Whatever you design, always think about the people who will be using your product. These people are not abstract users but real people who will interact with your site or application. Keep in mind that your product is just a tool to help them achieve their goal.
Anthropocentric or human-centered design is based on a simple principle: you need to create products the way the end-users want them to be. It applies equally to interfaces, sites, applications, services, and other more complex systems.
The desires, needs, and constraints of the end-users are put first. Interaction scenarios assume that users do what they can, want, or are accustomed to, rather than retraining and changing established behaviors to master the functionality.
Today we will talk about how to create a human-centered design and how the research of audience preferences plays a role in this process.
The design approach is becoming more human-centered. We take behavior and personality into account in our activities, which is tremendous. Designers are trusted more they become more involved in the business strategy of companies.
Limitations
It is critical to define the real purpose of the people who will be using your product.
While human needs and desires are at the core of anthropocentric design, business interests, and technical constraints must be considered.
As a result, we have a relatively small number of approaches and solutions that would meet all three criteria simultaneously.
There is a great temptation to close our eyes to some kind of limitation. But this is a road to nowhere: a technically unrealizable or commercially unsuccessful solution simply will not reach a full-fledged release. And the users for whom you made such sacrifices will simply not see it and will not be able to appreciate all its benefits.
During the development process, you need to constantly keep this scheme in mind to avoid skewing in either direction.
The human-centered design process
Conventionally, the whole process of human-centered design development can be divided into six stages. However, many of them have an obligatory block: it is researching to study the needs and interests of users, their habits and preferences, opinions on the usability and functionality of prototypes.
Testing is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. In the context of human-centered design, this becomes even more pronounced.
No matter how much time you spend perfecting and creating the perfect prototype for your design solution, you should always test it on real people. Testing feedback will help you understand which part of your project needs improvement.
You cannot substitute testing with real users for testing with your family/team/stakeholders, because such testing will not be representative. Designers, developers, and even UX researchers often suffer from the effect of false belief – people tend to believe that others share their beliefs and will behave similarly in a given context. In other words, product creators assume that the people who will use the product they create are like them. Let’s repeat:
You are not a user.
It is why only testing with your real users will yield valuable information.
Testing demonstrates a human-centered approach in which designers create a solution based on a clear understanding of the user’s needs. And all ideas and solutions are subject to mandatory testing for compliance with the needs and expectations of those people who will use the product in their lives.
Stage 1. Observation and study
The development process begins with a simple question: Who am I creating this product for? Unless you’re building an app for yourself, you should start by thinking about your audience:
- Who will use this product?
- In what context (time, place, device, etc.) is this most likely to happen?
The key stage is preparation for the creative process. The main goal is to get to know the user as best as possible: to study his needs, needs, pains, fears, habits. The most convenient way to do this is through segmentation and drawing up a portrait of the client.
In addition to drawing up a portrait of a client, we carry out:
- ethnographic research,
- interview,
- focus groups,
- online surveys.
Please note that in this part of the process, there is no question of design development. We just study the future users of the product as deeply and in detail as possible.
As a result, we have ready-made customer portraits, a clear understanding of the needs and logic of the target audience of the product.
Stage 2. Reflection and generation of ideas
Once you have identified your target user group, you will need to examine their crucial needs. A tool called Job To Be Done (JTBD) can help you with this.
When _____, I want _____, so I can _____.
This framework provides a great way to identify main user problems and correlate them with possible solutions.
Based on the information obtained during the first stage, we develop creative ideas and creative concepts. We use brainstorming techniques to get ideas.
The main goal is to formulate as many ideas as possible that meet the needs of users and help solve the problem.
Output: a list of ideas and raw concepts, which, however, are geared towards user expectations.
Stage 3. Prototyping
Based on the developed ideas, we create rough prototypes of the human-centered design. We spend a minimum of time on them: our task is not to impress the user, but to present an idea or concept in the most simple, understandable, and accessible form.
Output: a set of prototypes created from the research of the first stage and ideas formulated in the second stage.
Step 4. Getting feedback
The most interesting thing: we demonstrate our prototypes to real users of the product to understand how our ideas correspond to their needs and expectations. At this stage, it becomes clear whether we have correctly interpreted the results of the studies carried out at the very beginning.
With the testing toolkit expanding, we can conduct the following studies in addition to tests from the first stage:
- attractiveness test
- sorting cards
- concept tests
- side-by-side tests.
We can also conduct a development session using a collaborative design technique.
We receive comments and suggestions for each idea, concept, and solution. It becomes clear which of them meet the expectations of users, and which do not.
As a result, we understand which direction to move, a set of comments, and suggestions from users.
Stage 5. Development
Based on the information received at the previous stage and considering all comments and suggestions from future users of the product, we work on creating a product.
We start by creating an MVP, a Minimum Viable Product, in which we implement all the tested ideas. We are moving along the path of improving individual elements and gradually bringing the product to full functionality and working condition.
Output: the finished product.
Stage 6. Final revision and release
We conduct additional research with user engagement for each iteration of the product so, we won’t lose connection with the audience and not go astray.
After development, we conduct a set of final tests to check the performance and functionality. We also make sure that the product meets the needs of users.
We release and test the product on a live audience:
- analyze behavioral indicators,
- we conduct full-fledged usability tests.
Outcome: A launched product built according to the principles of human-centered design.
In conclusion
Strict adherence to all the rules and recommendations in the development of human-centered design does not give a 100% guarantee for your product to be ideal from the point of view of usability and commercially successful due to focus on user needs by default.
But if you neglect this and focus solely on innovation and functionality, the risk of failure is much higher. Thus, other things being equal, users choose a product that is easier and more convenient to use, created considering their needs, established habits, and behavior patterns.
