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:
- 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.
- Creativity. We need to find creative ways to solve users’ problems.
- 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.