization adds depth to technology by humanizing it. A web application that effectively represents this mentality is MailChimp.

MailChimp uses personalization to appeal to its users through its beloved mascot. The chimp mascot, known as Frederick von Chimpenheimer IV, provides a hint of humor and adds an emotional connection to its service.

By appealing to users’ emotions, products can become more than just a utility.