When most people think of UX design, their mind goes to the aesthetics of a project. They picture trendy people with thick rimmed glasses poring over packaging sketches. The reality is it’s so much more than that. UX design is an entire process that goes through many lifecycles, filled with research and careful testing.
Design has historically been an afterthought in the business world. Design thinking is often addressed in the 11th hour with the goal mainly being to make the product “look pretty”, which leads to businesses not truly knowing what their users want until it is too late. It’s almost impossible to get it right on the first try and this has resulted in corporations backtracking after a final product has been launched and having to scramble for solutions that actually meet the customers’ needs. Not having a strong answer to the users’ needs at the onset of any project often leads to multiple redesigns, lost hours of work, and busted budgets.
Finding Balance
While there’s no way to center every single user, companies that have moved the design process from the end to the beginning had more success with users. The design thinking process can be as simple or as complex as the business and users require. It’s about finding a balance between user requirements and business requirements.
Business and marketing are inherently tied to the design of a product. While design is a vital part of development, the designer is not the only person in charge of making decisions. CEOs, stakeholders, and investors all have needs that must be met as well. Finding a balance between business and design requires a bit of creative thinking.
One solution is to identify the user’s need first and then figure out how to use their motivations to drive revenue. The goal is to find a solution that works for both parties.
To find this balance, you’ll need to have a few key elements:
-Desirability (User Need)
-Economic tangibility (Marketing Requirements)
-Technical feasibility (Business Requirements)
There are many needs that must be met when designing a product and it’s important to take all these elements into account.
Try, Try, and Try Again
As we covered before, most rarely get it right on the first try. To make sure you put out a product that live up to user expectations, it is important to employ iterative design. As the third principle of user centered design, iterative design recommends that experiences and data are collected, and the product design is modified and tested repeatedly. In four case studies, the median improvement in overall usability was 165% from the first to the last iteration, and the median improvement per iteration was 38%.
The idea is that failing early saves time; it is much easier to modify a prototype than a finished product. Research doesn’t stop at the first step of design thinking, once you have gathered information on your users’ needs it’s time to test what you have learned. Empirical measurements of product usability let designers know what’s working and what could be improved. Through errors, assists, and task completion rates, teams can gauge the usability of a product and tweak issues throughout the process. Iterative design is a productive way to ensure user needs and business needs are met throughout product development. It keeps the user at the center of the design while compiling tangible proof of success for businesses.
Your team will continue to iterate and fine tune with each phase of the product lifecycle until you get it right. There will always be room for improvement!
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