The project I worked on had goals for the upcoming year and based on those goals we create features and ideas. However, we saw that most features we created weren't used as much as we hoped for. Because of this, our process became a "feature-factory" of things the users did not really need. We had an "inside-out" mindset. A few of my colleagues I've worked with on this project where also not happy with the current approach we had within the company. We shifted the thinking to a more "outside-in" approach by taking small steps. First we started by talking with customer support, what were the most asked questions they got? Based on this we identified opportunities. Then we got to a point where we had a few user interviews based on our identified opportunities, before we added them to the backlog. We actually saved money by first listening to the user and not develop new features, to eventually have to kill them because nobody was really using them. Also, we had data to back up why we where designing certain features, which led to a greater understanding of UX by our internal stakeholders.
Feedback related to users' level of expertise, skill, and/or prior knowledge of a the subject matter greatly affects my design approach. This kind of user feedback allows me to design for different types of users and strategically reduce the amount of cognitive load required to interact with a design or product. User feedback as simple as, "I don't know what that means" when looking at an existing product completely alters my design approach. It lets me know if I can jump into mid-fidelity iterations or go all the way back to user research. For example, someone with a high level of skill/expertise and 10 years of experience in their industry may need a design streamlined for task completion and fits into their existing workflows, something familiar to them. I've learned in my current role sometimes this means not oversimplifying design and maintaining aspects of a design that might not make sense to me, but make complete sense to the user.
While designing a fitness app, we placed the social sharing features prominently, thinking users would want to share their progress often. However, feedback revealed that users found this intrusive and preferred to keep their fitness journeys private. Based on this, we redesigned the app to prioritise personalised goal tracking and private milestones, which significantly improved user satisfaction and engagement. This experience underscored the importance of user feedback in understanding true user preferences and needs.
In healthcare, user-centered design is paramount and a key element to or consulting practice in humanizing digital transformation. Here's an example: In designing a patient portal for appointment scheduling. Initially, we focused on a sleek, minimalist interface. User testing, however, revealed a key issue: elderly patients found the limited text and small icons difficult to navigate. Feedback highlighted the need for larger fonts, increased color contrast, and clear labels. This completely shifted our approach. We prioritized functionality over aesthetics. The redesigned portal featured bigger buttons, step-by-step instructions, and even voice-activated search. Usability testing with the revised design showed a dramatic increase in successful appointment bookings, particularly among the elderly demographic. This experience underscored the importance of designing for ALL users, not just the tech-savvy. In healthcare IT, user feedback isn't a suggestion, it's the foundation for successful patient engagement. It ensures our designs empower, not frustrate, the individuals who rely on them most.
We initially designed a complex, multi-step onboarding process for a new financial literacy app. The original concept was to use a series of tutorial screens to present knowledge on various economic concepts. However, usability tests indicated that users found this method of navigating the app step-by-step nonintuitive, which prevented them from exploring and discovering the application's features. This feedback was crucial and allowed us to make a very important change to the design paradigm. We moved from a linear onboarding flow to a progressive disclosure model. The app now uses a just-in-time learning strategy, introducing financial concepts and features to the user during the very moment they interact with them in a micro-tutorial. The user-centric approach optimised the onboarding experience for learnability and engagement, translating into dramatically and measurably enhanced user retention rates during the app's initial launch.