KEEPING THE DESIGN HUMAN

Finding new ways to connect to your consumer is harder than it’s ever been before and the expectation for flawless experiences is extraordinary.

If we think about who buys, uses, and connects with your products the complexity of our new business world and an unprecedented rate of change make us forget that at the center of our world is humans. Whether your product is a new air filter, a new fitness monitor or a new insulin pen – you need to deeply understand and design for your user. All too often, we meet with product innovators who forget that regardless of how great their idea is if it isn’t putting humans first – it’s not going to connect.

We’ve all ended up buying products that at first glance appear to solve our problems and make life easier, but in the end, simply end up complicating it.

This is heavy terminology. Let’s break it down and look at it carefully:

• Aims to make systems usable. This idea must be proven to be usable, well-designed, and applicable to the problem at hand. Ensuring the core functionality is achieved by your user group is critical.
• Focusing on the users, their needs, and requirements. Knowing the user and what they like, dislike, want, need, definitely don’t want, and how best to deliver this. The user is at the core of every step forward and subsequent step back to reframe and adjust.
• Applying human factors/ergonomics. Understanding users capabilities and limitations through a cognitive, physical and emotional lens are critical to understanding your problem than designing amazing products to meet their needs.
• Usability knowledge and techniques. Content strategy, visual design, usability testing, digital design, haptics, front-end coding – all these are required to build an intimate understanding of what your users want to experience.
• Enhances effectiveness and efficiency. Does this product make sense? Is there industry demand and technological support for this idea? How does this idea improve the lives of users? What other products are out there trying to do the same thing?
• Improves human well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability. You need to know that you’re on the right track, that you’re creating a product that ticks all the boxes for your users. Will user desires be met? Does it make life easier? Will the user accept it and use it?
• Counteracts possible adverse effects. Relentless testing, prototyping, regulatory standards review, and qualification are keys in successful human-centered design. No one wants to deliver a product that harms or fails.

This is how we deliver innovation. We keep this definition at our core and center back to it during every phase of our discovery, design, development, and delivery process. There is no way to skip a step or do something half-way. All our teams understanding the principles of a human-centered design approach and share its application throughout.