The good design must first understand "solves what problem", then analyzes "solves with what", then designs "The concrete how solves", finally when the condition allows the situation to think "this solution can be better". Coincides with the trilogy I used to repeat: 1 who is the user? 2 What's wrong with them? 3 How do we solve it?
Design is to identify problems and solve problems. Good design is the accurate discovery of problems, elegant solution to the problem.
Now I want to talk about how to find the problem. The main way to find the problem: Listen to him, watch him do, think he wants, do what he does.
About methods
Listen to him, mainly the interview. The effect of the interview depends on the interviewer's personal ability and the typical of the interviewees, but more importantly, the final rational analysis is the result of the interview. No one wants to be taken to the ditch by the user, right?
Watch him do and do what he does, mainly usability tests and expert evaluations. There is a famous figure "creating compassionate Designers (agent)" Inside the last point is: do what they does (do what they do). is to personally play the typical user, think what he wants, do what he does. The cost of role-playing is high, personal ability is high, and time requirement is usually longer.
I think he wants to be more interesting, which will be discussed later. Interested friends can look at Wikipedia's Empathy entry (usually translated empathy, or empathy), which is helpful to design (there's an example of Frank missing the train).
Communication and analysis
Whether it's an interview or a role-playing, you can get some information. But how does this information help us make a good design? Why did the user say he wanted a, gave him a, he was not satisfied? Why is it that after so many interviews, but also personally using products, including competitors, the design is still not satisfactory? Why do you think things are wrong when you are in the user's perspective?
I highly admired the remark in house doctor: Everybody Lies (everyone lied). This is why the design is biased. Why do you do well for the products you use? Because you do not cheat yourself (at least in design, here is not about feelings). The phrase is designed to mean that the user is not telling the truth.
To find out the truth of the problem, communication is important, analysis is also important. Let me summarize:
- I firmly believe that the user's first sentence 100% is a lie;
- What the user says, does, has its motive, the benefit is the biggest motive;
- Solving superficial problems will only let the truth be hidden deeper;
- There is a need for evidence (mainly data, including operational video).
It seems to be easy to associate detectives with motives, localities and suspects.
By the way, the elegant solution to the problem
Above mentioned: solve surface problems will only let the truth hidden deeper, for example, or Rubik's Cube, if you can not find the law of the operation, blindly want to turn the same color on the same side is almost impossible to complete the task.
In the article experience is the product, a quote from Jobs was quoted:
When you start looking in a problem and it seems really simple, you don ' t really understand the complexity of the problem. Then you to the problem, and you are the it's really complicated, and you come up with all of these convoluted soluti Ons. That's sort of the middle, and that ' s where most people stop ....
But the really great person would keep on going and find the key, the underlying principle of the problem-and. An elegant, really beautiful solution.
The idea is: the complexity of the problem is often more than people imagine, many people stay on the complex surface (often drag themselves to death), and really great people to face the problem can continue to move forward, find the nature behind the problem, and then put forward a workable, intelligent, elegant solution.
And that's what I'm trying to do, and it should be the goal of all designers.