Human-Centered Approach

The identification of user needs is a complex process and during the las 25 years there have been a lot of investigation around this in the software space.

In fact there is an ISO that covers the Human Centered approach, ISO 9241-110.

Some notes for my memory:

Principles of the Human-Centered Approach

  • The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks, and environments.
  • Users are involved throughout design and development.
  • The design is driven and refined by user-centered evaluation.
  • The process is iterative.
  • The design addresses the whole user experience.
  • The design team includes multi-disciplinary skills and perspectives.

Activities

There are four HCD activities that should take place during the design of any interactive system. These include:

  • Understanding and specifying the context of use.
  • Specifying the user requirements.
  • Producing design solutions.
  • Evaluating the design.

Principles for Design

When designing for the user experience the following principles should be taking into account:

  • a) suitability for the task;
  • b) self-descriptiveness;
  • c) conformity with user expectations;
  • d) suitability for learning;
  • e) controllability;
  • f) error tolerance;
  • g) suitability for individualization.

Human-centered design is based on three elements:

  1. Empathy. We need to genuinely care about the people we design for. Build empathy by immersing yourself in the community that will use your product. 
  2. Creativity. We need to find creative ways to solve users’ problems. 
  3. Business needs. We need to make our product commercially successful.

Human Centered Design requires:

  • Direct engagement with people who use the product. HCD is designing with the end-user, not only for the end-user. User research and communicating with your users regularly are essential parts of HCD.
  • Design with real context of use in mind. Designers often assume that they create products for people who are in a similar situation as they are. In reality, the context of use can vary dramatically. Different contexts of use means different requirements for a product.
  • Prototyping. Make ideas tangible by creating prototypes (or consider rapid prototyping). Make sure you validate your prototypes with real users to ensure that your ideas work for your target audience.

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