In today's digital world, User-Centered Design (UCD) has gradually become one of the core concepts in the design process. Designers need to have a deep understanding of users' needs, behaviors, and expectations in order to create products that are more in line with users' usage habits.
By incorporating real user feedback into designs, designers can create more intuitive and efficient products.
From the early stages of design to the launch of the final product, UCD emphasizes user participation and introduces various testing methods to collect feedback. This continuous feedback loop is crucial to design. Even the most experienced designers have trouble completely predicting a new user’s experience.
The concept of user-centered design was first proposed by Rob Kling in 1977 and was later widely used by Donald A. Norman in his research at the University of California, San Diego. Norman's book "User-Centered System Design: A New Perspective on Human-Computer Interaction" published in 1986 made this concept widely recognized.
Excellent design is not just good aesthetics, it must also be based on user needs and experience.
Norman's work emphasizes the importance of design to everyday life and the consequences of mistakes caused by poor design. The design principles he offers include simplifying task structures, clarifying relationships between actions and outcomes, and taking full advantage of system constraints.
UCD's process differs from other design philosophies because it focuses on the needs of the user. This design approach involves establishing a clear understanding of the user, task, and environment from the beginning. User participation is necessary throughout the development process, allowing design solutions to be continuously driven and improved by user feedback.
Through different analysis tools, such as personas, scenarios and basic use cases, designers can better understand user needs.
Some of the basic principles followed by UCD include that design should be based on a clear understanding of the user, and user assessment should be conducted at every stage of development. This means that design is an iterative process aimed at improving the overall user experience.
UCD's main goal is to create high-availability products. This process consists of several stages: first, clarify the use environment of the product, secondly formulate specific product requirements, then start designing solutions, and finally conduct a cycle of evaluation and feedback. These steps are tailored to the specific needs of the product.
User needs are not only expressions of functionality and performance, but also include psychological and emotional needs.
During the UCD process, design teams typically create "personas," which are typical personas that represent potential users and help guide decisions about product functionality, navigation, interaction, and aesthetics. These personas are often derived from interviews with actual users and help the design team better understand user behavior patterns and needs.
Designers constantly adjust and improve products through real user feedback, which not only improves the usability of the product, but also enables it to better serve the needs of users. However, whether designers can consistently grasp the core needs and psychology of users in this process is still a question worth pondering.