Make digital products people want
We're in an age of Lean Startups. Things are moving fast, so startups need to do so too. There is a famous quote by Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, that says:
"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.”?
If launching your product takes you too long, the market may have changed for when you finally do it. Agile methodologies are a way of approaching the development process by optimizing the people, resources, effort, and energy of your organization toward creating value for the customer.
The context of evolution
In the last 2 decades, we’ve heard people say that things are going faster every day as we can easily notice. To exemplify how far we’ve come to this point, in 2012 and 2013 we had supercomputers that reached exascale speed, and on our wrists, we have computational devices millions of times faster than the computers that sent a rocket to the moon. (It is worth mentioning that rockets now already have the capability to land themselves.)?
17 years ago, the largest video platform on the Internet did not exist. YouTube was introduced to the world in 2005. In 2006, YouTube was already a true phenomenon and one of the sites with the highest growth projection on the Internet. In the first half of that year alone, the platform went from 4.9 million to 19.6 million users, which means an increase of almost 300%. In October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion. At present, it’s estimated to be worth up to $160 billion. And, while two decades ago video platforms were being born, a Cisco study showed that online video consumption would account for 82% of all Internet data traffic by this year.?
We’re in the presence of true technology speedsters!?
Technology moves fast and startups do so too. In his book Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience, Jeff Gothelf states that Lean UX is about:
“Bringing the true nature of a product to light faster.” It’s a collaborative process that focuses on “building a shared understanding of the actual product experience being designed.”
This understanding forms the basis for the following steps in the design process.
UX/UI Design process: focus on user needs
Lean thinking starts asking for example: what problem does the customer need to solve? The resulting product will address people’s pain points while also creating a pleasurable experience.
UX cycles through the tasks in its user-centered design process and then tests these concepts before engineering writes a line of code. This ensures that the product or feature we consider building is the right execution of the right idea for our target customers.
User-centered design (UCD) calls for involving users throughout the design process via a variety of research and design techniques so as to create highly usable and accessible products for them.
Defining your persona
At the beginning of the UCD process, UX research helps you to define a persona, to have an example of the target you are trying to reach. Its purpose is to create empathy for the people who will use a product, throughout the design and development process.?
A successful persona is based on real-world observations and interviews with people. It’s a representation of a particular group of people with the same patterns; behavior, needs, goals, skills, attitudes, etc. User persona helps to make the right decisions about product features, navigation, interactions, and visual design. It helps you prioritize the design work.
You will also define the scenario, which is the “daily life of” your user persona. It focuses on the problems and interests the persona has. Small details matter, you want to know what their emotions and thoughts are.?
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Buyer personas usually include data such as:
● Demographics and personal background.
● Goals and motivations.
● Online presence.
● Information sources.
● Values, pain points, and fears.
Let’s have a quick insight into them!
1. Demographics and personal background.
You should always start by asking questions related to demographics and background information such as gender, age, ethnicity, income, employment status, etc. These questions are the easiest to find answers to and help paint a clear picture of the basics.
2. Goals and motivations.
Goals and motivations are essential points to understand about your users. They can help figure out how you can add value to them, enabling them to move towards their personal or career aspirations.?
3. Online presence.
Understanding your user's most used social media platforms, timings, and habits, can be eye-opening for your business’s social media marketing campaigns.
4. Information sources.
Your prospects are always looking for reliable sources of information to help them with their day-to-day lives. You can use this information to get the maximum amount of traction and gain qualified leads. For example, you could ask: what publications, blogs, and social media platforms do they consume the most information from?
5. Values, pain points, and fears.
Such questions can be challenging to answer but they provide a better understanding of your target audience. For example: what do they value the most in their personal and professional lives?
Conclusions
UX Research helps you better understand which solutions are valuable and bring real value to each different type of user. Among other things, it helps you to:
The goal of the user-centered design process is to build the right solution in an iterative cycle of listening, learning, and making changes and improvements by understanding users's needs and reducing risk.?