User-centered design: Develop suc­cess­ful products in dialog with users

De­vel­op­ing digital products is often a lengthy and resource-intensive process. Companies launching a new website, de­vel­op­ing an app or producing digital content should have an in-depth un­der­stand­ing of the needs of their target group. Otherwise, months of work, heated debates among project team members and high budget in­vest­ments may lead to nothing.

The user-centered design process has es­tab­lished itself in the digital sector, in par­tic­u­lar, to ensure that companies don’t develop products the market doesn’t want, and that their products and services solve real problems, and are intuitive and pleasant to use.

ISO standard 9241-210:2019 (Er­gonom­ics of human-system in­ter­ac­tions) defines the basic prin­ci­ples of user-centered design. It succeeds ISO 13407, which described the user-centered design of in­ter­ac­tive systems.

When de­vel­op­ing new (digital) products and services, many companies lose them­selves in their own internal viewpoint. Instead of surveying users on the layout, design, and function of products from the outset, companies con­cen­trate on in­no­v­a­tive tech­nolo­gies, their corporate goals (what can we offer quickly with our existing resources?) and at­trac­tive graphic design. The resulting ap­pli­ca­tions take some getting used to. Often, they’re not intuitive to use and don’t offer the functions users expect.

The user-centered design turns this approach on its head. It focuses on users’ needs, abilities and re­quire­ments, not corporate interests and ca­pa­bil­i­ties. Before the actual de­vel­op­ment, the company analyzes the users and their situation and seeks feedback re­peat­ed­ly during the de­vel­op­ment process. This allows them to build products in an iterative process and in close co­or­di­na­tion with customers.

User-centered design as a concept has been com­mon­place in product design since the 1990s and the user-centered design approach has become in­creas­ing­ly prominent in the digital sector in recent years.

Anyone reading up on user-centered design will sooner or later encounter the term human-centered design. Any dif­fer­ences between the concepts are marginal. While even experts use the terms syn­ony­mous­ly, some see minor lin­guis­tic dif­fer­ences: The word ‘user’ refers to a specific target group, while the term ‘human’ is broader. As a result, they believe that human-centered design not only in­cor­po­rates users, but also other stake­hold­ers who interact in­di­rect­ly with the new product being developed.

Design professor Donald A. Norman is one of the world’s leading experts on user-centered design and was one of the first to use the term. His pub­li­ca­tions reveal a lin­guis­tic change: while he used to write about user-centered design, his more recent pub­li­ca­tions feature the terms ‘human’ or ‘people-centered design’.

ISO standard 9241-210:2019 defines six fun­da­men­tal prin­ci­ples that form the basis of the user-centered design process:

1. Design is based on un­der­stand­ing users, their tasks and their en­vi­ron­ment: It is not enough to have a vague im­pres­sion of the product’s target group. User-centered design requires deep immersion into the lives of users.
2. Users are involved through­out the entire de­vel­op­ment and design process: This is one of the main dif­fer­ences to other ap­proach­es. Users are not just invited to assess a finished product, rather their opinions are the basis for de­vel­op­ment.
3. The design process is guided by user ratings: Users evaluate every prototype and every beta version, and this feedback is used to develop the product.
4. The process is iterative: The process steps in product de­vel­op­ment are performed non-linearly and re­peat­ed­ly. Feedback from users can make multiple it­er­a­tions of in­di­vid­ual phases necessary.
5. The entire user ex­pe­ri­ence is taken into account: The aim of user-centered design is not to make using a product as simple as possible. Instead, the process takes a broader view of the user ex­pe­ri­ence. Products should evoke positive emotions, offer genuine solutions and encourage users to use them re­peat­ed­ly.
6. The project team is multi-dis­ci­pli­nary: User-centered design requires close co­op­er­a­tion across dis­ci­plines. There is no room for silo men­tal­i­ties in product de­vel­op­ment. User re­quire­ments can only be im­ple­ment­ed optimally if copy­writ­ers, graphic designers, and pro­gram­mers share their different per­spec­tives.

User-centered design is based on certain fun­da­men­tal prin­ci­ples. While it is always an iterative de­vel­op­ment process, no explicit methods are specified for im­ple­men­ta­tion. The approach can be in­te­grat­ed into a waterfall or­ga­ni­za­tion or an agile en­vi­ron­ment.

