Designing with People and Purpose in Mind
When designing an app or program, the main goal is often thought to be to focus on the problem or task at hand. Ideally, all that is required to consider the final product a success is if the application performs the desired function in an efficient manner. However, there is another layer within the design that is often ignored: the humans that have to use the program. It is the second component of design that is often left out. Designing while ignoring the people for which it is supposed to help can render the final product useless. If the person using it has no idea how to use the app or finds it confusing, then the app fails to serve its primary purpose because users won’t be able to make use of it thereby marginalizing the user. Therefore, when creating apps, users’ abilities need to be taken into account. One must research both the users’ wants and needs, likes and dislikes. It needs to be remembered that ultimately the users are who the apps are being designed for. Their abilities and knowledge levels need to be considered in order to develop something that is utilizable. They must be able to be used with very little training. In addition, the apps must be designed to provide users with information in a manner that will allow them to interact appropriately with the app. Only when apps that are capable of performing their desired functions and simultaneously remaining user-friendly are worthy of being considered as successes.
Resources:
DevEx. DevExplains: What Is Human-Centered Design — and Why Does It Matter? Youtube, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
IDEO.org. What Is Human Centered Design? YouTube, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Wolske, Martin. “4B: Community-Centered Design.” Person-Centered Guide to Demystifying Technology: Working Together to Observe/ Question/ Design/ Prototype/ and Implement/Reject Technology in Support of People's Valued Beings and Doings, Windsor & Downs Press, 2020, pp. 74–85.
Hey Nebiyat, great post. I agree companies/organizations must do their research about user's wants/needs. Also, how you said they must know people's abilities/knowledge is so important because not everyone has the same education/experience. Apps must be user friendly for all, and will have better outcomes for both sides. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHi Nebiyat, I like your post it's the main goal as you said to focus on the problems or task at hand.
ReplyDelete