When was the last time you had a frustrating experience with a product or service? Did you switch to another supplier, walk out of a shop, ask for your money back or spread bad word of mouth?
Irrespective of your reaction, would you like your customers to have a similar reaction to your new offering? Of course not, but it is often tempting to think your solution is amazing. However, be honest, would a new customer feel the same?
Think about the end user
User experience is rightfully becoming a greater part of the product/service design process. If you can afford in your earlier stages to use a UX designer, great, but you may not have the budget. So here are some thoughts to consider when developing your offering. While this is more focused on Apps and IOT, some of the principles remain the same for any product or service.
A solution might be a great idea, but what makes it commercially successful is when it solves a problem or makes life easier or more fun for the end user. Assuming you have done a proof of concept and/or surveyed potential consumers, you want to make sure it is:
- Easy to use
- Accessible
- There is a cost benefit for the end user
Integrating UX design
I like to call it ‘a day in the life’ or it’s often referred to as a walk through. Either way, as you are developing your product, consider the touch points in the user’s experience:
Starting point
- Pre-start how easy is it for the consumer to find and an access?
- Have you kept the first point of interaction simple?
- What can put them off downloading or purchasing a device?
- Have you considered connectivity with other devices?
Operational
- Are there any aspects that are tricky to use/understand?
- Visually is it obvious how to navigate
- Is it engaging?
- Can it be used offline?
- How can they troubleshoot?
- Simple to close down, save work or exit?
Backend
- How do you learn from users?
- How do you implement changes/upgrades?
- How do end users interact with you?
- Do you have enough hosting in place to handle user volumes?
- Are there compromises you have to make to accommodate end users?
Conclusion
These are only a few questions to consider but can help you think about the element of your design. Don’t be afraid to ask someone not on your team to help you with this, they will observe actions you hadn’t considered.
Be open to suggestion and do this exercise at least 3 times to make sure you have covered several angles. Also, be mindful that you will face trade-offs, do you develop for IOS only due to budget constraints then launch and develop for Android as your earn income/gain investment? You will be ignoring end users, but how do you manage this?
Long-term, consider how you can look to further enhance the end user experience by engaging with UX professionals, as your budget permits.
Ignore the end user at your peril!
