Instigating User Centred Design in organisations

Creating a User Centred Design process within a large organisation can seem quite daunting. There are many issues to contend with, for example:

• Find a sponsor
• Influence key stakeholders to support
• Instigate project management processes
• Convince Marketing
• Liaise with IT
• Liaise with Customer services
• .and the list of people who need consulting and influencing goes on.

In fact most business areas will have an interest in influencing how products and services are designed, and why shouldn't they? They all have their own aims and objectives as well as those of the organisation as a whole.

The key is to be inclusive - involving key representatives ensures that valuable data and insight is captured and used in the research phase such that the business aims of the organisation as a whole are considered and represented. Also, importantly, hurdles that may hinder the process are anticipated and (hopefully) avoided.

What is needed is a way to get buy-in to the whole User Centred Design idea. The essential thing to get across is the importance of involving your users (or customers) throughout the whole design and development process - essentially underlining the U in UCD. Luckily showing the behaviour of customers proves to be universally compelling. especially if it is aided by a few whistles and bells provided by the wonders of eyetracking.

Show the benefit of including users in the design process

An appropriate first step is to look at a low cost, low risk, proof of concept. This may be one of the following:

• A quick user test of your existing site, and those of your competitors
• A focussed user test of new homepage designs
• A user test of offline material such as marketing brochures, forms, advertisments

In fact the test can be of anything that will stimulate your target audience to respond in a natural and truthful way. The insights gained, often accompanied by face slapping revelations, are compelling and convincing - and are of course the cornerstone of the whole UCD process.

Eyetracking adds an extra dimension whether the tesing is viewed live (highly recommended), or via highlight video clips. Indeed sometimes all that is needed is a single figure that clearly shows that the key messages are being universally ignored to gain buy-in to the whole process.