User-centered design

4 min readOct 16, 2020

“People ignore design that ignores people.” — frank chimero

User-centered design (UCD) is an iterative design process in which designers focus on the users and their needs in each phase of the design process. In UCD, design teams involve users throughout the design process via a variety of research and design techniques, to create highly usable and accessible products for them. You must be positive about finding new solutions to problems if you are a UX designer. I think the big difficulty is to think it is even possible to do so. However, we are now witnessing a clear trend — companies no longer push products to the market. Instead, they focus on the user to personalize a product and at the end deliver what they, the client wants. In here the term user centered designs come. User-centered design is all the talk in UX design. Ultimately, every designer dreams of creating a product that users truly love — and user-centered design seems like a great way to reach that goal.

user-centric design as a problem-solving method?

User-centered design (UCD) is an optimistic approach to invent new solutions. It starts with human beings and ends with the answers that are tailored to their individual needs. User-centered design starts by identifying the target end users of the product and specifying the context of use. The main objective is to establish why these users would be interested in our product and how they want to use it. The main objective of a new design is to meet the user needs better than the existing design. We design interfaces for tasks the users are already familiar with or have performed before.

In User Centered Design…

• Initial step: Understand the user needs in detail

o This is done both by observing the user, and also by asking them direct questions.

• Once the designing is started: present the design alternatives and prototypes to the users

o To get their feedback

o may repeat for several cycles until the use is satisfied with the proposed design

When the design is done: evaluate it with the real users.

Dr. Donald Norman, a cognitive science researcher was the first to explain the importance of user-centered design. He said that design decisions should be based on the needs and wants of users.

To design in a user-centric way identify the people who will use the product, what they’ll use it for, and the conditions under which they will use it. Observe people’s lives, hear their hopes and needs, and get smart about your challenge.

Characteristics of a User

• Role: The role of the user is important in determining his tasks

• Age: Users of different ages might have different levels of memory and comprehensions.

• Gender: The preferences might vary according to the gender (eg: themes)

• Education Level: knowledge acquisition and reasoning abilities are highly depended on the level of education

• Cultural background: Customs or habits related to the application context such as signs and vocabulary

• Interest: Psychological preferences of the user

• Professional Level: The level of comprehension on the operational platform

• Computer skill: this affects the interaction with the system

This should be implemented throughout the entire customer experience, no guessing, no personal opinion. What matters is what your users say and do. Every “touch point” that the customer has with the product should be analyzed, well design and developed.

User-centered design books

Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics
The Art of Empathy: A complete guide to life’s most essential skills
Rapid prototyping: principals and applications.