The importance of the user/customer

When you design a product, the most important thing is that the product can be used well. The best way to find out is to do a lot of research in practice. The end user in particular plays a major role here. There are two useful tools for designing a good product. Firstly with user centered design and secondly with customer journey mapping. We explain what this is.

User centered design

User centered design is a method of designing a product. In principle, this method consists of four phases. The first stage is the analysis. In this phase you create a vision and analyze the target group. This allows you to describe user tasks and to compose an information structure. The second phase is the design. You can start with a low-fidelity prototype such as a mood board or a sketch. After that, you can also work on a high-fidelity prototype that is already functional. The third phase is the evaluation. This does not necessarily have to take place after the prototype. The more you evaluate in between, the more mistakes you can avoid. You can choose the users for this. This way you have a user centered evaluation. The fourth phase is the implementation, here the results of the evaluation are added. Because you use the user’s vision in every phase, the entire design revolves around the user. Hence the word user centered design.

Customer journey mapping

In customer journey mapping, the customer is central. In most cases, the customer is also the user. You must therefore have a degree of empathy to be able to empathize with the customer. This allows you to improve customer experiences. Customer journey mapping allows you to see how a customer might respond. You investigate the touchpoints between customer and organization from start to finish. This way companies can see how they can deal with their customers even better. This way you can also see what your customer is looking for. As with user-centered design, you start from the perspective of the user/customer. You use their feedback to improve your product or service. This makes it better suited to your target audience.