During User Experience (UX) design, develop diagrams of various users’ workflows, noting where they are similar or different. Next, based on your findings, group your customer and user types by similar roles, and create profiles or personas that synthesize users’ skills, patterns, and goals to better understand their needs.
Companies in mature markets may not need to conduct user research to better understand their users. They may already have a good understanding of them. However, when they do conduct this type of research, they typically can take their time, be thorough, and use the data they obtain to create a roadmap for many years ahead. Companies in new markets must be more agile, conducting just enough generative research to come up with good design concepts and get their product solutions to market quickly. They should understand that their market data will most likely change, perhaps requiring them to take measures to rapidly modify their design solutions during product development.
When endeavoring to develop product solutions that are easy to use, it is up to the UX designer to bridge the gap between customer and user needs and the technology solution that meets those needs. The real value the UX designer brings is the ability to interpret user research data to elicit users’ needs and deliver a solution that meets or exceeds their expectations.
This blog series is based on the article Winning in the Marketplace: How Much User Experience Effort Does It Take?