Using Human-Centered Design to Create Better Products (ex. Migraine Tracking App)

In today’s world, creating innovative and breakthrough solutions has become increasingly challenging. According to Orchidea, companies that actively promote a culture of innovation are 3,5 times more likely to outperform their peers. That is why, it is imperative not only to distinguish oneself from the multitude of competitors but also to design products in a manner that naturally attracts and retains user engagement.

To achieve this, your team must possess a deep understanding of customer needs, demonstrate expertise in UI/UX design, and be well-versed in the most effective development and design principles and frameworks. Frameworks, commonly used among developers, streamline coding by offering ready-made components, enabling focus on core project functionality rather than starting from scratch. In UX/UI design, on the other hand, a framework refers to a structured approach or system that guides the design process and helps designers create intuitive and effective user experiences and interfaces.

Therefore, in today’s article, we want to talk about Human-Centered Design (HCD), one of the most powerful frameworks that can make your app more attractive for users. So, let’s see what is so special about this design framework.

What Is HCD Design Framework and How Can It Bring You Better Results?

Human-Centered Design (HCD) is a widely adopted methodology that ensures that the end product is not only functional and efficient but also user-friendly, accessible, and deeply satisfying for the target audience. Simply put, this approach to problem-solving has a focus on the people that you’re designing a product for.

The process starts by establishing who your user is and what their problem is and then ends by finding a solution that is tailored to them. It is also important to note that Human-Centered Design is based on iterative solution creation, testing, learning, and adapting the product based on the users’ feedback.

Key Principles of Human-Centered Design

In order to better understand this approach, it is important to know its ins and outs. Therefore, let’s look at the main principles of HCD:

• Empathy. It means understanding the people who will use your product. You try to see things from the perspective of a potential user, learn about their needs, and understand their challenges. This is often done by interviewing and observing how people interact with similar products.
• Involvement. Users need to be involved in the design developing process. Their feedback and ideas can be worked up and added to the final version of your product. This fact helps to ensure that the web product is created by real people who will use it, making it ready to meet their needs.
• Iteration. Design is not a one-time effort. On the contrary, it’s an ongoing process of making improvements. You create new versions of the product, add new features, test them with users, gather feedback, and then refine the design based on details you’ve learned. This process can be repeated as many times as needed until your product meets users’ needs effectively.
• Real-World Usage. When creating a new application, it’s important to think about the different environments and situations in which the product will be used. For instance, if you’re creating a mobile app, consider how and where people will use their phones – while walking in bright sunlight, or in noisy places. Understanding these real-world contexts helps to make the product practical and user-friendly in various conditions.
• Inclusion. The design should be effective and enjoyable for a wide range of users, including those with different abilities, ages, backgrounds, and preferences. Ensuring inclusion means thinking about how to make the product accessible and usable for as many people as possible, so no one is left out or finds it difficult to use.

Read Also User-Centered Design vs. Design Thinking vs. Human-Centered Design: Answering Your Matters of Concern About Design Frameworks

Stages of Human-Centered Design

Now that we know what HCD is about, let’s take a closer look at the process and find out the goal of each stage.

1. The Discover phase is all about gaining a deep understanding of the users and the context in which they will interact with the product. This step involves extensive research to uncover users’ needs, behaviors, pain points, and desires.
2. In the Define phase, the insights gathered during the Discover phase are synthesized to articulate a clear problem statement and define the project’s objectives.
3. The Design stage focuses on generating ideas and developing potential solutions based on the insights and defined problems from the previous phases.
4. In the Prototype & Test phase, design concepts are turned into tangible prototypes that can be tested with users.
5. The final step, Plan & Implement, involves finalizing the design and preparing for product development and launch.

The HCD process is dynamic and iterative. As you move through each phase, you may uncover new insights or challenges that require revisiting previous stages. However, each iteration brings you closer to delivering an experience that truly resonates with users, ensuring that the final product is both innovative and user-centric.

Read Also Iterative Development vs. Incremental Development: Spotting the Differences and Choosing the Best

How to Improve User Experience Using HCD for Developing Migraine Tracking App?

To demonstrate the principles of Human-Centered Design (HCD), we chose to apply this user-focused methodology to one of our practical case studies — the development of a migraine tracking application. So, let’s look at the transformative impact of HCD on developing products that not only meet but exceed user expectations.

Our business analytics and designers immersed themselves into the problematics and gathered insights into the experiences of individuals with migraines to understand their challenges and needs. Thus, we defined 2 key goals:

• focusing on tracking migraine triggers and managing pain;
• creating a web system for doctors and a mobile app for patients.

With a clear problem definition, designers brainstormed a range of features for the mobile app that could help users manage their migraines and headaches (a diary for tracking symptoms, alerts for medication, personalized tips for avoiding triggers, etc.) and a set of features for the patient management software that are able to assist doctors in their operations.

Having these two key goals in mind, here’s what we got as a result.

Continue reading: https://xbsoftware.com/blog/hcd-for-migraine-tracking-app-development/