Observation 012 - What User-centered Really Means
Everywhere you look, Design Thinking is described as User-centered. But what does this really mean? I would like to make clear how and why Design Thinking is centered on the User and how this acts as valuable methodology to creating successful and innovative new solutions.
In this article, I am going to be using the word “designer” to mean a person or team in organization trying to develop a new idea through Design Thinking.
Why is it important to be user centered and why are most organization not?
The obvious answer is that you are trying to persuade a User to spend the time and money to use whatever new initiative you are creating, whether it be an outward facing product/service or an inward facing business improvement. Besides this answer there is a brand building aspect, where the organization shows they value the User and want to “fell their pain” and help solve it.
Most organizations are stuck in the cognitive biases that I discuss in Observation 006 - Design Thinking: Let the Science Begin – Part 1 . Especially important here is the Egocentric Empathy Gap and The Planning Fallacy biases. To put in in a nutshell, people in the organization think their Users are just like them and that Users love them so much they will be overjoyed by whatever new thing is offered. In every case I have either facilitated or taught a Design Thinking session, the participants have always realized they have been working under these biases and new initiatives they develop from the sessions are never what they thought would occur at the start, but because of the process they feel the new solution has real value.
The other problem is that without the User, people in the organization are left inwardly focused on what they think they can create based on what they already have. Their only wayfinding device to success is creating something on-time and on-budget, no matter whether it solves a user problem or not.
Then how is Design Thinking User-centered?
First let me lay out what I consider the tenets of Design Thinking are. They include User Research, Idea Generation, Visualization and Prototyping. Some people mention Testing, but I fell that flows throughout the entire methodology (Always Be Testing!). Let’s go through each of these and see how they keep the designer User-centered.
User Research:
Okay, this is the easiest one to get. You are using ethnographic research methods with actual Users to not only understand what problems they can articulate but also the problems they can’t. You get to know the day in the life of your User and find their pain points. You gain empathy.
Idea Generation:
After the research not only does the designer now have internal empathy for the User, but through the help of such tools as Personas, Empathy Maps, Customer Journey Maps, etc. they now have the User staring them in the face. With this new understanding, Idea Generation can be made to keep the User in mind, especially during the Convergence phase. Having the designer review the ideas they have created during Divergence through the filter of the Users they have researched keep them focused on best outcomes for the User instead of what idea seems the coolest or the easiest to implement.
Visualization:
Many of the tools used in Visualization help keep the designer User-centered. One example is creating Concept Boards where the idea is visualized as well as the User and the pain points being solved is stated. Another is Storyboards, explaining the solution through sketches with the User interacting with what is to be created.
Also, Visualization allows you to quickly develop solutions that can then be quickly presented to Users to make sure the solution is meeting their needs and wants.
Prototyping:
In many ways Prototyping is similar to Visualization, however the resolution has increased from just visually assessing a solution to being able to immerse in it. At this level, no matter what level of quality the prototype is, the detail of User-centered feedback will assure that the solution will be focused on User needs and wants. It also can often bring about new additions to the solution, that did not rise in the previously because the “reality” of the solution allows the User to think more about the details.
Take Away:
As I discussed in Observation 004 - Misunderstood Failure and the Oort Cloud of Possibilities
Design Thinking is about wayfinding from a problem to a solution(s). By remaining User-centered, a designer makes sure the solutions they are creating meet a real need or want to a real pain point. It creates value because Users are truly understood and therefore respected, not seen as either a necessary evil or just a number. It creates brand respect and, in many cases, creates valuable intellectual property, because the solution is, in fact, new and novel.