Principles of User-Centered Design
At the heart of UCD are several basic principles which make a central focus on the real users and the real needs. These principles include:
- Early and Continuous User Involvement: It is essential that people take part in the process of designing right from the start, while also gathering continuous user feedback on their perceptions. Therefore, the resulting product will be user-centered.
- Empathetic Understanding: Thus designers need to be able to identify exactly a user’s needs, motivations and problems. Empathy creates products that actually strike a cord with the customer.
- Iterative Design: UCD is a methodical process of refining the design with reference to the users’ feedback. Through such an iteration, problems associated with a product can be addressed and improved.
- Usability Testing: Usability testing should always be done with real users so as to discover any usability issues, bottleneck, and areas for enhancement. The testing stage supports the process of evidence based design decisions.
- User-Centric Metrics: User satisfaction, successful execution of tasks, and retention levels serve as indicators of the efficacy of UCD endeavors. Indeed, these criteria give useful information on the product efficiency.
User-Centered Design Process
User-centered design is among the best practices in product and software development in helping companies design products that not only work well but also offer a better user experience. User-centered design (UCD) is an approach in design philosophy and practice where the user is considered to play a significant part in the design as he is the one who will use it. This is also a core departure from the more conventional product development models that could focus on technology, costs, and appearance as opposed to customer needs. The purpose of this article is to discuss the User-Centered Design Process with respect to concept, kind, importance, advantage, fundamentals, work cycle, and practices. It comprises figures and graphs to explain vital ideas as well.
Table of Content
- Importance of User-Centered Design Process
- Benefits of implementing User-Centered Design principles
- Principles of User-Centered Design
- Elements of User-Centered Design
- User-Centered Design Process
- Conclusion