Introduction to User Centred Design Process

User Centred Design (UCD) is an approach to design where the end user is placed at the heart of the design and development process. It could even be described as a ‘Design Philosophy’. Knowing who your users are, what they want and if your system is fulfilling their needs is central to UCD.

The key principal of UCD is integrating users that represent the profiles of the target user group/s into the development process. Typically, friends, family and (most definitely) colleagues are not representative of the target user base! However, they’re nearly always free with advice. But the validity of this advice is often questionable. In order to integrate unbiased user feedback into the process the following are key steps in a UCD process:

Step 1: Define your target audience.

Many UCD professionals take general descriptions of a target user groups to create a set of personas. Personas make it easier for design and development teams to understand users needs by creating tangible descriptions of real people and looking at the system from their perspective. Personas also make it easier to identify an appropriate panel of end users to gather feedback from.

Step 2: User Task Analysis.

Task Analysis is the identification and thorough understanding of end users' goals and tasks. You must first establish tools they currently use, the mental model they adopt for the tasks at hand, limitations and problems they encounter, what alternatives/substitutes are available to them, changes & additions that will enhance their experience, etc... This analysis can be conducted by making a number of assumptions (based on the definition of your target audience) and ideally, by gathering feedback from real users and/or observing them conducting key tasks.

Step 3: Create a Prototype

Prototypes can vary from pieces of paper with the proposed designs sketched on them to fully interactive systems that look like and seem to function exactly like the end product. What is important is that designers have a thorough understanding of user requirements and therefore must be an integral part of the team. Prototypes have two purposes. The first is to define how they system will work from the user interface perspective; the second is to test on real users. The advantage of using a low fidelity paper based prototype is that it can be produced quickly and does not require much development effort. However, users sometimes find it difficult to take that ‘leap’ from the somewhat abstract to the real thing. On the other hand, high fidelity prototypes are easy to comprehend by the end user but may require a lot of costly development effort. The nature of the system being tested will also influence the approach taken.

Step 4: Test prototypes with REAL users.

Testing with real users is central to UCD. Testing is typically conducted on relatively small groups of people, typically no more than 5 representatives of each target user profile (however, this depends on the number of profiles and complexity of the system). The reason for this is that you are looking to identify problems and create design solutions as opposed to discovering how many people have the same problem.  Five users typically identify approximately 80% of all problems. Therefore it makes more sense to test, analyse, redesign, test again, analyse, redesign, etc... Eventually fewer problems will be encountered and the system is ready for release.

Although you will need to converse with test participants during the test, it is important that you observe and listen as opposed to direct them. Observation and listening to their comments allows you to identify what users do, where they have difficulties and why they have problems. Testing is often recorded to avoid ‘false memory syndrome’ and to substantiate findings to colleagues and management.

Step 5: Beta Release

In some cases a pre-release, or beta version of the system is released to a restricted number of users for evaluation. Unlike the prototype this version incorporates all the functionality that is available in the final system. Feedback can be gathered from users to fine-tune the system further. Often beta versions incorporate software to track usage and identify where and when problems occur.

Step 6: Ongoing Evaluation

Rarely is an application or website launched and never refined or expanded. A true UCD process continues to evaluate the system after it is launched. Feedback can be used to benchmark against user requirements and competitors products. Customer service can also provide invaluable feedback as to how the system is performing in the real world. What is important is that you gain insight in what needs to be improved in the next iteration of the system from the users perspective.