How to implement the UCD process?

Generally, the UCD approach involves 4 steps, which typically start from understanding the context of the problem and evaluating the designs. Let’s understand each step in detail:

• Understanding context of use: The primary step is to understand the problem as well the context in which the product that is being designed later would be used. How the product would solve the problem. Learning about the users and their problems would mark the first step of the user-centered design process.
• Specifying user requirements: Once the big picture is clear about what is the problem and what is to be designed, now it’s time to understand the requirements that need to be fulfilled to make the product succeed. What users want and expect from the product is essential to be known. Through surveys and user interviews, designers would get to know about the key user’s requirements. Based on the user requirement, a design strategy is created. This is a plan of how to proceed further looking into all the nitty-gritty of the whole process.
• Ideating and designing solution: After all the data is collected and evaluated, the team proceeds to work on the ideation. New ideas are explored, discussed, and carried out along with cross-functional teams to check on the feasibility and timelines. This way collaboration and communication help keep everyone aligned on the work. A lot of different ideas are explored and based on alignment and discussion, a single idea is taken up for further design. 
• Evaluation against Requirements: Evaluation is of utmost importance to check whether the app/product is fulfilling the requirement. A usability test is also carried out with the user to check the:
  • Does the product/app meet user requirement
  • Does the app have the expected behavior
  • Is everything aligned with the user’s mental model
  • Is the user able to navigate and interact with the app/product 

UCD and UX are the two most common and confusing words. Designing for users is critical for the success of the app as well as the brand. UX stands for User Experience and UCD stands for User-Centered Design. UX is when designers design for the overall user experience of an app, whereas UCD is the approach that designers take while working for UX.

Imagine you want to bake the perfect cake for your friend’s birthday. To do that, you wouldn’t just throw random ingredients together and hope for the best. Instead, you’d follow a recipe, taste the batter along the way, and adjust it until it’s just right. In the same way, UCD is a method for creating products, like websites or apps, that people love to use.