Reading Response: “Not So Fast”: Centering Your Users to Design the Right Solution
I found it interesting how the text constantly emphasized user-oriented design
when, in my opinion, this concept should be seemingly obvious because products are
meant to be used by the users. Based on the repetition of a seemingly apparent
concept however, it can be inferred that it can be quite easy for designers to get lost in
the details of an involved project and lose track of the overall picture. That being said, it
is understandable that the text emphasizes to keep the user in mind for every step of
the design process since a product that is designed without the user in mind likely will
not be very usable or useful to its users.
Because I want to design useful products for my users in the future, I want to
learn more about how to be disciplined in keeping the users in mind at all times of the
design process. One way that the text mentions to maintain this discipline is to ask
yourself if what you’re designing actually resolves a real problem for the user. The
answer to this question does not come from you, but rather observations that you have
made in the real world. Do you really see people struggling with this problem? Is there
an actual need for this solution to address? As I go forward with my career as a
designer in the future, I want to be able to ask myself these questions to understand if
what I’m designing will have a real impact on the world.
One thing that I would like to discuss in class is the use of user-feedback to help
iterate and improve upon a product. While I believe that user-feedback is certainly
helpful, it certainly should not solely be relied upon. As Henry Ford once said, “If I had
asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” User-oriented
design is not about giving people what they say or think they want, but rather what they
actually need. Sometimes these needs align with what the consumer says; however, it
is still the designer’s job to identify the consumer’s actual needs and determine the best
solution to resolve them.
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