What Is User-Centred Design?

Date First Published: 27th February 2024

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Design

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 5/10

Learn about what user-centred design is in this article.

User-centred design is an approach to application or web design that places users at the centre of every phase of the design process. The main goal is to optimise the product for end users.

Stages Of User-Centred Design

The stages of user-centred design are:

• Identification - The first stage is to identify who will use the user interface or website.
• Research - After identifying the users, the next step is to transfer the understanding of consumers and their needs regarding user experience to the design of the user interface or website.
• Evaluation and optimisation - Success can be measured with KPIs, such as usability. As users start to use a user interface or website, they can give feedback, which can optimise it for improvements.

Principles Of User-Centred Design

The principles of user-centred design include:

• User involvement - Involves users in the design process before starting work on anything else. This phase ensures that all user requirements are considered before starting the design.
• Requirement classification - Ensures that the user needs align with objectives. The purpose of this phase is to define the user interaction with the future system without actually designing it.
• User feedback - To help make more user-focused designs, researchers collect and assess feedback on a regular basis.
• Constant modifications - The design team constantly looks for ways to improve the user experience. After the product has been created, usability tests are conducted on a regular basis to evaluate the success of the product and user experience.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of User-Centred Design

• It leads to improved user experience. This is the main advantage of user-centred design. An improved user experience leads to greater user satisfaction and positive reviews.
• Improved competitiveness - Users are more likely to choose a user interface or website over another if it meets their needs and provides a good user experience.

• To collect and interpret user data effectively, specialised tools and skills may be required, which are not always available.
• To optimise a user interface or website for users, strong user research is required and if the data is not reliable, it can lead to products or websites that do not meet user needs.
• Balancing the needs and preferences of different users and integrating them into a user interface or website is not always easy. This can lead to too much time spent on creating very detailed and oversimplified designs.

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