Being Designerly - Put People First

Earlier this month, we kicked off this series of posts about Being Designerly – a way to be more creative by thinking, feeling, and acting like a designer. This week we will discuss how successful designers make it a habit to Put People First.

Put People First: Begin with the needs of the people you are designing for, instead of starting with the latest technology

User-centered design, human-centered design, and even design thinking all advocate keeping people involved throughout their processes and methods. One way this is often represented is with a three-circle Venn diagram with the three circles representing desirability, viability, and feasibility.

At the intersection of all three circles is where you find transformation and innovation. The easiest way to get there, or to increase the overlap is by starting with people first. Start by focusing on the needs of customers or users first (desirability), and when those needs are aligned with business goals (viability), then only do we look at how technology can facilitate it (feasibility). Customer-obsessed and design-driven companies follow this approach, but others striving for this approach often start with viability first (what is the business trying to achieve), followed by desirability (people) and then, feasibility (technology). In either case, serve people – your customers, your shareholders, stakeholders in your project, employees, and make their lives easier and better. Avoid starting with the latest shiny technology (ahem: Metaverse) and hope people need it or want it. Worded differently, don’t start with a solution looking for a problem.

How do you put people first?

Involve users throughout the process – early and often. User-centered design processes include user research at the start, user reviews and feedback during, and validation after design. Involve your customers and users throughout the process.

Put People First - make technology work for people, not the other way around.

Or as Steve Jobs once said, “You have to start with the customer experience and work your way back to technology.”

Curious about the next designerly behavior? Say no more - in two weeks, we will discuss the designerly behavior of curiosity! You should also sign up for curated content on the topic every other week at news.beingdesignerly.com. I hope these will help you, designer or not, be more creative and innovative by being designerly!