“We must design for the way people behave, not for how we would wish them to behave.”
― Donald A. Norman, Living with Complexity
We all know the importance of UX and the ramifications of bad design and good design. Design thinking is a skill that every designer should have in order to be successful in their role.
But What is Design Thinking?
A way to create solutions that address a real user problem and are functional and affordable. it aims to enhance people’s lived experiences.
Ok, I understand definitions and formulas are very difficult to remember. We can simply say that Design Thinking is like living in someone else’s (user’s) shoes for a while and making sure their path is the easiest and happiest.
“EVERY-THINK IS A LOOP”
One of the key concepts to remember in design thinking is a loop. Designers need to understand the present and imagine the future in a continuous cycle of observation, reflection, and design. Staying in this loop is important in design thinking.
EVERY THINK IS A LOOP
Accessibility is another key to design thinking. Designers need to design products, devices, services, or environments for all types of users in order to produce the best design product.
The importance of accessibility should also be considered when UX designers design the products. 13% of people in the world have a disability.
⦿ Permanent Disability
⦿ Temporary Disability
⦿ Situational Disability
Throughout history, we can witness that products designed specifically for people with disabilities have also proven to be good products for all types of users. Examples:-
⦿Typewriters (Many early typewriters were designed to enable the blind to type.)
⦿Subtitles (help to read and understand what is said on the screen in busy, noisy places, multilingual subtitles allow understanding in their native language)
EQUITY- FOCUSED DESIGN
Designers need to understand the difference between equality and equity. Equality provides the same amount of opportunity, But Equity provides different levels of opportunity and support for each person in order to achieve fair outcomes.
So what is equity-focused design? :- Thinking through all aspects of a designed product and ensuring that the product is both accessible and fair to all genders, races, and marginalized groups.
to learn more about it https://twitter.com/herpetallogy/status/1055133359612010496
Design for the Next Billion Users.
Design Thinking and UX not only focuses on the experience of enthusiastic users but also pays special attention to people who are on the verge of becoming internet users.
Designers must consider the user’s storage space, connectivity (offline-online), digital literacy, and proficiency (language). and the use of assistive technologies such as voice commands, screen readers, and alternative text.
Design for different platforms.
If a product is accessible and feels the same on different sized mobile phones, laptops, and watches.it can become a good product.
It is the designers’ responsibility to work on all aspects and think for all types of users and work on a problem-solving approach that aims to improve people’s life experiences.
[These are the points I understood about User-Centered Design Thinking from the Google UX Professional Certificate and the IBM Design Thinking course. Hope you got what is user-centered design thinking, thanks:)]
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