Ir­re­spec­tive of the specific im­ple­men­ta­tion, four phases of the process can be defined based on ISO 9241-210:2019:

1. Context analysis

The first step is to analyze the context in which users will use the product. Who are the future users, and what are their specific ap­pli­ca­tions for the product? Project teams can find answers by observing and surveying potential users.

2. Defining the re­quire­ments

The second step is to define the specific re­quire­ments for the new product. This step describes user re­quire­ments, taking corporate re­quire­ments into account.

3. Design

The actual design process doesn’t start until the re­quire­ments have been defined. In the first instance, designers will usually create a simple prototype, e.g. using paper, followed by digital wire­frames, and finally produce a finished prototype.

4. Eval­u­a­tion

After a prototype has been produced, the project team asks potential users for feedback. For digital ap­pli­ca­tions, this is generally done via extensive user testing and qual­i­ta­tive surveys. Surveys and tests assess ef­fec­tive­ness (can users achieve what they want?), ef­fi­cien­cy (how quickly can users achieve their objective?) and general sat­is­fac­tion.

The project team returns to step 2 or 3 in the design process with the new in­for­ma­tion to optimize the product. These it­er­a­tions continue until sat­is­fac­to­ry user feedback is achieved, taking into account the corporate frame­works (time and costs).

US company Mon­ey­think developed a financial app for young people from socially dis­ad­van­taged back­grounds using the user-centered design process. Existing financial apps that are intended to encourage users to save in in­vest­ment funds, syn­chro­nize their various accounts and check com­pre­hen­sive sta­tis­tics were ir­rel­e­vant to this target group. The new app was intended to focus on the specific needs of these young people by promoting financial education and helping them use their limited budgets re­spon­si­bly.

Mon­ey­think held 90 in­ter­views with young people across seven different schools and colleges. The team immersed itself in the everyday lives of future users. They analyzed and used other apps popular among young people (like Snapchat and Instagram) and collected ad­di­tion­al con­tex­tu­al in­for­ma­tion by observing students at school and at home.

Their findings in­flu­enced the app de­vel­op­ment process. During design sprints, the team tested ways to make the app cooler and give it an Instagram factor. After the app was published and downloads did not quite meet ex­pec­ta­tions, the team made some more ad­just­ments and collected detailed opinions from users, following the motto “what is important, doesn’t happen in the office”.

A con­sis­tent focus on user-centered design not only benefits the user, it’s also worth­while for companies.

1. Customer sat­is­fac­tion: Close in­te­gra­tion of users in the early stages of the de­vel­op­ment process means that the end product is more likely to meet the customer’s ex­pec­ta­tions. This boosts revenue and reduces customer service costs.
2. Product safety: The project team develops a product for a specific target group and a specific use case. As this in­for­ma­tion is con­sid­ered in detail, the risk of in­ap­pro­pri­ate usage, which could endanger the user, decreases.
3. Quality: When de­vel­op­ers and designers get to know the needs, fears, and re­quire­ments of customers, they develop empathy. This results in more ethical and ergonomic products. Aspects that could have been neglected otherwise – like privacy or usability – become important.
4. Sus­tain­abil­i­ty: Because the per­spec­tive during de­vel­op­ment is shifted to the needs of potential customers, the resulting products appeal to a broader customer base. In this way, user-centered design also con­tributes to a company’s sus­tain­abil­i­ty goals.
5. Cost ef­fi­cien­cy: The costs for al­ter­ations remain rel­a­tive­ly low, because user feedback is con­sid­ered right from the start and not only at the end of the product de­vel­op­ment phase. This enables de­vel­op­ers to in­cor­po­rate user feedback from the get-go.
6. Com­pet­i­tive advantage: Since not all companies have made user-centered design their top priority or have had dif­fi­cul­ty im­ple­ment­ing it, companies that work according to an effective user-centered design process can set them­selves apart from the com­pe­ti­tion.

It remains to be seen whether the marketing sector will be talking about user-centered design, human-centered design or people-centered design in the years to come. Im­ple­men­ta­tion methods are not static; they will continue to change. However, one thing is already clear: user-centered design ap­proach­es aren’t just a temporary fad, they’re already best practice in the digital sector. And they will grow in im­por­tance in the future given the volatil­i­ty, un­cer­tain­ty, and com­plex­i­ty of the market.