What do you mean by user-centric design?
User-centric design implies that the designers are going to create a product which reflects the requirements and preferences of the user. However, will it make the product design user-centric? Unfortunately, it will not. The primary reason for this is that while some products happen to be human-centered, the others are actually user-centric. The real difference might appear to be quite trivial initially. While all the products will be made for humans, all humans are not going to be your users. It is imperative to design UX for apps for the proper individuals and not for the people. User-centric design is regarding a customized experience for the users.
How to make sure that UX for apps is truly user-centric?
1. User research
It is of prime importance to comprehend the user as well as their problems. User research happens to be an imperative building block for user-centric products. You need to define the vital bits: for whom you are actually designing? What issues are faced by these users? What is this problem’s context? You need to find out as much as possible regarding the folks you will be designing for in the long run. It is suggested for you to take what you will be learning and also create the pertinent user personas for guiding your team.
2. Requirements gathering and aligning
After getting a clear idea of the individuals for whom you are designing, as well as their problems, you can start defining what you can do for solving this issue. This will be exactly when you begin to consider what aspects you can influence with the product of yours as well as how. However, something that comes into play right here is also the business specifications.
This is the time to try and figure out common ground for making sure that UX for apps is genuinely user-centric. While designers like to fix the issue in a particular manner, this might not coincide with the business stakeholders that try to make a profit from the venture. It is essential for the health of the project that each of these sides agree on what the genuine requirements are such that the project becomes sustainable eventually.
3. Ideate solution
Once we comprehend what we are actually doing and also for whom, now comes the enjoyable part of ideation. This will be exactly where the designers will be able to see the manner in which their ideas are playing out. One can find this stage all across the design industry with every single design team carrying out the stage in their personal way.
From there, it will be all about creating the design. When we say create, we mean in a user-centric manner. This implies that you must validate your design every single step of the way. Begin early, and test quite frequently. For that reason, it will be imperative to commence with a wireframing tool so that your team has got something tangible which you will be able to test and validate.
It is something which can make outsiders and newbies confused. While designing UX for apps, not many processes happen to be linear. Similar to the design thinking procedure, the user-centric design approach happens to be a continuous back and forth where you will be able to test every single innovative aspect of the design – it will either pass the test or fail. Once it fails, you should be able to comprehend where you are wrong with respect to the data. Bear in mind that your viewpoint matters only to a particular extent, and the bottom line happens to be the user’s point of view.
4. Test solution
Following this, you will be having a high-fidelity prototype. Although it might appear that the product has been able to pass all the tests, comparing the prototype to the requirements which you have accumulated from the stakeholders might cast a fresh light on the prototype.
However, it can be somewhat tricky to define the line between this particular stage and the earlier one. This is mainly due to the fact that each company will be doing things in their personal way. It hardly matters which particular way your team is going about it, the overall idea is that you need to perform some rigorous testing for coming to a conclusion on whether the product performs what it should do. Is it able to actually fix the issue? How much effort will be required for the users to put in the overall UX for apps?
5. Go on improving
UX for apps design is not linear. It is important for somebody to approach the whole project as an unending cycle of ideation, testing, and implementation. It is imperative for the design teams to create a number of versions of the identical screen and test them against one another and the eventual winner will be earning the place in the final product.