Anything we will design will be for use by people, we therefore need to understand the people we are designing for, their needs, their wants, their motivations and their situation, to design effective products for them. Most importantly we design for HUMANS not USERS.
This week’s lecture and class exercises were all about designing for people, or as it is known Human Centred Design. We looked at some of the key thinkers and writers on the subject such as Don Norman and Jakob Nielsen, key organisations in the field such as the Norman Nielsen Group and IDEO as well as the key basic principles of good human centred design such as consistency, accessibility, inclusive design, design systems, touchpoints and empathy.
One of the first parts of the lecture was a video, it showed a common everyday problem, not knowing whether to push or pull to open a door. I have to admit this is definitely something that drives me mad personally, it shouldn’t happen its a door it should be clear. As it turns out I’m not the first person to feel this way, Don Norman wrote a book “The Design of Everyday Things” in 1988 where he looked at the interaction and communication between objects and people. This book looked at common problems like the confusion around what way to use a door and how by simple design changes and thinking about people you could make that experience easier and more satisfying, improving the product and its usability.
Source (https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2021/03/book-review-the-design-of-everyday-things.php) Last Accessed 02/11/2022
Its such a simple concept but one that is so easy to forget and “The Design of Everyday Things” is a landmark book in the thinking behind Human Centred Design, and the door scenario is so iconic that doors for which whether to push or pull is not clear are now known as “Norman Doors”. Don Norman founded alongside fellow designer and thinker on the subject the Norman Nielsen Group, the go to organisation for usability testing and good design principles, they conduct research and consultancy for the likes of the companies below:
Source (https://www.nngroup.com/about/) Last Accessed 02/11/2022
One of the key ways to ensure you are designing for humans, is to do your research and usefully their are tried and tested ways to do this to make sure you are achieving an end product that works for people (not users, users are people).
We looked at four things you should do when designing to help you stay on the right path, in designing for people, They are:
Each one of these statements is broken down into important tasks you can do, number one is all about the research, defining what people need and why, number two is all about designing something that will actually serve a purpose for people, a product that will help them or make their lives better in some way. Number three is how to make your product work for people think of the steps they will need to take to achieve their aims, what problems they might face and how you can eliminate these problems to create a better product. Finally number four, is all about making sure your designs actually do what they are supposed to for real people, and this means testing with real people, receiving feedback and iterating on your designs until the product is right.
By following these four points within the design process, I know I am always design for people and their needs, and not falling into the trap of designing a product that works for me, but does not consider anyone else.