User Centered Design in Custom Software Development
In today’s world, the most challenging task to tackle is creating a design or a system that can cater to all users’ needs. Some companies don’t entertain this concept as a whole, and some don’t have the capital to invest in it. Whatever their reason might be, you shouldn’t do that. For your following product, you should implement user centered approach in your custom software design and development.
According to a research:
“Only 55% of online companies have established their UX team for improving their product.”
You might say that 55% is still a good number. But let me present it to you in context.
According to online research:
“Approximately 90% of visitors don’t visit the same page twice after facing a bad UX experience.”
That is what having a poorly presented page on your website or product does to your product’s credibility. It is no reason to argue why you shouldn’t opt for better design. Research is being done, reports have been published, and articles have been written to reveal the significance of making a better UX design of your website/ app/ or product.
Therefore, it is high time to level up your services by adopting user centered design approach to ensure better reach. Today, we’ll be discussing the significance of using UCD and how to use it in your subsequent launches.
How to Carry Out UCD For Your Product?
The term ‘user centered design was first coined by Don Norman in the 1970s. He used basic examples and circumstances to explain why we all really need UCD for our products to deal with UX better. From his talks and brilliance on the topic, one can predict the doom of industries not thinking about the users but for the profits.
By looking at the definition, we can induce that UCD is an iterative process that involves four steps that are:
- Understanding the context of using UCD in the first place.
- Specifying user requirements (differ from industry to industry).
- Designing solutions to cater to their needs.
- Evaluating those requirements for reaching optimum efficiency.
These steps are interlinked with each and cannot be performed solely without executing the subsequent ones. After reaching step four, if the solution doesn’t match the user experience, we have to design it again, starting from step one.
Therefore, introducing user centered solutions in custom software design and development is a task that requires handsome capital investment. But once the investment is placed out, the UCD will bear fruits in the long run.
According to David Benyon:
“A human-centered approach to a project incurs an additional cost, so businesses question whether it is worth the time and expense of talking to people, developing prototypes, etc. There is no question that it is worth it.”
Hence, it is concluded that human computer interaction (HCI) is a fundamental part of creating a product if you want it to run for long. HCI also plays a pivotal role in making computers efficiently work with humans.
UCD Provides Complete Optimization For User Experience
The term user experience is so enormous that it is misused and often misrepresented by providing only a fluff. For this reason, companies, brands, organizations, and small businesses often overlook the essential part of their business. If your customer is handled correctly, then your business is handled correctly.
According to Neil Patel:
“About 45% of online shoppers discuss having a bad experience with friends.”
Considering this fact will tell you how word of mouth spreads about your business among people. It is a no-brainer that one should focus on UX experience with a user-centric approach. Having said that, now we’ll be analyzing what you should first do to roll out UCD on your product.
1. You need a team.
Yes, you need a team of engineers, designers, researchers, marketers, and stakeholders to work alongside you on the project. These people carry out work from step one to step four, as mentioned above. If on any step they feel stuck, they’ll probably execute again.
2. You need to perform a user evaluation.
The researchers and engineers on your team are there to perform these operations. In evaluation, you need to see what users are doing using modern analytics tools on your website. Once you have gone through and noted every analytics, try to figure out the changes that need to be performed to reach an optimal solution.
3. After evaluation, it’s time for design.
It is time to design solutions. While designing solutions, one should keep in mind that their solution is not meant to be the final or only solution. But we are creating it to see how it would work. We’ll discuss adding it to the system if it’s an appropriate solution.
4. For a successful solution, long-term monitoring is a must.
Once the solution is carried out by your engineers and researchers, it’s time to do long-term monitoring for it. During the monitoring process, you shouldn’t hastily make changes during the monitoring process because it takes time for users to adjust to new looks and themes. After three months with your product’s new look, if people have issues, it’s time to place your hands on a new solution.
In Conclusion
Indeed, conducting user centered research for your custom software design and development is an investment that requires much capital. But, the results are fruitful, and once accomplished rightly, you don’t have to worry about it for several years.
For implementation, you need teams of well-versed people that know their job well. Because a significant mistake would cost you a lot, and you have to start from scratch. Being able to carry out operations accurately, one should talk and make decisions involving industry people that have thorough command over a subject.
You should test new ideas and concepts to add them to your product because what doesn’t please you might attract others. But one should keep in mind that long-term monitoring is necessary for producing ever-lasting results. It’s our recommendation that you should add UCD to your product to get an edge over your competitors.
