In a nutshell

The first reason for a product existence is that it fulfills a certain need. To fulfill this need it must be used. But with the growing complexity of (consumer electronic) products, it is challenging to create something effective, efficient and satisfactory at the same time.

The illustration on the left shows that nicely, especially how all stakeholders can have an (unintenional, but negative) effect on the final product.

Luckily, creating good products becomes easier when we locate the user, his context and actual use of a product in the center of the entire developing process. This way of working is called User Centered Design and has a great return on investment (roi).

Illustration from Cartouche.ch  (original drawings go back to the 1960s)

What is all this user stuff?

Everything around us is designed to be used, in order to serve in a specific need. Products, software, architecture, services, you name it: we create our own world to make it a better place for ourselves.

How we use a product (I am just gonna say product now for all the above) determine if, when and how we reach the goals that it was intended to. Good design is therefore effective, efficient and satisfactory (the three elements of Usability).

But we humans are no machines, we strongly bond with the products around us (do you love or hate your car, shoes, kitchenware or smartphone?). The way we feel about our products before, during and after product use determine how we experience the product, the people connected to it and, ultimately, the brand that put it in the market.

Notable is that these experiences are in large part influenced by the context in which we use (or have used) the product (are you in a hurry or have you just made a promotion?). These three elements contribute to the User Experience of product use.

Usability refers to..

..the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use” (ISO 9241-11).
Or in common language: is the user able to use the product?

User Experience refers to..

..a person’s perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service” (ISO 9241-210).
It is in fact how people feel and act thanks to the product.

Is is worth it?

Without good usability and a positive user experience, users won’t bother using a product, or even buying from the same company. Paying attention to the use and the user experience is important if you want to create a sustainable business. It will increase sales and revenues while it decreases support costs.

This is not only important when you are selling products, but also for your own employees who work with tailor-made business solutions (e.g. a travel cost and hour registration application). Good design makes your product easier and faster to use, thus increasing productivity while decreasing training and maintenance costs. In short, UCD has the following benefits:

The benefits of UCD

• Increased sales and revenues
• Decreased training and support costs
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Increased productivity
• Decreased number of errors
• Increased self-reliance when errors occur
• Decreased maintenance costs
• Decreased development time and costs

Because of these benefits you generally can expect a high Return on Investment. Leading companies such as NNgroup and IBM have shown that every euro being invested in User Centered Design returns a revenue of ten to a hundred times that, as the video on the left explains quite nicely.

Great! How can we achieve it?

We place the user and his context in the center of the development process. This is called User Centered Design, although there are many other terms flying around that kind of mean the same (in my humble opinion).

UCD is a design strategy that includes an iterative process in which a wide range of tools, methods and techniques can be applied to create usable products to determine what users truly need and design and evaluate it accordingly. Combined with the knowledge and expertise of the designer himself one can create great products that people are happy to use and (ultimately) buy.

“User-centered design is..

.. characterised by the active involvement of users and a clear understanding of user and task requirements; an appropriate allocation of function between users and technology; the iteration of design solutions; multi-disciplinary design” (ISO 13407).