As designers, developers and managers, we are well aware of the challenges experienced with products. On a daily basis, we interact with products and ask questions like “how do I use it”, or ” how do I know when the process is completed”.
Just a few days ago I was installing a project onto my Mac command console and kept asking my peer, “is it still loading”? This was because there was no feedback provided which indicated that there was something happening on the device.
The problem is not that we’re not aware our products do not have the best experience, but rather the problem is that we don’t know how to create the best experience. Between rushing to push out new features, and design parameters not being translated during the development process, I don’t necessarily blame any organization for not quite being on its feet when it comes to creating a good user experience.
In his book, “The design of everyday things” Don Norman points out that the best products are designed in a way that when the typical user looks at it, the product is self-explanatory – i.e it offers an explanation of how it needs to be used without the need for instructions.
This is a noble pursuit. But how does one create a product that speaks a universal language, and therefore can be understood by all humans without the need for instructions?
This should be our north star during the creation process. But how do we achieve this?
How to achieve human-centered design
The only way to achieve human-centered design is to co-build with humans, technicians, and designs.
This is because the designer may know the design principles that provide for an optimal experience, but technical constraints may limit the extent to which the components of the design can be executed. In addition to technical and design, without the continuous back and forth of the human using the product and you taking note of the experience issues encountered, the designer and developer cannot ever really say their product has a good experience.
Else who is the experience good for? The people who built it and know all the rules, or the people who will be using the product on a regular basis.
But, the question remains, “why is it that we still face experience-related problems with so many products?”
I believe it’s for the same reason that although we know of the importance of exercise and regularly moving our body, we still don’t do it as often as we should.
Not enough time, not enough knowledge, are just some of the reasons we could name as blockers to us exercising as regularly as we should.
Until “experience” becomes an organizational value, it will always be hard to really achieve it. There will always be too many features that need to be rolled out, and not enough time to keep going back to a feature to iterate on it, and not enough resources to involve the user in the process.
Design + Technician + Human = a human-centered experience.
