While having my massage today I thought about ….
Today we had our monthly visit from the company masseuse. It’s great not only for the body but the mind as well, with half an hour to relax and think about what’s going on. This time it got me thinking about a comment made in the office by one of our account managers about user centred design (UCD), what this process entails and how it can be used to best effect for our clients?
So what exactly is UCD. Wikipedia defines it as “a design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of the end user of an interface or document are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process” or in layman’s terms, understanding your user and their needs and developing your digital communications around them. Sounds obvious and many of us would say that we already do this anyway; leastwise we develop work that the collective ‘we’ (the agency and client) believe to be right for the end user.
We call this the ‘inside out’ approach. Here the stakeholders have made a set of assumptions about what they believe the end user wants. It usually starts with the account team as they have had the benefit of the client brief first hand and then the planners and designers will get involved with their interpretation of the brief and their personal insights into the target audiences’ online needs. Ultimately the outcome is based on subjectivity and usually the view of the person who shouts the loudest or who has the most conviction in their insight into the user.
At Quba we refer to UCD as the ‘outside in’ approach. Here the views, opinions and needs of the end user are polled and established first hand. This feedback then guides the decisions that are made relating to the design, build and marketing of the proposed solution. It replaces subjective views with objective evidence.
The cost of UCD can vary dramatically depending on the tools that are employed. These range from simple site surveys and click tracking tools to focus groups, card sorting exersizes and eye tracking. All of these tools will provide vital insights into the online habits of the end user and what it is that will move them towards your end goal be it a purchase, a request for something or just a positive online experience.
But of course in the real world budgets are finite, especially at the moment and UCD is often seen as a non-essential item, something that we can get by without, a nice to have but not a necessity. So it’s the first thing to go when budgets are cut. After all, between the client and the agency, who else understands the customer better? So is UCD really necessary?
Research conducted by useit.com would suggest otherwise. Following is the average improvements in perfromance gained when UCD is incorporated into a project:
- Sales conversion rate – 100%
- Traffic/visitor count – 150%
- User performance/productivity – 161%
- Use of specific features – 202%
So in summary:
- UCD is proven to work and it more than pays for itself. It may appear to save budget in the short term but the chances are you will pay for not using it in the long run.
- It doesn’t have to cost a kings ransom. Whatever you spend will be budget well spent.
