This HL mini-lesson covers Topic 7 — User-centred design (UCD): designing around real users, usability, inclusive vs exclusive design, user-research methods, and user trials.
Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go (some are wordy, some are calculations) and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start when you are ready.
User-centred design (UCD) places the needs, wants and limitations of real users at the centre of every stage of the design cycle. Instead of assuming what users want, designers research, involve and test with them.
UCD is iterative: research the user, design, test with users, then refine — repeating until the product genuinely works for them.
Key idea: designers are rarely typical users. UCD guards against designing only for yourself and ignoring how others will actually interact with the product.
Usability is how effectively, efficiently and satisfyingly users achieve their goals. It can be measured, for example by the task success rate.
Of 20 users, 18 complete the task unaided.
success rate = (18 ÷ 20) × 100 = 90%
Inclusive design aims to make products usable by as many people as possible — including older users and those with impairments — without special adaptation. Exclusive design (often unintentional) shuts some users out, e.g. controls too small for arthritic hands.
UCD goes beyond usability to consider accessibility, emotion and context of use — how a product makes people feel and how it fits into their lives.
Watch out: designing for the average user (50th percentile) alone often excludes the extremes. Inclusive design deliberately considers the range.
Tap a method, then tap its type.
Designers gather user data in two broad ways: qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups, observation) give rich opinions and reasons; quantitative methods (large questionnaires, analytics) give measurable numbers across many users.
A user trial puts a working product or prototype in the hands of real users in a real context, and observes how they get on. It reveals problems designers cannot predict from the studio.
Key idea: combine both — numbers show what happens; qualitative work shows why. Together they guide the next iteration.
Tap a description on the left, then its term on the right.
UCD is iterative: understand the context of use, specify user requirements, design solutions, then evaluate against requirements with real users — looping until the product meets their needs. Users are involved throughout, not just at the end.
Key idea: evaluation feeds straight back into the next design round; UCD is never a single pass.
Designers turn research into personas (believable fictional users based on real data) and scenarios (stories of how they would use the product). These keep the whole team focused on concrete users rather than a vague "average person".
A persona captures goals, abilities and frustrations, guiding decisions about features and interface.
Modern UCD extends past efficiency to the whole user experience (UX): how satisfying, trustworthy and even enjoyable a product is. Emotional response and first impressions shape whether people keep using it.
Watch out: a usable product can still fail if it feels frustrating, ugly or untrustworthy.
Inclusive design considers the full range of human ability — vision, hearing, dexterity, cognition. Features that help people with impairments (large text, clear contrast, simple layouts) usually help everyone, a principle called the "curb-cut effect".
Designing inclusively widens the market and improves usability for all.
No single method is enough. Qualitative work (interviews, observation) reveals why; quantitative work (surveys, analytics, usability metrics) reveals how much. Designers triangulate several methods to reduce bias and build a full picture.
Key idea: combine methods — numbers plus reasons — before committing to a design change.
UCD: understanding real users' needs, wants and limits drives every design decision.
Usability: how easily users learn and complete tasks — measured by success rate, error rate and time.
Inclusive vs exclusive: inclusive design widens access; exclusive design shuts users out.
Research methods: qualitative (interviews, focus groups) and quantitative (questionnaires, analytics).
User trials: observing real users reveals problems designers miss.
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