The constant design balance
By: Daniel Szuc and Gerry Gaffney
Published - March 2005
Summary: Usability is about understanding your users, and designing and testing with and for those users. However, there are other competing needs that need to be considered to ensure product success. In architectural and technical drawings, different layers or transparencies are often overlaid to assemble the complete design solution. A similar "design transparency" approach can ensure that product teams are working towards a common goal, gaining a balanced view, and increasing the chance of success. |
When we look at design we naturally often look at it from our own perspective or from the team we represent in our business.
Usability – Do we know who are users are? Do we understand their needs? Does the design meet the needs of our users? Has it been tested?
Visual Design – Does it look appealing? Does the design engage the user? Does it represent the brand effectively? Does it help facilitate the focus on content?
Marketing – Can we sell more online? Does this support our offline strategy? Can we cross-sell?
The common element – Business Profits
One common element to all these perspectives is the need for business to make profits. (see "Profits First, Users Second" by John Rhodes at http://www.oristus.com/resources/profits_first.html). Without profit the other perspectives fade away very quickly.
Unite
Its time to unite our "eyes for design" and look at design not only from our own needs and perspectives, but holistically, from the needs of the business. How will this design save or make the company money now and in the future? For example, how is the business trying to make or save money through the design? What are the business goals? How does the design solution translate to helping the business now and in the long term? What are the company objectives and how are these represented in the design?
Design transparency
We recommend that Product Teams apply "design transparency", overlaying multiple perspectives on the design solution to help critique it from different view points. The transparency can be applied from concept through design completion.
Remember if the design is not optimized, doesn’t offer immediate value online, than alternative channels, there is an increased chance of failure.
The following questions should be applied to all designs.
Measures – How can we measure the success of a design for the business? How can we measure the success of the design for users? How do we track these currently (if at all)?
Competitors – What are our competitors doing? How can the design innovate and improve upon a similar process? What patterns are being used?
Usability – Who are the users? What are their goals? What critical tasks are the users trying to achieve?
Content – What content is available? How much content should be presented on the page to better enable a fast transaction? At what point do “legal” need to be consulted?
Marketing – How can we sell more products? How can we cross-sell? At what point does cross selling make the most sense in the dialogue? What marketing messages make the most sense?
Technical – What platform is being used? How can data requirements at the UI be met by the architecture? What compromises may need to be made at the UI to enable cost-effective service delivery?
Visual Design – How is the design facilitating a successful transaction? What design templates are being used? Are the visual and branding elements supporting the business and user goal or is it providing additional hurdles?
The design balance
The challenge is to have a balanced approach to a design solution and to keep the “business objectives” in mind at all times. If the design does not meet the needs of the business and does not assist the business improve an online process, then it will have the effect of adding additional costs to the business.