We live in exciting and extraordinary times, which means that the growing demand for well-designed products and world-class experiences requires more than making them looking good and working well.
A new approach is needed. If we are to satisfy customers of today and tomorrow, we need to rethink planning in areas such as allocating resources and monitoring progress. These help gain and retain customers by consistently providing them with compelling experiences.
Such a valuable approach – called Design Thinking – aims to meet customer needs and expectations in a technologically feasible and business-viable way. It necessitates the setting up of cross-disciplinary teams in which designers, user researchers, developers and business stakeholders work collaboratively and iteratively, leveraging the power of their collective expertise.
Establishing a shared vision across all the groups involved in a project encourages effective teamwork and coordinated efforts that are far more likely to lead to great design.
Once customer needs, experiences, and expectations are identified – from interviews, observations, focus groups, and online surveys conducted by Ericsson user researchers – teams can deliver:
- Intuitive, pleasing concepts designed to solve complex issues
- Concepts that are visually aligned with a common design language and philosophy
- Models that are prototyped/mocked up using tools such as Illustrator, Balsamiq or Justinmind and then tested from initiation phase along the development cycle with the product’s target audience.
Last but not least, UX criteria can be integrated into tollgates (like SWBC assessments and expert reviews from different business units) and other standard product-management processes to ensure that products stay on track.
In large technology-driven organizations like Ericsson, the setting-up of design thinking based on user-centered approach might be perceived as a challenge. However, UX is increasingly recognized and established as an important part of our organization’s business strategy and its value as a corporate asset is no longer in question.
Original source: Ericsson
