Product Design Principles USER CENTRED DESIGN Product Design Principles

Does this make you mad?

How about this?

Or this?

User-centred design is a framework of processes in which usability goals and the user characteristics are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. User-centred design can be characterized as a multi-stage problem-solving process that not only requires designers to analyse and envision: the most likely way to consume or use a product validate their assumptions of user behaviour with quantifiable tests. Tests are conducted with/without users during each stage of the process from concept development, pre-production models to post production - completing a circle of proof back to and ensuring that "development proceeds with the user as the centre of focus."  Such testing is necessary as it is often very difficult for the designers of a product to understand intuitively what a first-time user of their design experiences, and what each user's learning curve may look like. What is UCD?

The goal of the User-Centred design is to make products which have very high usability – which includes manageability, effectiveness and how well the product meets to the user requirements. User-Centred Design process: Specify the context of use: Identify the people who will use the product, what they will use it for, and under what conditions they will use it. Specify requirements: Identify any requirements or user goals that must be met for the product to be successful. Create design solutions: This part of the process may be done in stages, building from a rough concept to a complete design. Evaluate designs: Evaluation - ideally through usability testing with actual users - is as integral as quality testing is to good software development. This procedure is repeated to finish the product. Why use UCD?

How to test UCD?

What are the elements of (user-centred) design to test? Function Design is sometimes thought to be about form, style, and how things look, but it’s also very much about function, or what something does. With new technologies making it possible to develop new functions, this is now more true than ever. Aesthetics Visual appeal and inane attractiveness. The power of beauty is vividly illustrated by the success of companies like Apple. Competing on price and product features is no longer enough. Experience Design is not just about the object created, but also about the way that creation makes us feel, think, or learn. It’s about the human response to the things we make for the world. Emotional Appeal Today we are increasingly designing for the right brain by focusing on the emotional aspects of design and by asking “How will it make people feel?” in addition to “How will it look?” and “How will it work?” What are the elements of (user-centred) design to test?

Unfortunately, the nature of USD means your personal ideas about good design must be dismissed. Instead you must develop a “metric” or a system or standard of measurement (specifically a system in this case) based of established principles which the elements of design can be test. Grade the effectiveness of each element according to the principles and philosophy of established well-regarded industrial designers as the basis of this metric. What Metric?

Example: Dieter Rams Ten principles for good design Good design is innovative Good design makes a product useful Good design is aesthetic Good design makes a product understandable Good design is unobtrusive Good design is honest Good design is long-lasting Good design is thorough down to the last detail Good design is environmentally friendly Good design is as little design as possible Example: Dieter Rams

How does Function, Aesthetics, Experience and Emotional Appeal apply to these two examples of industrial design? Remember to grade the effectiveness of each element using the principles established by Dieter Rams Your Turn