Apr 21, 2023
Designing for the most vulnerable users first
We’ve all been there, right? We research, design, test and launch for our “ideal” customer — the customer that sits perfectly in the middle of our user base. Sometimes, we do this without truly knowing what they need or want. I’m here to tell you that I think that approach is flawed.
When we design for what I’ll call the median user, we forget to cater for the other ends of people in our product, and it’s something I feel passionately about, having witnessed this before. And I get it — if you design for people in the median, you generally catch a large percentage of users. These users tend to fall into typical behavioural patterns, they have a uniform perspective on things. And yes, we should be aware of this when designing — it’s a hugely important part of what we do.
But here’s the thing, I feel like we’re missing so much opportunity. If you’re working on employee focused apps (B2B), and focused on the middle user first, where does that leave the worker who is stressed? Who is going to work in a highly emotional state? Who’s performance will be affected by this?
Or another example, suggest you’re working in banking — what about someone who is struggling in a tough economy? Someone who is living pay cheque to pay cheque, just begging for the next payday to fall tomorrow? We’re missing how these users are interacting behaviourally and emotionally to our products.
This approach is supported by a study conducted by the Centre for Inclusive Design, who found that inclusive design can lead to new and innovative products and services that better serve the needs of all users.
Here’s how we fix it: We research these people first. We put them at the heart of our UX strategies — we base design decisions off of these people. We work hard to understand exactly how they feel, behave, use our products — by doing this we open up a world of opportunity.
And I have a sneaking suspicion that something else will come from this: If we design, research, test & iterate for these users, I have a feeling we’ll make a better product for those median users too. We’ll make a product that is sensitive, treats people like humans, and can be used no matter what kind of day you’re having.
I’ll let you into a little secret right here — I also need to improve with this. But here’s the ultimate business case for doing this — if we consider heightened emotional states in things like error messages, if we consider visual impairments right from the start, we start to see less rework which, according to World Wide Web Consortium, could cost up to 10 times more if it has gone through development.
So, that’s my take on this. Not only does this approach help create a more rounded product, but it also leads to better outcomes for our “middle” users. By focusing on the needs of people who are often ignored or left behind, we can make sure that our products are human centred. And you know what? It’s also just the right thing to do. As UXers, I believe we all have a responsibility to make the world a better place, and designing with empathy and compassion is a great place to start.