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Patricia Reiners

Patricia Reiners

Why User Centered Design is outdated

It’s time for the next step: from individualistic design to socially centered design

Why User Centred Design isn’t forward-looking

It is worth taking a brief look at developments over the last few decades. User Centred Design (UCD) is an approach to designing interactive systems that places the user and their needs at the centre of the design process. This approach has been around for a long time. It was first coined in 1986 by the book “User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction” by Donald A. Norman and Stephen W. Draper.

DIN EN ISO 9241–210, which defines this approach, now uses the term Human-Centred Design (HCD) to acknowledge that more stakeholders are affected by a product or service than just its users.

We are currently in an extremely exciting time, which brings with it many upheavals. Last but not least, the pandemic has made it clear how important our responsibility to society is, not just to the individual user and other possible stakeholders, but to society.

Two factors currently speak for a new definition of User-Centred Design:

Business models and the way we use and consume products have changed dramatically in recent years. We are moving away from traditional ownership models, towards shared business models and platforms, in which the user group is expanding and becoming increasingly difficult to define.

As the issue of design and ethics increases, users question products and their strategies, and increasingly react negatively to unethical practices. We as a society are becoming more critical, are beginning to understand methods of manipulation, are questioning products, and the way in which people, also our society, are included in the long term and holistically.

Changing the focus from short-term successes to long-term goals is therefore essential.

How to start thinking about the long-term effects on society and the planet

I work a lot with customers on innovation and future projects, especially with technologies outside of the “normal” interface, i.e. mixed reality solutions or smart assistants with voice design integrations.

Especially with these newer topics, we are already trying to see the focus from the individual user, to the long-term positive impact for both business and society.

This starts with smaller usability issues such as:

Does gesture control make sense for an augmented reality application that is used in places with many people? Do other people in the area, who do not belong to the user group but are in the area, possibly feel disturbed by the gestures?

And it goes as far as data protection and privacy issues, which are particularly important when it comes to artificial intelligence

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“Society Centred Design” snd the role of the UX designer – approaches, methods and processes have to change?

A lot of work is currently being done in product cycles and, depending on the process, sometimes thinking from *Design sprint to Design sprint*. In order to set up a holistic “Society Centred Design” strategy, long-term planning is required. To do this, UX designers must be involved in roadmap planning and long-term strategic alignment.

Society centricity cannot be achieved with current UX methods and processes, as these are primarily aimed at short-term success. For long-term goals we need new approaches: an exchange with other departments and a focus on the ethical aspect of products.

User centricity and business value are, and will continue to be important for successful products. So I don’t think either of the two will be swapped out. Rather, I think that in the near future we will get the third area of ​​”Society”.

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Risks of purely User-Centric Design

Currently, the common design approach of User-Centred Design focuses on mainly two things: The first is to focus on the user, in order to create products and services that people want and that solve their problems for them. This is often referred to as “needs”. The second point follows a “growth imperative” and a financial, measurable success.

One of the biggest problems with User-Centred Design is certainly the focus on short-term success and unfortunately less on the long-term consequences. Short-term successes such as: increasing the conversion rate or a higher customer rating, bring more money with the current methods and processes. The risk we take with this, as with any short-term strategy, is that the wrong decisions will be made in the long term, trends and changes in needs will not be noticed and ultimately companies will be left behind by the competition. This carries risks, such as: not being optimally positioned in the long run, but also in missing out on being part of a movement, that is bigger than the current user and more important than the current Design sprint*.

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How can companies and clients think more along the lines of “Society Centred Design”

Profit optimisation is still the focus of almost all applications. User centricity primarily brings money. If the user likes to use the product, finds their way around easily, spends as much time as possible with the product, and ideally even recommends it to others, this means success and the associated financial gain.

The main question for me is, how can we ensure that a new approach that focuses on our society promises just as much, or even more profit and financial success?

1. Live Society Centricity as part of the branding and the user/society experience within the process:

If User Centred Design becomes Society Centred Design, then user experience becomes society experience. Such decisions require a mind-set shift and change the approach to problems and challenges within companies. That is why society centricity should become part of the branding and communicated openly to the outside world. When Society Centricity becomes part of your branding, it becomes part of the Company and thus the North Star for decisions.

When it comes to successful brands and a successful user experience or society experience, another option is to illuminate the negative effects of only focusing on the user. An interesting example is; the many electromobility companies that have decided to remove the docking stations for the rented vehicles, giving the user the opportunity to leave the vehicle anywhere. At first glance, this sounds extremely pleasant to the user. However, what was not considered or deliberately ignored, were the associated consequences for the rest of society, who had to deal with the parked vehicles on paths, driveways, exits and entrances, etc. This not only caused an extremely poor perception of these companies, but a lot of criticism as well as active demolition of the vehicles by angry passers-by.

2. Employee New Work — goal

Our working environment is changing, as a result of major issues such as New Work and not only the desire for flexible working hours, but also the ever-increasing urge for self-fulfilment are becoming part of our society. The knowledge that day-to-day work is part of a larger mission, that has long-term positive consequences for our society, will not only motivate employees, but also ensure more cohesion within projects and entire companies.

3. Create external incentives

If User-Centred Design primarily focuses on the user and ensures that they love the product and spend money, the question arises, as to who will monetise Society Centre Design.

The simplest answer to this would be society. Incentives could motivate companies. What works for many other projects, such as Covid test centres, can also work for the Society Centred Design methods.

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Biggest challenges for Society Centred Design today

The greatest challenge for Society Centred Design is certainly feasibility. In addition, there is the difficult discussion about the importance of long-term goals and a well thought-out strategic orientation of many companies. Putting short-term successes on hold for the time being, in order to have better long-term chances on the market, may seem risky for many, especially the investors.

When we measure the success of design, we do it with data. However, the truth is that dates and numbers do not necessarily represent a person. In most cases, data represents multiple people. Location data indicates where the user was with other people, or the purchases of online shopping, which are not only for the user who ordered, but they may have ordered on behalf of their partner or children. Data is social in nature and represents society.

I see this educational work as the task of us designers. We should shed light on risks and the user, then start discussions.

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EXAMPLES: Products and services designed with this mind-set

Some services that have been developed with the Society Centred Design approach are Uber and Airbnb. Uber’s original approach was for drivers, who are currently driving and already have a user, to pick up other users who are also travelling in the same direction and combine the journey. As a result, further vehicles could be saved on the roads. This was not only beneficial for the environment, due to less pollutant emissions, but also for people.

https://www.uber.com/de/en/

The same goes for Airbnb. People who were not at home themselves, because they were travelling privately or on business, made their apartments available to travellers. This approach was extremely innovative, especially in large cities where living space is scarce. Then there was the rewarding part, you can get to know cultures much better, than from a standard hotel room.

https://www.uber.com/de/en/

Unfortunately, we all know what became of these original concepts. At Uber, it has gone from a ride-sharing concept to a courier service, with drivers chauffeuring full-time users who would most likely otherwise have taken local transit. The streets are now busier than ever.

The same thing happened with Airbnb. Many apartments are rented purely for Airbnb and nobody has lived there for a long time. The authenticity is no longer present in many apartments, but rather resembles a standardised holiday home.

I find both examples extremely exciting, as they show that Society Centred Design should be a consistent, long-term goal and should not give too much room for monetisation opportunities after a certain period of time, that does not fit into the original concept.

Business, User and Society Centricity should be balanced in the ideal service or product. It quickly fluctuates mainly in the direction of business. We have to find ways that are good for the long term.

Read the full interview in the page magazin:

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