Design thinking - It's not about what you want, it's about what they need
Rethinking the design process. When tackling a new project talk to the end user rather than the client about what they would like to see in the design / or redesign. After all, they're the ones who will be using the design / website. This theory is nothing new or radical. The methodology that involves the user throughout all stages of product / website development is called User-Centred design (UCD).
Obviously, it's not practical to have people outside of the project involved in the design process as this would be costly and time consuming. One way to get around this problem is to create user personas.
"A persona is a user archetype you can use to help guide decisions about product features, navigation, interactions, and even visual design." – Kim Goodwin
Recently at Wiliam we used this method for a pitch. We created user personas which would help drive the design, allowing us to create more thoughtful design stories aimed at the end user.
The idea with UCD is to have the user at the centre of focus *
- The users are in the centre of a double circle.
- The inner ring contains: Context, Objectives, Environment and Goals.
- The outer ring contains: Task Detail; Task Content; Task Organisation and Task Flow.
* Source - Jeffrey Rubin, Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design and Conduct Effective Tests, John Wiley and Sons Inc. 1984
This methodology has the potential to tackle problems and generate better design stories and outcomes as well as aligning team members towards a shared project goal.
Related articles
http://www.w3.org/WAI/redesign/ucd
http://johnnyholland.org/2009/08/user-stories-a-strategic-design-tool/
