How to succeed with user-centred design?

In web design, as in every other field, you must design for the user, not for yourself. Always keep the user in mind: their problems, their needs, their goals. This is precisely where customer profiles, or buyer personas, come into their own. Complexity is the enemy of good design. You should not limit yourself to aesthetics — your goal is to create a user experience.

"The debate is not between adding features and simplifying, nor between capability and ease of use. The real goal of design is to create things that have the means to accomplish their objective while remaining simple to use, that produce a sense of control, and pleasure to use." (freely translated from Don Norman – ACM Interactions, Volume 15, Issue 5).

Here are some tips for achieving user-centred design.

The methodology

The best way to understand users' problems — and therefore to solve them — is to have them test your design. Here is a 3-step methodology for continuous improvement.

1 – Discover the current problems on your site

Explore your website and list what is working well and what is causing issues or needs improvement. Prioritise the improvements to be made, then think about how to solve these problems (without creating new ones or affecting what already works well — that goes without saying).

2 – Build prototypes

Create prototypes based on the solutions you have devised and test them with your users. These could be colleagues or friends, but the best approach is to run an A/B test live on your site, then analyse the statistics to see whether the problem has been resolved. Refine your prototype and keep testing until you are satisfied, then move on to the next improvement.

3 – Create a cycle for continuous improvement

Discover problems > Build prototypes > Test solutions > Start again. It is up to you to define the frequency of this cycle according to your needs, standards, and budget.

The principles of user-centred design

If you apply these basic principles correctly, they will invariably improve the user experience on your website, enabling visitors to reach their goals more easily and quickly.

Harmony and brand guidelines

This may seem obvious, but it is always worth stating: visitors to your site must always know they are on your website and nowhere else. This is achieved through a clearly defined visual harmony set out in brand guidelines: the colours used, the fonts and their sizes, the logo, the graphic style and tone, and so on. In this way, visitors will understand at a glance whether they have left your site or returned to it.

Visibility and usability

Always make life easier for the user: maintain a clear information hierarchy with prominent headings, obvious and easy-to-use features with buttons that look like buttons, text links in a different colour, and so on. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. However innovative they may be, if new systems are less easy to use than existing ones, they are pointless.

Feedback

Whenever an action is successfully completed or has failed, let the visitor know — do not leave them in suspense: display a thank-you message when they have submitted a form, or conversely an error message if something went wrong; insert a search bar on your 404 page so they can find what they are looking for, and so on.

Constraints

Limit yourself to what is useful and relevant to the visitor. If there is too much going on in one place and it is difficult for them to find what they want, they will prefer to leave rather than search.

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I hope these tips prove useful to you, and if you are already applying them — congratulations, your website is well aligned with the needs of your users. All that remains is to put that pleasant experience to work and convert your visitors into customers!

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