Users. Kind of an ugly euphemism for the people who depend on your product or services. It is an ambiguous term for actual individuals with whom you may have a surprisingly intimate relationship. One of interdependence and hopefully affection. In short, you need them – to buy your software, to use your service, to patronize your website.
But the relationship goes two ways. They need you, too. They need your software to help them get their work done every day. Or your website to help them get the best price on insurance. Or, in the case of one of our clients, they use it to save people’s lives. Heady stuff. And, while the term “user” is usefully generic in all sorts of situations when discussing system design, it can be the death of real goal-focused decision-making. How cleverly it hides:
- The guy who is baffled an annoyed that clicking on a product on your website adds it to the cart automatically, rather than showing him the details he needs to make an informed buying decision.
- The woman who uses your software to do one task every day and can’t stand how the button she needs is hidden under an avalanche of cascading menus.
- The salesman who just plain hates computers and doesn’t understand why his company won’t send him his weekly reports by mail anymore.
These are people with potentially solvable problems who can be your antagonists or your evangelists.
Much digital ink has been spilled debating the appellation “user”, and this isn’t meant as a screed. It is just a friendly reminder: people aren’t using your software as a favor to you. For the time that they engage with your product they are as engaged with it as you ever are. They may not be thinking about it consciously, but every mouse-click is a commitment to use your tool to accomplish something that’s important to them. It may be because they want to, it may be because the IT guy at work insists on it, but either way you have created a cog in the wheel of their day.
So, let’s find out who they are. They’re names, their needs. Let’s find out how they do their jobs (and how they wish they could) so that we are empowering them to do excellent work. Or let’s simply get the tools out of their way so that they can get their information and move on to the things that are more important to them. They’ll thank you for it. Or not. But some percentage will act out their gratitude by buying your products or recommending your services. Or wanting to join your team to help make your products even better. We see it happening all the time.
Your users are your people. And, speaking from experience, they are waiting for someone to engage with them, to watch them work and understand their challenges. It is simple enough to find out what they need.
Let’s learn their names. And then let’s delight them.
Adam Lerner is an Information Architect and User Experience Designer. He has been on the ASD Labs team since 2008.
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