In an ideal world, product designers have a complete view of what their users want and how they can adapt their designs accordingly. Users clearly indicate what they like and dislike about current products and what kind of things they would like to see in the future. This then results in a smooth process of engaging users and relaying gathered information to designers.
Unfortunately, we don’t live in such an ideal world. There are many kinds of restrictions at play in the world of product design, and these are not just limited to technical or financial factors. The fact of the matter is that users are not always clear or consistent about what they want. They can like a certain aspect about one product and dislike the very same thing in another. The reasons for why this can happen are incredibly broad, and can range from how users feel about specific features of a product to external factors which aren’t even related to how a product functions. This is one of the big reasons why we use concepts like ‘usability’ and ‘User Experience’ (UX); they give us an idea about what to take into account when figuring out how to improve products and make them fit better with what users want.
However, applying the concepts of usability and UX is not a simple matter either. In the world of research, there is a big discussion on the content of these concepts and how they can be measured properly. On top of that, both researchers and practitioners in the field of UX are quite divided about which definitions they employ. These kinds of issues raise the question whether we need to strive to unify these existing perspectives.
At times, I feel like this discussion about concepts and perspectives has distanced us from the core of the issue: Involving users and engaging them in order to improve products and satisfy users. The issue I have focused on in research is how users talk about what they think about products, so that we can get a better understanding of how they can be approached effectively.
I invite you all to join me on June 8th to have a discussion on what the subject of user needs is really all about!
''the link between product designers and end-users''
Teacher,
University Twente
I investigate people’s needs and relay them to designers
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!