Designers and developers have a lot in common.
They are passionate about the ideas they’re bringing to life, they want to do right by the user, and a lot of the decisions that they make are driven by product requirements that are set by their management or client (in the case of freelancers).
One of the common themes that they’re both driven by is “doing right by the user.” How can they actually do this though? Designers need tools to help them support the design decisions that they make, by showing how these decisions benefit the user. Developers need to do the same thing as well, although developers have implementation constraints which can’t be changed. UX research is a very powerful tool that both designers and developers can use to figure out what actual users need or want, and what they don’t need or want!
User research is a great way to collect data from the right pool of users (potential customers & existing customers, but not non-customers) and validate assumptions that designers & developers might have. It’s important to iterate on this & integrate this into the design & development process, so that really compelling products are brought to life, and not ones that aren’t of use to anyone.
Richard Fulcher talks about the benefits of UX research in this video clip. To watch more video clips from the course, here’s a playlist.
To learn more about design and UX, check out my online course UX Design for Mobile Developers. The class is free to take (just click on “View Courseware”).
For even more UXD content, check out the YouTube show here: http://bit.ly/uxdplaylist
