User Centred Design

The term ‘User Centred Design’ is often used when we apply ergonomics principles to product design.

In broad terms, User Centred Design (UCD) is both a design philosophy and a design process. As a philosophy, it makes the needs, wants, and limitations of the end user of a product the priority focus, and as a process it offers designers a range of methods and techniques to ensure this focus is sustained through the various stages of design.

The UCD process not only helps designers to analyse and foresee how users are likely to use a product, but also to assess their assumptions about people’s behaviour in realistic tests with actual users. Such testing is necessary as it is often very difficult for designers to understand intuitively what a first-time user of their design will experience, and what each user’s learning curve may look like. The chief difference from other design philosophies is that UCD tries to optimise the design around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing them to change their behaviour to accommodate the product.

The Design for Real People Action Group, in collaboration with the CIEHF, has been working over the past few years to support the introduction of User Centred Design (UCD) into Design and Technology teaching in schools. A new guide has been published which is intended to be an introduction to the teaching of UCD and to provide support to teachers and their students.

“A stunning resource” The Design And Technology Association